I can't describe how good Deep Rock Galactic actually is. It has easily become my favorite game as I started playing it back in 2018. “Rock and Stone” has become a present expression in my life, as playing DRG is a fully fledged experience.

Deep Rock is also my most played game of all time, and I have a blast every time I come back to it. This game is not only fun, it is GREAT and extremely immersive. The soundtrack and sound mixing are amazing, the graphics feel vivid and are uniquely pretty, the gameplay loop is greatly designed and combat is so good it makes you feel like a bad*ss space dwarf.

It is also made by probably one of the most humane game company there are currently – Ghost Ship Games. Imagine putting a completely free, FOMO-less battle pass in your game. Complete psychos.

This game is also filled with bugs. The kind you squish.

Starbound is kept alive by the modding community. And that's all. Official updates eventually killed the game - what was once a unique experience for each playthrough ended up being an extremely streamlined and repetitive incident.

I once loved Starbound. Honestly. I remember playing it with my friends - we would meet in one of our spaceships to play Zelda songs in our recently found instruments and to show off our new skills, and then we would descent into unknown planets to look out for NPC villages... Man, those were the days. This game was REALLY good in the past, giving players freedom to advance on their own or settle down as they wish.

But then the story nation attacked. And now most core aspects of the game are hard-locked behind a boring and dull story progression which will make most casual players give up.

Starbound went through several game advancement changes during its development, but it was never so linear as it turned out to be in the Cheerful Giraffe version back in 2016. It should have been named the Lethiferous Giraffe instead, considering that on that very release this unholy forbidden story arc was added. Starbound has currently ZERO replayability - you'll unlock skills in the same order, craft stuff in the same order, visit the same planets, do the same quests, have the same adventure over and over, over and over and over and over and over and over...

Most beta players complained about the released changes. And then immediately the game was officially launched. Stonks af.

I wonder what goes wrong with development for all those 2D space-themed games. Jesus, look at Edge of Space. Ew.

If you want the "good" Starbound, give its older versions a try. Also bring some friends. It'll suck less. Or just go play Terraria instead.

Edit: Apparently word got out that Chucklefish is also a terrible company that doesn't pay their workers. Amazing stuff.