Starbound

梦中情游

2D sandbox and a space exploration game combined. Definitely a game I can play for days, probably even weeks without getting tired of it, even just playing solo (Whatever, go my 8-hour play sessions) Only downside is that occasionally, especially when streaming for friends, the game does have pretty bad lag spikes, but they only last for about 5 seconds, so its never too bad I will say, if you're planning to play the game as a new player, the game was practically MADE to be modded, similar to how you'd go about Gmod; so don't be afraid of installing a couple mods, as long as they don't conflict. [Also feeds my current fixation on Avali, I love these silly things.(you should play with the mods for 'em)]

10/10 game

So, after 1,000 hours, and several up and down experiences, I've come to the conclusion this game isn't bad, just underappreciated. From what I've done with my research, this game was "choked" through development. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game for what it is, but if you look at starbounder (the website), there's many many many items and events in the game you'll just never run into, from things like the crystal furniture set, the big red bow, curious painting, deck chair, cupid set, pizza, soldier set, among so many other things, so many other things.... For all the fun this game could have been, it makes no sense to have pages upon pages of disabled content, that COULD be enjoyed by the players. It reminds me of the saying; "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, It might have been." -John Greenleaf So, the way it looks to me, the dev team was forcibly removed from the Starbound as an ongoing project after the controversy of 2019. For clarity, in 2019, former Starbound writer Damon Reece publicly stated on Twitter that he had worked hundreds of unpaid hours on the game. This was confirmed by Toby Fox (creator of Undertale, who did graphical work for Starbound), and brought forth evidence of a hostile environment created by then CEO of Chucklefish. -- All of this is public knowledge at this point, able to be found on any number of search engine. In comparison to other Chucklefish Games: Stardew Valley and Witchbrook, it's no surprise Starbound is considered lost, and abandoned after the 1.4.x.x updates. Then there the matter of workshop mods, lots of mods, and many of them are "will they/won't they" when it comes to working. Several of which ultimately change the game, and not always in ways that are safe for your universe or character files (often unsafe, and makes your characters henceforth unplayable without the mods, which is just bad design and sloppy practice; make backups of your character and universe files, always) That said, it doesn't take away from what the game is, at this point. If you look past the shadows, you look past the allegations, the dubious news, and even considering the internet will never forget the shadow that this game came from, it nevertheless amounted to something. Don't think of the antics of the CEO (not giving them a pass, just saying, the internet will ALWAYS remember), don't think of the cracks in the code, or the many mods that may try to turn the game into something it was never supposed to be. Think of what it is out of the box: think of the people who worked and collaborated to make the game what it is, think of it as where Damon Reece and Toby Fox (among many others who I can't even begin to list) got their first steps. Think of those who put hours of work and labor into the game, and all worked together to breathe life into something, that turned out beautiful. Think of those who grew from the experience, or who contributed freely, who WANTED to help make something that felt alive, and worth getting into. To ignore this game, in a sort-of way, is to neglect that even though this game came from a dark place, it was made into something wonderful by those among the dev team, and those who contributed from the community, and still do so today because a piece of their work and their effort went into breathing life into a world that is there for YOU to enjoy. With this having been put out there, Starbound is not a bad game, it's a slow starter for sure, but once you get going, you discover an open universe to explore. A story about an ancient conflict, mysteries lost in space, several easter eggs to sci-fi and space themed media from the 80s, a charming soundtrack, and worlds ranging from wonderful and fantastical to weird or scary. 1,000 hours, exploring, discovering, replaying... I've tried to play with online groups, but it always falls apart, someone's schedule doesn't work, someone abandons the playthrough or decides they don't get along with XYZ, or the game where one person wants to be the center of attention to the point other players get neglected. I've concluded this game is best enjoyed solo, or with a SMALL group of friends. But... It is worth playing... It's a slow one, still, it's endearing and you can feel the hints of love in the design. There were people who wanted to use this game to make money, and there are those who just wanted to breathe life into it; this game shows art imitates life, an abyssal devourer, and a cosmic guardian. Some of the pros are the worlds, and exploration, the many randomly generating aliens and items that a player will find creating an infinite number of possible treasures, and all kinds of worlds to enjoy, and a colorful cast of NPC friends (like Nuru, Koichi or the Baron) Some of the cons include the inability to adjust your character after creation (there are no salons, tanning booths, barbers or hair stylists in space?), the tediousness of upgrading your mech (not only do you have to find the blueprints, you also need to find the material to make the parts of said blueprints), or literal world-destroying environmental effects (From acid rain to arbitrary meteor striking and destroying you and/or everything around you, in later planets) Still, once you LEARN the ins and outs of the game, what's dangerous, what to do when there are certain places you have to go, it becomes easier. You can build a crew, bring along an alien pet, you can find all kinds of gear (or craft some yourself), and there are ways to avoid dangers, once you understand them (eg: using a breathing pack, so you don't suffocate) The universe is full of mystery, and there are cosmic disasters to be confronted! Will you destroy planets with your matter manipulator, or use it to create something to stand against the darkness of the infinite universal abyss! It's up to you to decide.

fun with mods poorly optimized but has great multiplayer support.

I really like this game. I used to play it since 2016 outside of Steam. It's relaxing, cute and with mods it can be difficult and deep.