FTL: Advanced Edition

No two playthrough have been the same for me, every new ship feels different, like Babylon 5 versus DS9 vs Firefly vs. Star Wars. The glorious feeling of leading a rag-tag-veteran-crew into the final battle, utilizing the techniques i learned on the way is unmatched. I boarded enemy vessels and teleported bombs into the unsuspecting enemy crews sickbay, i went full glasscannon with a stealth cruiser, swarmed the enemy with drones and cut ships in half with laser artillery. My men secured colonies, freed slaves, gazed into the endlessness of time itself and cut their way through subsytems in lifeless robotic ships. Even though i try not to lose sight of damage values and cooldowns dictating the gameplay, i can't help but feel immersed in FTL's universe, feel like being part of its history, time and time again.

This game really will make you feel like a space captain and it was that feeling that really kept me playing this game as long as I did. I enjoyed building up my ship and my crew and battling it out against other ships across the galaxy. Ultimately though my patience for this game ran out. The game is not balanced at all and the randomness of each galaxy often pits you against impossible odds so that even if you manage to build a great ship and you have some winning strategies you still won't be able to win. The only way to win, ultimately, is to spend hours unlocking better and better starting ships. I don't like grinding and I don't like watching my ship that I spent so long building up get vaporized for no good reason at all. I just feel like there has to be a better way for this game to play out rather than constantly punishing you just for pushing the start button. I write all this only to warn you so that if you do get this game you are in the right mindset to play it. It will certainly train up your patience as a gamer.

It is a Rogue, that means the difficulty is off the charts even on easy for certain spaceships. The game is about learning how to attach to the best strategies to survive and learning the strong qualities about different ships, crews, weapons and devices. The quickest way is to see expert players for better understanding of the game mechanics because it can be frustrating to learn though constant personal failings. And is more enjoyable to share the struggle with others. But once mastered is very enjoyable and one of the best out there. There are also secrets and events (if you are impatient look how to get it) that can make your travels more spicy. Not recommended for people without patience, time or that can't stand a big learning curve. Afterall not everyone learns at the same pace or enjoys the thrill of randomness. The plot and ending is always the same the only difference is how you get to it and a lot can happen, that i know and quite of times, enjoy.

By no means is this a bad game, but it's incredibly random. Rolling an 8 sided die is about the same as a session of FTL, since you can and will lose plenty of games purely because you don't happen upon things that you require. I've played many roguelikes but i've never played one anywhere near this random - I can win a game of nethack, dungeons of dredmor, tome4 etc 90% of the time but such a feat in FTL requires abuse of one of a few specific overpowered ship models. I'm guessing most of the hype comes from people who aren't roguelike players or people latching on to the "old school+space" tags. It's not anything special, although it does fill a niche that no other game really does right now, being a roguelike where you fly a spaceship around.

This felt like the kind of game where you could really live within its world. However after spending hours with the same crew, building their skills, and having my own unique story. Multiple members of the crew were killed in a random event that I have no say so in. I didnt get to say "Sure, go do that event" or "Do it, but send these crew members" it was just the game saying "Hey, your crews dead, have fun with that." It totally soured the game for me. Otherwise its a wonderful roguelike that has great gameplay mechanics, which it alone is worth the asking price.