FTL: Advanced Edition

Should have been called FML, as in you know.

I don't give the title of "Masterpiece" very often, but FTL deserves it. I won't say much other than the fact that while this is a difficult game with a very minimalist approach, it excels in game play beyond the likes of many mainstream AAA titles. FTL requires attention, thinking, and a stable heart -- yes, it's an intense experience that makes those Star Trek battles feel a lot cooler than they look. This is the definition and standard of a space battle simulator. As far as I know, no game has done it better or will do it better for a long time to come. If there is anything else I could say it would be this: it's the only game in existence that I know of where losing 30 times in a row still makes me want to play it over and over again (I've only beaten it once). Love it and proud it's in my collection.

The decisions you make when jumping faster than light from location to location and given some options to choose from are NOT real decisions but merely luck based options. There is little strategy and the problem with calling something strategical is peoples definitions differ on what the word strategy means to them. This next topic is a neutral one, each time you advance to the next location the rebel fleet is in pursuit giving you no chance to explore the entire sector. I feel as if I missed out on things but would never know as I had to jump to the next sector. The sense of urgency however keeps you quick on your feet, use as much time to explore and gain improvements to your ship before jumping faster than light to the next sector. I would not call that strategy as anyone that is able to think can accomplish it just by moving forward as the game forces you to do. Naming your crew, naming your ship, having crew members specialize in certain areas such as shields, engines, weapons, piloting, sensors and doors and also having a variety of races with their own particular special abilities, being able to choose different ships and different layouts (once you complete the required conditions) is where the game keeps me wanting to play more. I tend to favor games with this type of choice in personalizing the life forms you play along with the defensive or offensive structure you're using. The combat seems simple but still fun. When you play the game it makes you want to try out all the cool looking weapons eventually that can be attached to your ship (4 weapon slots). Upgrades to your ship include cloaking (for limited time) and you can shoot while cloaked if you upgrade. Drone upgrades that are defensive, offensive or utility based, also mind control and teleporting crew. Almost all of your ship systems can be upgraded which is important as which ones you decide to upgrade can help you progress or what you chose to upgrade at THAT time wasted resources. Buy it.

This game has the potential to be a LOT of fun, but it's also very frustrating, especially early on when you're still getting the hang of how it works. There's a lot of fake difficulty in this game in which the best you can do is learn to assess the dangers of your choices and pick the best option, then hope the random number generator doesn't hate you too much. People claim that this game exemplifies the idea of flying by the seat of your pants, and just responding to any situation the game throws at you, but I have to strongly disagree. While it may have been intended to be played that way, in all actuality the consequences of your actions are so unintuitive and contradictory that your best bet is to completely deconstruct the game in your head over several playthroughs until you can just remember what the best choice is in any given situation. That being said, the game is really a lot of fun--though I think it'd be a lot more fun if it weren't designed to play unfairly--but if you can swallow your frustration and get the hang of it, there's a lot to enjoy. It's fairly short-lived, you'll probably get thoroughly tired of it after about 10-20 playthroughs, each of which can be done in one sitting over a few hours. But for that time, it'll have you captivated. I'd like to offer some warnings to prepare you for what you'll be up against. These aren't spoilers, just a heads up that may make the game a lot less needlessly frustrating. First and foremost, the decisions you make in text events follow a completely different set of rules from the main gameplay, for example your shields will not protect you from asteroids in a text event, while rock hull plating will not protect you from asteroids in actual combat. A lot of text event decisions will risk killing/removing one of your crewmembers but there's usually some hint of danger. Lastly, the AI will purposely give you opponents with exactly what they need to exploit your weaknesses.

Most negative reviews say "Too hard." It's not. It's as hard as it's meant to be. You will not win most games, often because you made a mistake you will hopefully learn from and not repeat constantly (some lessons are hard-learned); other times because you played the perfect game and just happened upon the ship that was practically designed to kill specifically your ship when you were just too damaged enough to be able to run away successfully and still had that one Achilles heel you were nervous about but couldn't find the right upgrade cure to. Learn to laugh and think about next time with this game and it will be one of the best games you've ever played. I will end this with tips for the too-hard kids willing to try to appreciate sometimes losing the perfectly-played game, or new players looking for some hard-earned advice. * The spacebar pauses. Use it. Think. * Heavy damage loses the war. Only the final battle is worth 1/3+ damage. Run away sometimes. * Avoidable expenses like excess damage, reliance on missiles in the LT, or recovery arm-less drones kill you. * Avoidable risks kill you. Avoid non-trivial chances of getting screwed. * Killing all crew gets better loot. (but see above about risks) * Shields 2 makes you invulnerable vs a lot of area 1-3 ships, even if you have to turn off oxygen and engines to power it. Some upgrades don't require upgrades to reactor power to be handy right away. * Engines to 3 or 4 is also a big survival enhancer. * Nothing kills unshielded faster/more-efficiently than beams. * Shoot for versatility. Having a backup to every counter is what you want. * Hacking is stupid-versatile. * Get excited about the following if you can afford without self-cannibalizing: Pre-igniter (especially with slow-charge powerful weapons); Tele Reconstruction/Cloning/teleporter/badass boarding team; drone arm/awesome drones * Amazing ships: Mantis B, Engi Stealth Cruiser, Crystal Cruiser B, Engi Drone Ship C * Laugh > Rage Quit