I just finished getting all the inventory slots for my suit and ship and it feels like I'm about halfway through the game now. (Or at least halfway through what I plan to do before putting it on the back burner.) I am on the Atlas path but haven't finished it. The plan now is to just warp non-stop, finish the path, and then sprint for the center. I've had my fill of exploring, though I also still need the v2 and v3 upgrades for the Atlas Pass. Anyway, here's my overview:
-There is a stark feeling of loneliness that I've never felt in a game before. Everything is so massive, and also quiet. I like how you have to read things and it's all really mellow. Even the way the ship rattles while flying is perfect.
-The concept itself is pretty amazing and even with the apparent confusion of what is actually possible this game still made history. Now that people know this is possible we should see some great stuff in the next few years.
-I like that there is no character creation or human faces in this setting. The whole thing feels like an alien setting especially considering the physics are nutty. No gas giants? Planets all right next to each other? Purple space? Eehh, ok. That's cool. (I came across a Korvax listing things like this and coming to the conclusion that it must be a simulation, ha!) I think they missed a big opportunity here by making up fake elements though. Will somebody make a crafting game that uses real atoms with real combinations so we can learn chemistry while gaming?
-The way you have to upgrade the ship inventory slots is by far my least favorite part of the game and I'm glad it's over with. The exosuit was great cause you could just go about your business and find slots along the way, but with the ship you either have to save up an absurd amount of money or hop from crashed ship to crashed ship like I did. It wouldn't necessarily be a problem if you could transfer your upgrades, but this really felt like a grind because it had to be done all at once. (Unless you're okay with wasting resources repairing and upgrading each time.)
-Even though there is a whole huge galaxy thing it kind of just feels like it all takes place on the same planet. There are different types of planets for variety, but realistically (or at least with Earth) all these different "climates" could be on one planet. The plants and rocks are pretty much the same wherever you go, too. Animals have a bit more variety at least.
There's also a ton of stuff about the UI I'd like to see improved but that is just being nitpicky so I wont bother typing it all out. I'm going to "finish" the game to write a part 2* about the ending and what I hope they do to expand on the game, but for now have a gallery of my adventures:
Banana-peel face! And I love these buildings; they look like a playground.
Cob world! THE WHOLE PLANET IS ON A COB, GET BACK TO THE SHIP!
Super creepy, and nice high tops!
Freestyle parking, and my final ship. It looks nice and sciencey.
*Edit: Just kidding! I finished the Atlas Path right after writing this and then looked up what happens in the center and I was pretty disappointed. I just don't understand the logic of the Atlas Path idea. 10 stones to make a new star that you don't get to see or even name and who know's if it really even happens? And the Atlas things had text but I could only translate one or two words on each speech so what were they even saying? It's not like this is in "good idea" or "bad idea" territory, I don't even understand how this was an idea to begin with. Also, I thought the center of the galaxy would be a place people sort of pooled when they were done with the game and it would be fun to go around and name places and see what other people named things but nope, it's just a reset. Siiiiggh.
I still like the game and there is a lot of potential here for an expansion. I'm worried people won't care and it will be a dusty fifteen dollar bargain bin game by the time they make it good, but we shall see. The whole thing is basically a really cool tech demo, but if they let players do their own base building (maybe even city building!?) put us in a big place that still gave us a reasonable chance of finding each other, and threw in some cities for the three aliens, that would be a big winner. I think the goal should be to let players invent the content themselves and give them more tools to add meaning to the game. Some kind of invasion or sentinel aggression could be fun too, but I hope they don't try to make a real story line; cinematic drama would feel really out of place.
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