So, IMO, Endless Sky turned out to be EMPTY and MEANINGLESS as I expected.
And interestingly this isn’t because of a lack of storylines, but because of a lack of game design. I feel that even if it more story lines were implemented you’d still just have a bunch of “content” ontop of a dull and lifeless game that feels trivially esay to play (pro-tip - spam fleets). You rarely even “fly” your ship. I spent the majority of time warping between systems getting fleeting glances of generic grey ships that are also warping between system. The bits between spaceports screens might as well not even be there – it should just be a text adventure.
And if you do get in combat you either a) let your massive fleet deal with it or b) try and shoot something bigger than you and die, or try and shoot something smaller than you and insta pop it. There’s none of the close-call piloting thrill that EV:N had as your single brawler tried to out maneuver 20 capital ships or scrambling to the edge of the warp zone.
That’s not to say it’s without plus points – but all of the plus points are “technical” rather than “game feel”, if you know what I mean? Technically it’s a major improvement on Escape Velocity: Nova and it reimplements that kind of game very, very well, adding in QOL and UI improvements. I like the starmap system and the types of attachments to your ships (though the shipyard and outfitters screen are a bit of a UI nightmare i.e. no direct/multi-comparison?).
But I don’t think that’s enough to save it. It’s more “Escape Velocity’s DNA” than a “Escape Velocity Clone”. Even though it’s free, spend your time elsewhere, no matter how much BrianRubin tries to convince you otherwise!
It did make me go and redownload EV:N though. I was concerned at first because the online talk since 2015 is that Ambrosia is pretty much defunt and has no staff left. They still sell games (at the full $30!) and let you downlod the shareware, but you can’t actually get licence keys for them, instead you have to email some guy and wait a week for your reply!
My old licence has expired now and I did try the online regen thing to find it not working, as reported. But weirdly the tool that comes with the game connected to something and managed to make me a new key.
Huzzah!
I didn’t realise it at the time but this game is very “roguelite” – you start random, can have an ironman save, and there’s a gambling option in the bar. Just what you need! But straight away it feels completely different to Endless Sky. The universe feels “populated” and “alive” and you have to actually fly your little ship about, which is fun. … but it required me to install QuickTime and runs at an ugly resolution, so no idea if I’ll continue to play ;)
