NobleGamer Everspace Review

Everspace is a great space combat roguelite that I recommend to anyone who doesn't hate roguelites or 6DOF games (Descent, Overload, etc). It even has a story unfolding and with DLC it includes some characters with questlines as you progress to and beyond your first complete playthrough of the 6 space sectors, each with multiple locations. I very much look forward to its sequel. Here is what you need to know (spoiler free): +Progression is decent within and between playthroughs. Between playthroughs, ships and perks can be purchased with money earned. You can find blueprints (and decals) in the universe, which enables crafting resources into specific weapons, modules, missile weapons, and consumables. +Only ships, perks, blueprints, decals, and enhancements carry over between playthroughs. Most everything else goes away after beating or dying in a playthrough. +Most anything that can be equipped or upgraded on your ship is well balanced among the different item types, aside from newer makes of things ("Mk#"). The further you go, the better loot tends to be. So are their resources required if built, which can be reduced using perks. Resources are not required to equip found items. ?Voiced dialog is decent and so is the main story, though may be slightly cliche to sci-fi buffs. There isn't a ton of lore, but enough to keep the universe from seeming dead or impersonal, along with... ?Non-ship driving creatures are cool, though are not huge in variety. -Quests are largely on the weak side consisting of either destroy, collect, scan, visit, but they certainly provide an extra something to do every 1-2 sectors and occasionally can be a challenge. However, there is a character that provides unique abilities during a run or blueprints in exchange for a difficult to obtain resource. The quests don't put a terrible damper on... ?There is some decent replay value beyond the first time you "beat the game", as all my characters still had quests to give, and there were additional 2 types of things for me to find in the universe. However, the rewards of these things to find weren't apparent and enticing, so I haven't been motivated to replay much beyond beating the game on normal after beating it on easy. The good news with the final area is that... +When attempting to clear the final area for the first time, your progress within that final area is saved in the event that you die. So you'll have to go through the 6 sectors again, but when you return to the final area, you will pick up where you left off there. I do not know if that is true with future attempts. The good news is that the first time I beat the game on Easy it actually was harder than the second time I beat the game which was on Medium. So perhaps the first final area is somewhat more fixed with respect to its difficulty? Do not expect a cake walk in Hardcore mode on the final area though! ?Some ship wrecks have loot to get by destroying their containers and others just have a log to read by getting close enough to their center/marker. Most ship parts that don't have a marker don't have anything inside them, but there are plenty of asteroids and larger structures that do. -After warping when selecting your next travel destination, be warned that you cannot view anything else - No list of characters & their quests, no ship & playthrough stats, no lore. It is a pain if you are choosing between which character to travel to. ?Your location is autosaved between locations within a sector, which is important when considering that my first two winning playthroughs on easy and normal have taken 2.5 and ~1.8 hours, respectively. The achievement for 1 hour or less seems reasonably viable on Easy, but may be a big challenge on Medium or Hard. ?There is a Hardcore Mode which isn't for me, but provides extra challenge and replayability to people who fare well on Hard difficulty.