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[WillyFive]

This game excites me more than any console game at the moment.

If only the top screen of my DS wasn't broken....(I'm pretty much playing Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon blind).

 

[Perfect Blue]

I really want this. Platinum hasn't disappointed me yet.

 

[Gerald]

I just tried that Chapter 8 battle again and I just can't find any way to get past it. When one of you obsessive types manages to clear that stage, hit me up. I need some Pro Tips.

 

[matmanx1]

Just did my first ship remodel and I can see myself becoming addicted to it. I really like the way they handled slotting in the modules as it really feels like you are "building" your ship. I also swapped around a couple of crew members after looking closer at their stats and while that's a simpler task I appreciate the depth it brings.

Final thought for this post; the music in this game is very, very good. It really makes the battles feel epic and it's doing alot to increase my enjoyment of the game. So far so good!

 

[Tiktaalik]

To what degree does ship modelling affect the combat? How does it work with the rock/paper/scissors model?

 

[Foxix Von]

Damnit I thought this was still out there in terms of date. I thought I still had time to reserve it and of course like assholes gamestop only sent 1 copy to my store. That copy however is reserved =/

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Posting because I can't subscribe to the thread normally due to beta layout

I'm wondering if I should pick this up before my Amazon Prime trial dries up at the end of the month or if I should wait for a price drop. What are the chances of that latter one happening anytime soon?

 

[Gerald]

To what degree does ship modelling affect the combat? How does it work with the rock/paper/scissors model?

Remodeling a ship can affect combat drastically. In addition to the RPS stuff, you also have range and ship movement to take into account. If your ship can fire at long range thanks to enhancements you've made to your bridge and such, you can play the distance game and pick off opposing ships with normal shots to wear them down. (The AI usually dodges at range, so a barrage is a waste unless you're using one immediately after an enemy attack.)

You're inevitably going to take some damage in combat, though, so choosing to enhance your defense is a good option.. armor vs. shields, mobility for dodging, whatever. It's up to you. Or you can fly more lightly defended ships and use those customization slots for training rooms and laboratories that increase the experience gains for your crew.

Those kinds of decisions make the fleet customization my favorite part of IS.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

I also picked up my reserve from Gamestop today. I played through the tutorial, intro sequence and made to the first

Spoiler

space station

before I had to tuen it off and focus on work.

I like it, a lot. I love the voices calling out your attacks during battle. I love all the technical jargon being thrown about when you start to land somewhere. Awesome stuff so far. Definitely looking forward to diving into this and customizing my ships & crews.

 

[Llyranor]

Got my copy! Putting FFXIII temporarily aside for today to give this a decent test drive.

 

[Vyse The Legend]

Only played an hour, but I'm enjoying it. It looks like there are a lot of optional sidequests and the game rewards "backtracking", which I love a lot.

 

[mjc]

I should have this on Friday, god willing. I'm gonna try and finish some console games before delving into it though.

 

[Mejilan]

3 packages from Amazon yesterday.
5 packages from Amazon today.

Alas, no Infinite Space yet. Tomorrow then!

 

[duckroll]

Since there were several requests of what I thought about the game, I'll just repost my import impressions from the old thread here:

While I was playing the game

Okay, I'm in Chapter 3 now after putting in about 5 hours into the game. I understand the game a lot more now so I can give proper impressions. Not sure if anyone really cares judging from the responses (or lack thereof) in the thread so far but I'll give it a shot anyway.

I can say for sure that anyone expecting a "RPG" from this game will be disappointed and I honestly hope Sega will promote it as something else when it is released in the US. Adventure or Simulation would definitely be more fitting. That said, it's a really good game!

It's best to think of the game as a visual novel adventure for all the story sequences (which means sometimes there is an event still, and most of the time you're looking at the portrait of a character talking with a background still in the background, and sometimes you'll get to pick decisions) while the rest of the game is a space simulation.

You need design plans before you can build a ship or install a module, and you find these plans either through the story, a sidequest, or buying them from planets which have industrial offices that sell plans. You can only build/customize your ships on planets which have a orbital factories, so you can't do it on every planet.

You recruit crew members through the storyline as well as through sidequests and optional events. They are all named characters and have their own personalities and substories. Think of it as Suikoden, but in space. Characters have stats and stuff which will help you determine where to best place them on your fleet. There's a huge amount of roles you can assign characters to in the game, but it's not really overly complicated - but rather something that gives you the feel that everyone can have a responsibility on the crew. As long as a character is equipped as a crew member, they will gain exp in battles and level up. I like to think of the ships as the characters (in a normal RPG), and the crew members and modules as accessories/equipment you equip.

Battles are rather simple but effective, and simple doesn't mean they're easy either, just that you don't have a gazillion options to play around with and tactics can be obvious but timing is still important. You have an ATB bar that builds up and it has 3 levels: Green, Yellow, Red. There is also a side-view panel showing the distance between your fleet and the enemy fleet, as well as your attacking range. You can set your fleet to either be moving forward, backward or standing still at any time during the battle it doesn't cost anything.

When the ATB's green bar fills up, you can empty it to put your fleet on evasive mode, this will last until you make your next command. When in evasive mode, if the enemy uses "Fire all cannons" on any of your ships, you'll evade it, but it doesn't do jack shit for regular attacks. When your bar turns yellow, you'll be able to do a regular attack which fires a single volley of all weapons. If you let your bar turn red, you can drain it all for a "Fire all cannons" attack which fires 3 volleys of all your weapons. But remember, while this is effective, it can also be evaded by the enemy if they are able to.

