This time around, youre the last clone left in the box.
The orange creme at the bottom of a tin of Quality Street.
Anyway, roguelikes are old news.
Everspace 2 is now a compelling action-RPG, with loot and builds and spells.
Destroy an enemy ship and it will send collectible debris flying everywhere.
Most of it is dull and common, which your brain will regard with complete, chemical indifference.
The churn of collecting slightly better weapons and armour is well-tuned.
Yes, its basically elemental damage, transposed into space fiction.
Similarly, ships behave like RPG classes, each with their own special and passive abilities.
When Everspace 2 sticks too closely to the genres tried-and-tested norms it can feel generic and unimaginative.
So its a good thing that loot isnt the only thing holding Everspace 2 together.
The game is technically playable with a gamepad, but is designed around precise mouse-aiming.
Theres a pleasingly retro vibe to how Everspace 2 handles.
It feels about as 90s as mad cow disease and Pogs.
Theres an entertainingly melodramatic plot and a cast of intensely irritating characters.
The old-school feel extends to how the open world works too.
This isnt a seamless universe with smooth transitions between planets and space.
Its not long before mission objectives are recycled.
Theres a supply and demand system for goods, but trading is so underdeveloped that its pointless to bother.
