Starcom: Nexus

The game play and mechanics are enjoyable. However, in order to advance the story, certain items need to be generated. But the random setup results on critical items never materialising. Out of 6 tries, I have managed to advance to different stages, but every time I find something that never materialise and keeps me from advancing to the next stage of the story. So you end up crisscrossing the entire map looking for that missing something (not always the same thing) before you realise that it is not there. I had enough, I don't know how the game finishes, because it is broken. And after 6 tries, I see no point on sinking more time into this mess.

Don't waste your time on this one as there is a high chance you will encounter bugs in the late part of the game that make some quests and achievements impossible to complete. These bugs will never get fixed. Maybe the second game (Unknown Space) is better, but this one is a 'no' for me.

get the new version(starcom unknown space) or SPAZ

Could not finish due to bugs, tried twice. It is frustrating to sink that much time into the game and then find out that the 'random" generation of the game simply left out a critical piece. Otherwise the game is pretty good and I suspect that a lot of people might have a better experience, but I cannot recommend it.

Probably my new favourite game to play on the side ... That said it's an excellent space exploration game with some decent combat. Nice progressions systems makes it enjoyable to push always a bit further. Looking for some kind of space "arpg" this might be it !

Starcom: Nexus is a 2D build-your-own spaceship and explore an unknown galaxy game. The gameplay parts are rudimentary, but serviceable and fun, but where this game really stands out is the writing and exploration. Despite planetary exploration being "just" a text game, it nails letting you feel like you're discovering something cool for the first time. There's some legitimately great planet adventures and because of this, flying around the galaxy and exploring always feels great. There's little strategy to the combat, but to me that's fine because scaling up your build from tiny scout to huge battleship is still fun and rewarding, and it feels like you're progressing. It's a really well paced game, where the flying bits are a nice change to the reading bits.

A basic gameplay loop where you jump your ship to a system, kill anything hostile in it, and explore everything before moving on. The writing and visual novel style interactions when you explore and interact with other beings is where it shines. The overarching mystery and story, and final twist is very well paced and really good, which more than makes up for any of the games shortcomings.

This is a very fun casual game

I didn't ask much of it when I picked it up. What pulled me in is the premise of the game, the appeal of being a captain, managing diplomacy with other alien races, and a little bit of exploration and ship designing. These were all things I was curious about and did not indulge in in the past. The exploration is actually so good I constantly held my breath going deeper into unexplored sections of space not knowing if I was going to be welcome, find relief or walk right into the hands of a predator of this space jungle. It is also painful since you cannot tell if you're wasting your time with a path, but so rewarding when it does lead you to something. The plot really impressed me. It burned its way into my mind to become something to think about for very long. The way the plot is revealed to us is done so tastefully and without a lot of handholding. It further reinforces the nature of deep dark space where there is nothing to rely on for mentorship. The combat was fun. To me it was really satisfying. Figuring out how to fight different types of enemy ships gave them character which is otherwise hard to show. That alone gave you a sort of idea into how those races function. I enjoyed meeting different alien races. Sometimes it led to more trouble, sometimes another friendly face in this foreign space. But each time without fail - a lot of intrigue into their nature. Diplomacy is limited, your options are limited. The quests were interesting for the most part, but there were a few that were a pain to chase. Overall, thank you for making this game. It's earned a sweet spot in me.

A fun space adventure. I enjoyed the story. The alien species could have been more fleshed out.