These are great games and ahead of their time in many ways. However, in other respects they're quite primitive and flawed. What you need to understand going in is that you don't really play these games for their mechanics. The action is bad, the controls and interface are stiff and clunky and the graphics are pretty simplistic and sometimes unappealing. The dialogue, however, is actually quite strong and holds up well to this day. There's some good humor in there, although I felt that in the second game they tried a little too hard with humor which made that game feel overly silly, whereas the first game had what I'd almost call gravitas, leavened by the comedic elements. The world-building is also quite excellent. Though the aliens do mostly fall into the "planet of hats" trope, it works well for what these games are. There isn't much of a defined narrative, beyond the game's backstory. Nor are there any real characters to speak of -- every person you encounter in the game is just a generic clone of every other members of his species/culture, personality-wise. However, this is an open world game, and you can bring your own personality and imagination to the game to enrich your experience greatly. One thing that I encourage players of these games to stop after every hour or two of gameplay and take stock of your situation. Do a "captain's log," by which I mean, imagine in your head that you're dictating an actual captain's log, recapping and pondering recent events and upcoming challenges or dilemmas. Playing pretend like this might seem silly, but it's part of the fun of playing a good RPG, and it will help focus your thinking and help you win the game. Last thing to note: the original Starflight will corrupt your save game if you choose "Save Without Quitting." The batch files that came with the game originally to manage saves were also flawed, but I think GOG fixed that part. Starflight 2 does not have these bug, though the save system is still clunky.
