Recent reviews by ⊂༼ ˵ ︶＿︶ ˵ ༽つ

Careful, this is definitely one of those "It's 3 am already?" games.
Great fun. Better with friends. Devs are worth supporting.

Elite dangerous gives back what you put in. If you like to actively join player groups, explore the mechanics of the game you're playing, rise to a challenge, make your own fun in sandbox worlds or appreciate being rewarded for your time by a game, You'll probably enjoy elite.

Pro:
Huge number of activities, gorgeous graphics, active player base, nearly infinite ship customization and tweaking, ability to actually alter the game world through actions, player skill is highly rewarded and often trumps any and all equipment, ENORMOUS game world, solo, multiplayer or private groups available for any play style, enormous game world ensures that there will always be more to discover or do.
Con:
Relatively steep learning curve, enormity of world can be a barrier to entry there's so much going on you can feel overwhelmed learning, there are more than a few bugs which can be troublesome but few if any are actually game-breaking, the biggest complaint from most players is that they want more content from the devs who have been releasing new content fairly slowly. While there is much to see, after a time as all games, it begins to feel as if youve seen it all before, some more procedural variety would be deeply appreciated in such a large game.

Like so many others I was super excited to see this game release, and then it did. Like so many others I was very dissapointed to hear the reviews and see the game be such a let down.

I waited and waited until the recent updates which the players said added some much needed variety. I took the chance and boy am I glad I did. This game is amazing. So much so I felt like I had to add to the 'very positive' pile to help out Hello Games. Because they deserve it. It's a long review but for a game with so much bad press and such a spotted history I wanted to really examine it.

It's a rare thing to have a game so full of possibilities to explore that the gameplay is more about managing your wanderlust and constant curiosity long enough to focus on a task, than it is managing irritating game mechanics.

Something that gets overlooked in all the hype and gossip about this game are some of the brilliant game-mechanics choices that Hello Games made.
1. Limited inventory is a brilliant move. By making inventory so precious, they prevent hoarding, preventing hoarding encourages exploration and finding resources when theyre needed, giving gameplay some momentum.
2. The multiple currency types, accrued through different kinds of play, and used for different things, really encourage experimentation and playing the game. One currency without the other only gets you so far, which really adds variety to gameplay and encourages experiencing everything.
3. The UI and rest of the inteface is very intuitive. The "brief pause" left-click to select thing may be a remnant of console, but now that Ive used it I really wish some of the triple-A developers would use it because it prevents misclicks and accidental menu selections, it's just short enough that you never notice it, and just long enough to prevent accidents.
4. The teleporter system preventing needless backtracking is a godsend. It allows you to get around easily and quickly when you need to, focusing exploration on only the fun parts, and not the tedious 'walking simulator' parts. It means you get to the action very quickly.
5. The upgrade synergy bonuses and randomized inventory slot positions is a brilliant use of inventory management that gives SO much variety to weapons and ships, one misplaced inventory slot can make an enormous difference in performance, and it's fun to work with and work around, and gives ships and tools a lot more character as you tinker with them to get the best performance.
6. The 'wait timers' on some of the main missions (base building) are smart, theyre just long enough to encourage you to explore and do other things, but not so long that its tedious waiting for the missions to progress the story. It slows you down just enough to appreciate the game, but not feel hindered.

Beyond the technical examination of some of the gameplay choices the game is just fun. I can't put it down. There's so much to explore and do, and they make it all so seamless and so easy that it's one of those '3 am games' where before you realize it youve lost a whole day to this game. Players of sandbox creation games, base-building games and exploration games, this one is absolutely for you.

The game is beautiful (minus the occasional procedurally generated mutant, which are rarer than I'd feared). Lighting texturing, modeling, everything looks gorgeous.
The absolutely seamless nature of exploration is almost breathtaking, being able to visit five different worlds, three moons, half a dozen caves three oceans and two space stations without ever seeing a loading screen is frankly stunning. It means you only see loading screens very infrequently when you travel to new systems.


To be fair, there's still a few things that could use some attention:
1. It could still use a bit more variety, primarily in plant and animal life, however I really do mean 'a bit' it's already very good. Planets could be given some more variety by simply allowing more mixture of planetary attributes, snowy planets that rain acid, or hot worlds with bubbles, etc.
2. A few little bug-passes would help, attention paid to base-system bugs and mission bugs would be great.
3. The 'defend the freighter' mechanic gets a little old, some variety on acquiring new freighters instead of the perpetual pirate fight would be nice.
4. I feel like we need some way to collect multi-tools. I understand the mechanic of only having one at a time and having to give up old tools to upgrade, but just like ships, I kind of want a wall of my old multi tools sitting around collecting dust to show off.
Those are really my only criticisms at this point.

If you've held off buying it, if you're sill concerned about 'No Man's Lie', if you're hesitant, please give it a shot, it's on sale as I write this, and a deal even at full price. Hello Games has tirelessly worked to improve their game, and they've shown a dedication and a love of their craft that seems to have been abandoned by most of the industry. Support this game, support this developer, unlike so many big studios, they actually seem to care about their game, their players, and their reputation.

Just fantastic.
It knows what it is, and it does it well.
The creators clearly love this game, and games in general. Full of homages and refferences to their favorite games and sci-fi that are done in a tasteful way.
the 2D doesnt detract from it at all and in fact the game is better for it, it wouldn't feel right as a slick triple A title.
If youre a fan of Freelancer style space exploration, trading, combat games, pick it up. Its a comfy enjoyable experience.

As a long time fan of Double Fine it hurts me to say that you all should be ashamed of yourself.

Not because you betrayed your word, which you did. Not because you essentially scammed loyal fans out of money, which you did. Not because the game is incomplete, which it is. Not because you botched the project at the expense of your fans, which you did.

You should be ashamed because you have hurt the entire industries trust and faith in early access, small developers, and where to trust developers.

I understand not all early access projects work out, I understand that buying into early access is a risk. This however was pure deception on behalf of the developers.

You don't deserve to be distributed on Steam and you don't deserve my money ever again. Shame on you Double Fine you lost a fan, a supporter and revenue.

-Adding to this review in hopes it will bump it now that it's been released and on sale. I cannot warn anyone off this game thoroughly enough, if you are considering purchasing this now that its been "completed", you are being swindled. Do not purchase this game. Purchase literaly anything else. -

-Adding again, now that 1.0 has been released DF has given a free copy of Hack'N'Slash to people who supported this game. You think we're all going to be bought off that easily? I'm not playing any doublefine games, even free ones. Get it together Double Fine, an apology would go a long way.-

This is a poignant story about royalty, death, trial by combat and the lurking influence of dark and arcane entities. Also there are goats.