I got hooked up on the plot and the setting, and tried to avoid spoilers before starting the game, so what I expected about it and what I got was completely different. The game does not offer a large map, infinite replayability, competitions; but this is the case that proves bigger does not mean better. I'm glad that the game designer(s) decided to focus on the core mechanics and refine them well, instead of huge empty nothing filled with repetitive activities. One can think about this game as StarCraft with pause. If you have to wait for resources to appear - you're doing it wrong. If you accumulate huge piles of them (unless you know why) - you're doing it wrong. And if you, do it wrong - does not mean you do not have fun following the arc of the story. I spent 90h so far in the game going through the scenarios and it is beautiful how Bit Studios managed to present the same content at different angles, making it entertain. That is not "your princess is in a different castle" scenario, more like now you drive this racetrack in a different direction, so all corners require different approach. There is one little bump. I wish the game code was a bit better optimized. Sometimes it has random freezes on speed 2 or speed 3 (once crashed for me). Not a game breaker, but slightly annoying.
I got this game in 2019, when it seems like most of the birth defects are fixed, now it's game as it was supposed to be. 1) Performance - it's pretty bad. I have i7 8700k and Vega64 on water and there is still some stuttering. And it's not like the image is stunning or anything. On a laptop with 950m and 4720hq it barely playable in 720p. 2) Story - well, there is one for a checkbox, but that's not what this game is about, so does not matter, even though the "story twist" was a bummer for me. I get it's a game, but it makes it kinda double pointless. 3) Space exploration, recover all recipes, then find a planet, get resources, build base, repeat. No second layer of gameplay, with automation like in minecraft or factorio 4) Non functional mechanics... some resources when mined with industrial components just don't work. 5) Generated animals and planet... we're talking "Spore" on steroids here. I buried almost 120 hours into this "minecraft in space" and don't plan to come back, I played 844 hours in factorio and still feel like coming back sometime. So the latter is half the price and 10x the fun.
Yes, it has some bugs. Yes it is slightly hard at the beginning and is way easier at the end when you have all uber-weapons, uber-clothes and such and when you are high level, but it is fun, and well crafted. I loved it many years ago, and I totally buy it now.
