I played this game for some 60 hours once. I had quite a blast, the game is very pretty and the sound design is amazing. The community is/was quite active and helped me get around and showed me how to use some neat 3rd party tools. However, I haven't opened it again since. The release of their odyssey expansion was a complete fluke and it just seems like the devs are throwing away their success. Rather than making their mediocore expansion they should be spending way more time adding interesting events to the game that are accessible and flavorful, instead it just seems like nothing is happening. It seems like over time other space sims will take over and its a bit of a shame

Elite Dangerous is the best space simulator I have played. It's one of those games that doesn't have a clear objective, allowing you to pave your own path and do what you want to do within the game. From mining to hunting space pirates, to exploring the depths of the known galaxy (1:1 scale of the milky way btw), this game has all the different things one might want from a space sim. I know Odyssey is a controversial topic, and I have yet to try it, so I can't give an opinion on the DLC or the VR experience. But with the Horizons DLC, this game gives you so much to do, it's well worth picking it up and giving it a go. Would highly recommend getting a small group of friends to play with you, as going at it alone can be very challenging. Next time I jump into this game, I hope it's with a VR headset and HOTUS to really emerse myself in the Anaconda I've bought and hunt some space pirates. Highly recommend picking this up even if you are remotely interested.

A mystifying product that is firmly niche, but space is so generally appealing that it manages to pull people in from well outside its strike-zone. The process of mastering flight in this game is uniquely satisfying, but the level of engagement with the world around you is shallow, and the developers are far too strict with the game's economy. It does not impact the game whether it takes 50 or 500 hours to max out the best ship, so why make it unnecessarily difficult? There's a point where even the most committed players won't find the ends justify the means.

Vr version is super cool, hotas completely changes the game.

that said, game feels wide but shallow, very very slow development times make ingame events take literal years to develop, i wish the game wasn't instanced (or was at least more persistant) so the game felt more alive, it feels like a dedicated single player game at times. that said, ship combat very cool and thargoid combat is awesome

Engineering is still rough and isn't well implemented for casual players, it relies on login loop abuse to amass materials.

odyssey update: still sucks due to terrible performance and no stealth mechanics

I had come here prepared to say a lot about Elite: Dangerous, but I found myself really not having much to talk about. Elite: Dangerous makes me feel simultaneously freer and more restricted than any other game. The premise is golden. You and your cheap ship are tossed into the middle of a mostly-accurate model of our galaxy and told to go chart your own course. The mere concept tickles the imagination. Being a deep-space explorer, a freighter, a bounty-hunter, a miner - all are possible in the world of Elite. And realistically, that's all that is possible, which is really the game's biggest failing. It is a true sandbox - you make your own objectives, and interact with the game's systems as you go. However, pretty much everything you do in the game is just a glorified way to earn credits, and while you can buy ships with those, you sure as hell can't modify them to any meaningful degree. For that, you'll have to farm materials, because you can't buy materials with credits. And you'll have to farm ranks with the engineers, or they won't let you use those materials. And you'll have to farm ranks with the biggest factions, because they have some of the coolest ships and weapons. Like so many other MMOs, this game is all about the grind, which given the unique setting is a huge letdown. Even the Odyssey update - a way to finally get out of your ship and stretch your legs for a bit - only doubled down on the tedium and didn't give you compelling reasons for going outside in the first place (on top of tanking the performance of an otherwise fairly easy-to-run game). There are various systems in place that ostensibly influence the trajectory of the game's ongoing narrative, but your personal influence on this is by and large never visible and seldom do any major revelations come as a result of these efforts that might entice one to keep playing. A mile wide, an inch deep.

So why do I like this game at all? Because of three things: The flight model is a ton of fun, the universe is cool, and it's incredibly immersive. I can sit down, fire up my favorite ship and go do whatever mundane task tickles my fancy. Sometimes I head out to find undiscovered Earth-like planets so I can stamp my name somewhere out in the black and come home to a big payday. Sometimes I just want to shoot at pirates or do daredevil shit in my Eagle Mk.II. Sometimes I just want to cart space rocks from point A to point B while listening to my playlists. In the meantime, the game does a fantastic job of sucking you into a world that feels and sounds real (the audio design in Elite: Dangerous is top-notch), if ultimately far more static than it would want you to believe. This game is an excellent time-killer for the adventurous - a game that lets you boldly go. Just temper your expectations and recognize that this game endorses a distant future barely any different than the present: A place where, at the end of the day, your contributions are minimal and your routine is as dull as ever.

As an added note: Flight in VR is an experience. I highly recommend you try it at least once if you're not susceptible to motion sickness.