Void Bastards

One of my all time fave Roguelites, a 9/10 for me. First played for free on Game Pass, then bought it there to keep playing until I got 100% Then got it on Steam and the DLC and kept playing. The abrupt ending is the main downside, you don't need the final tier unlockables because instead of those you can just end the game, and then no continuation. Still, great music, lovely voice work, good humor, sharp enough mechanics and some fun items all combine to make a right good jaunt through the Sargasso!

[h3] To sum it up briefly: [/h3] You will like this game if you: -like immersive sim elements similar to Bioshock -like scavenging and crafting, but you may not like the game if otherwise -like the narrator from The Stanley Parable -like black comedy -are interested in the comic book art style -are into post apocalyptic space sci-fi themes You will not like this game if you: -hate difficult early games, as your options are severely limited early -play games for it's music to an extent -hate RNG, or rougelikes/roguelites -care a lot about story [h3] Full review and my experience: [/h3] This game is an action fps with immersive sim elements similar to Bioshock. Additionally, the game also has roguelite elements such as procedurally generated star maps showing where vessels are, random character traits, and ironman mode; which turns the game into a true roguelike(if you die, the game deletes your save, and sends you back to the title screen; essentially permadeath). Contrary to the tags, this game is NOT entirely a roguelite/roguelike, if you die, you still keep all of your materials and crafted stuff that you previously scavenged, and your mission progress is retained; you only lose what was scavenged during a board that you died in and oddly; total collected food fuel, and ammo; though you do get a few of those for the new character that replaces the one that died(unless of course, you are playing the aforementioned ironman mode, which has to be unlocked). That being said, it can still be argued that it is a roguelite due to the procedural/random generation. The gameplay loop goes something like this: you are given a mission to scavenge space vessels to craft an object for progressing the game to the next object and so forth. The game generates boardable vessels or other things for you that can help or hinder your mission that you can go to. These boardable vessels contain different materials or parts to collect that can help you achieve your mission, and have random traits to them such as what enemies you encounter, or if a vessel is dark for example. Each vessel does have a static notable thing about them such as engine rooms which will contain fuel, or the maps depending on the vessel. Each vessel map is not entirely randomly generated, but some elements can be deviated, such as a door that cannot be opened, or a fire in a particular location. The appearance of the vessels and it's expected content shown from the star map also give away what vessel map it will be. You also cannot delay your scavenging due to the oxygen mechanic giving you limited time to loot. The materials collected can be crafted into parts, which can then be used to craft gear and the mission required objects. Sometimes different parts themselves can be collected outright without needing to craft them. Other things can also be collected to help you such as fuel to keep moving, and food to heal when you move vessels. The gameplay loop is so fun because of the many encounters you may have to face and account for to progress. For example, you can only take a very limited amount of weapons from your potential arsenal along with ammo if you found and saved up any. That being said, some weapons work very well against some enemies or situations, and some weapons do not. For example, the weapon that works like a taser is great for stunning hostile electronics or turrets because the stun lasts longer on them. Or even the default pistol is great for picking off weaker enemies, and is accurate with plentiful ammo. All these weapons can be upgraded for greater effect. Sometimes, you shouldn't fight enemies or even board a particular vessel at all if it has unfavorable elements. So in a sense, the game has immersive sim elements. Hard bastard difficulty is the best part of Void Bastards as it pressures your decision making, and game knowledge while also being reasonably challenging, even more so with ironman, and crumbling nebula(which makes it so that easier vessels are no longer generated to board over time) mode on. [spoiler]The challenges, which are unlocked after beating the game are also pretty damn fun such as a modifier where enemies are guaranteed to drop crafting materials when killed, incentivizing combat, or a modifier where enemies are stronger but have have limited vision, thus kind of turning it into a stealth game.[/spoiler] The art style is very comic book like, coupled with the gameplay framed within a comic panel, and has 2D characters in a 3D environment coupled with cartoony animations. Onomatopoeia is visualized like *STEP* *STEP* or *mumble* in front of doors, which is pretty cool. I also love the enemy death effects where they explode in to a pile of cartoonish blue gore when defeated. The combat music is extremely repetitive, what's even worse is that it needs to be on so you can tell if there is combat active as not all of the Onomatopoeia or sound effects if they can be heard, is consistent with what can actually be heard. They can even be played when you aren't even fighting them such as an enemy getting electrocuted, which triggers the music. The combat music is also not so great as the loop of them seems to be every 15 seconds, the Krell vessels are especially obnoxious. That being said, you can at least lower the music volume setting but the default setting is pretty loud. As for the sound effects, they are at least somewhat satisfying to a degree and the onomatopoeia compliments them due to it's comic book-esque style. The dialogue should also be noted as the humor is very gallows such as B.A.C.S noting to provide the player with more ammo, or comments that death by asphyxiation is a serious charge, all in a deadpan serious manner, which to me is pretty funny at times. The pirates speak in a very thick accent, and their dialogue always steals the show because of it. The overarching story [spoiler]is bad. It seems like you are working towards something that could potentially benefit you in the end. It's not a happy ending, and even though the ending is gallows in all of it's glory, it really does just feel like you were working towards nothing in the end, which can heavily deter you from even playing another playthrough, let alone care about anything anymore. Sometimes, black comedy is just simply not for everyone, especially the ending which definitely crosses the line thrice at that point[/spoiler]. I do have several other complaints or nitpicks such as the rough early game. you only start with a pistol and 16 bullets, and depending on RNG, you might not get any on your first or second boarding. There is also no guarantee that you may get parts for other weapons, or even know where to start looking unless you make the part locator, which while cheap to make requiring a glow bulb made from a paltry amount of materials, requires materials you need that you may not even get early on. There is also the nature of the game having rogue elements, thus comes the issue with RNG, which may give you a hard time depending on the modifiers of vessels. That being said, in spite of it's flaws, I still really enjoyed playing Void Bastards, and would recommend it to those that like Bioshock, System Shock, or even Prey(2016), but simpler controls, progression, and with roguelike/roguelite elements.