Stellar Wanderer DX

Runs way better than I expected. The framerate has been consistently smooth for me, even during busier fights with multiple enemies on screen. That alone makes the whole experience feel a lot more enjoyable, especially in a game where movement and shooting matter. Optimization seems pretty solid overall.

Decent Freespace-like for what it is. And what it is, is clearly a PC port of a mobile game. That isn't a bad thing, but it does lead to certain user interface and control quirks common in PC ports of mobile games. Whether that is a dealbreaker is really up to the individual. I like the music and the voice acting, the ship controls are good with most of what you expect in a Freespace-like, and the art direction is very fitting for the setting. What really blew me away was the ambient sounds coming from the various stations, beacons and ships you pass by; it really adds to the immersion! The mission variety is actually a bit more diverse than I was expecting, even if every bounty contract seemed to be for the same three criminals. Ship variety is pretty good as well, with quite a few different ships to fly and collect! Visuals are crisp without sacrificing the retro look of the art style. That said, the game has some pretty big flaws, most of which are common among mobile ports. The UI is very much "Mobile Game UI" that has rather large and oddly placed readouts for a PC game which make it a bit awkward to read on a larger screen. Controller support is good when actually playing but there is no way in game to see controller-specific inputs for several actions; I had to manually press every button on the controller to find out how to use my class abilities. Draw distance is extremely low for a game of this type, with stations, asteroids and other terrain having very noticeable pop-in. Enemy ships also noticeably "teleport" directly next to your ship when the game has decided you need to fight some pirates. Finally, there is some extremely noticeable clipping of the turret asset into your ship asset if you equip your ship with a turret. Most of the above criticisms are pretty standard for mobile ports and is not what I would consider a deal-breaker or even a major flaw; just some rough edges that seem to come with mobile ports. There are three major flaws that I have encountered: 1. There is a collection quest that bugs out and doesn't let you complete it even after collecting everything. The devs are aware and working on it, but it is especially aggravating as the ship you get as a reward is shown to you in the hangar bay of every station you dock in, a constant reminder of the wasted effort of completing the quest. Hopefully this will be fixed shortly! 2. You are railroaded into story missions a little too harshly; there is no refusal or delay option for story quests and you can fail just by entering or exiting a system or station at the wrong time. I wouldn't usually consider this notable but this happens CONTSTANTLY! A little narrative and gameplay breathing room would help a lot. 3. The game crashed to desktop every 45 minutes or so for me. It takes like 20 seconds max to get back in game so I didn't find it too annoying, but I would be remiss not to mention such instability in a review. Overall Stellar Wanderer DX gets a positive recommendation from me! It's rough around the edges, but the devs are active on the forums and the game is about the quality I expect from a $20 mobile port. As long as you go in with reasonable expectations you should have a great time!