I had huge expectations for this game - in 2023. I had first played Into the Breach, Subset Games' magnum opus, which for me is an indubitable 5/5. When I learnt that ItB had come out of ideas from FTL, another self-contained indie strategy game, my hype for trying this out was considerable, and in that sense I decided to postpone the moment so I could embrace it hungrily some time later. On the other hand, I was really looking forward to finding something similar to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space: ever since I played that game I had never found another strategy/roguelike game set in space with such a fantastical, adventurous vibe.

My experience with FTL has definitely not been bad, but it is not what I expected. To my mind Into the Breach is a more brainy, logical challenge and it is specifically wonderful because the UI and game systems offer a perfect picture of what is going on at every moment, which the player may use in turn to make decisions and lay out strategies. In Faster Than Light, specially when I was learning how to play, the information is not directly there. With a glimpse of the combat screen I was not able to see if my ship was in practice doomed to fail in the next five jumps or if my chosen strategy is going to fall flat earlier than the final boss. I feel like learning how to master FTL (hell, even how to play it) is not on the screen but rather in the space between turns. It is a more indirect meta that you get to absorb through sheer experience and not by play-by-play analysis. I don't dislike that kind of learning processes in games (I am obsessed with Slay the Spire after all) but it affected my fantasy of being the wise, strategic spaceship captain and ultimately was not what I was looking for. Apart from that, the steep learning curve and heavy reliance on randomness didn't help either.

At the same time, FTL has so much going for it. Its beautiful and immersive soundtrack made by Ben Prunty (god tier composer), charming art style and incredible audio design add up as ingredients for a long-lasting indie cult classic. Also I need to mention the achievements, an essential part of the game progression as they are the main condition to unlock ships. Some of them are uncomfortably tied to RNG and became the reason why I invested so many gameplay hours, but most of them are so fun! They really show the good time the devs were having and serve the player as a way to demonstrate that they have understood how secondary mechanics work and that they are able to put them to use. Finally, the additions included in the Advanced Edition should not be ignored: the new systems and crews are not trivial and improve the variability of viable tactics.

I have never watched a single episode of any Star Trek series, but in my mind they must be exactly like an FTL run. Giant alien spiders are no joke.