I got it for free during a GOG promotion and decided to buy all the DLCs to even the deal. At first, the game can feel a bit arid and confusing because of the strange exploring mechanism, which drains energy a each step. It feels like a central mechanism of the strategical layer, and a boring one : the Derelicts (the space hulks you're exploring for loots) are immense, I can barely progress before my suit is exhasted... How many trips back and forth will I have to take just for refuelling ? Awful. At this point, I was tempted to drop the game. After all, it was free. Don't do it (yet). Once you've figured that the power generators totally eliminate that mechanism, you're left with a very charming tactical deck-builing rpg, that gives you ample possibilities in terms of team composition, personal builds and itemization (a fortiori with the crafting DLC)... There's some real pleasure to be found there. Sadly, the game becomes quickly too easy, and the Derelicts, although each proposes side quests and a singular environmental thematic, are too big and soft for what they offer. The game isn't helped by its story and narration, which are barely integrated to the gaming loop. It feels like a very superficial coating that barely exists and delivers nothing emotional or involving. Too many rooms offer nothing relevant, too many fights are just a 2 rounds nuisance that bring no other joy than witnessing the power of your team in gorgeous art (it's truly brilliant !). You end up your raids with your inventory clogged with countless useless junk items you'll blindly trade for some useless money. At this point, Deep Sky Derelicts becomes a routine pleasant enough you'll complete it for the pleasure of maxing your team, but not rich enough to restart it again and again. Note : the final reveal is politically oriented, with some second-hand clumsy malthusian preaching, but hey, that's the sad side of indie gaming. They want to include "A Message" to feel different.
I played it to death, in it's final form, with Beyond the Sword. I played it so much that one day, I decided to uninstall it so I could finish my PhD. It had the best flow, the best cycles/phases succession over a game, the best game loop, best frontiers system, the best religion system, the best pollution system, the best resources system, the best discontent system, and even (for me) the best music... Then came Civ V, inferior in so many things, better at so few, even after (the excellent) Brave New World... But Civ V was better at war. FOR ONE REASON. No more piles. No more 80 unit piles. Once you started playing without piles, you couldn't go back. I never could. I tried so many times, because of the nostalgia for the so many qualities of the "final Civ IV", and each time, I stopped playing. War had become atrocious, irritating, obnoxious, excruciating. I was totally unable to play and enjoy a game I had been loving so much, so blindly for years and years. It's a shame : I wish I could enjoy Civ IV once again, but V killed it for me.