There are other options which open up in battle later on in terms of special commands characters can make (think Valkyria's Orders) or you can even do boarding attacks which are rock-paper-scissors-ish. Mostly the battles create a very good feel of simulating space battles, without making them too complicated. It could be more complex and more strategic, but I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with how they are in the game. Especially since there are random encounters when you travel between worlds, making it simple might actually be better in the long run.

Outside of customization and battles, the gameplay also revolves around the star map. The star maps are basically like a menu driven World Map system, except while travelling between planets you can get into random encounters. The game has no "dungeons" or anything to speak of, instead each chapter in the game involves your fleet getting involved in some incident in the star system you're in, and you travel from world to world talking to people and you'll get missions to travel to different places to get information and/or find something/someone. Aside from random battles there are also story battles, etc.

As the story grows, you begin to encounter more people and learn more and more about the large and detailed worldview crafted for the game. It's a lot like Mass Effect in that sense, where it's an epic space opera adventure, and you get more and more involved and the history and scope of the universe grows larger. The difference here is, since you're the captain of a spaceship, as your crew grows larger and your fleet of ships grow in both size of fleet and size of the actual ships, you definitely get a good sense of being more involved in the events of the universe and growing in both fame and responsiblity.

Basically, everyone who loves space stuff should DEFINITELY check out this game when it's out in English.

Man, this game is pretty dangerous for anyone playing with a single save slot. I've encountered several places where you can save only to be trapped in an unbeatable situation since you can't buy new ships or change weapons or anything. Lucky for me, I play with at least 4 save slots. Lol. Good thing I never turned on that auto-save feature. Total trap.

I actually had to load an hour old save earlier because I found myself trapped in a battle against a Carrier I simply couldn't beat because my anti-air defense sucks balls and I have no interceptors to fight off the attacking fighters. Anyway after I bought a new Cruiser which actually had a catapult, and installed hanger bays on it, it went fine after that. Finally got to chapter 5! ^_^

I beat the game. Took about 47 hours. Really good game. I had a great time and I loved the story and characters. It's very story driven though, gameplay-wise there's nothing particularly special, but it's still fun. The game is mostly a vehicle for the player to experience a great space opera story, and much of the satisfaction comes from the story as well as from the things you can influence in the story in terms of choices, crew members, which ships to build and customize, etc. I definitely wouldn't classify this as an RPG honestly, it's really more of just an adventure visual novel with playable ship battles. Definitely recommended for anyone looking for a good sci-fi story though.

Stuff I posted recently in response to questions

Yeah I think this thread is just about it. No one really cared about the game then, and not many people care about it now. Shouta is the only other person I talked to who played the game. The combat isn't bad, but it's also not very varied. There are some battles which offer something a little different, but most of them are very straightforward after you're familiar with the mechanics in the game. It feels like random encounters in most JRPGs with simple battle systems, once you know what commands work best you pretty much just do the same over and over in every battle to win.

Like I said before, this isn't really what most people will expect out of a "RPG" and I'm sure it will not only sell very poorly, but not review very well across the board. It's mostly an adventure game, visual novel style, with battles and ship/fleet customization thrown in. The story, characters and universe is very vast, and there's a good amount of detail put into the game given the budget. As expected most of the game is text driven, and it takes a certain sort of gamer to really appreciate what the game has to offer. For those gamers though, I think the game fills a craving which isn't explored much in games at all.

Mass Effect is the only other game franchise in modern gaming which I feel tackles that niche. KotOR, Xenosaga, Star Ocean, etc don't really cut it at all as far as real space opera potential is concerned.

It's been almost a year since I played the game, so I'm mostly working from memory here in terms of how I remember the game. Customization and the ships you use in your fleet does have an impact on battles, but ultimately the variety of customization falls victim to optimization.

It's a common problem I see in many RPG and simulation games in general. Even though the game gives your a large number of absolute options in terms of what you can outfit your fleet with and what parts you can put on each ship, it reaches a point where you start to just balance aesthetics with optimized components.

This might not be so obvious when the game is still introducing new classes of ships and new sorts of weapons or systems, because any curious player will tend to do a lot of experimentation at this stage. But once you are familiar with how battles work, and you generally know what sort of configurations is best suited for a fleet, it's a lot less appealing to go out of your way to "customize" a weaker configuration when you know what is more or less optimal.

I know I'm making it sound very bland and poorly balanced, but I don't really feel that is true at all. When I was actually playing the game I enjoyed buying and customizing ships a lot, it's just that for a long game (took me almost 50 hours to complete) it's rare for the gameplay systems to really hold up all the way to the end and still remain fresh.

I will say this though, if you're a fan of space operas, and basically spaceships in general, then it is very hard to imagine that the game will disappoint on a content level. There are TONS of ships in the game, every faction and nation has their own distinctive designs for the various ship classes, some are very striking even considering DS 3D graphics. There are flagships, there are unique ships you associate with specific characters, and each faction or nation has distinctive styles of designs for their ships just like in any good sci-fi worldview.

Being able to either see ships you like in a cutscene, or fight them in a battle, and then later be able to get the plans to build those ships to fit into your fleet is very rewarding if you're into that. I think I've mentioned this before, but the ships definitely feel like visible equipment in RPGs, where sometimes you might use something which isn't as strong but looks cool and you complement it with bonus accessories to make up for that.

I wanted Infinite Space to be a really, really in-depth simulation RPG with tactical ship combat, complete fleet control, tons of detailed customization which has impact on diplomacy, trade, etc.

Instead, I got a much more personal character drive space opera story with more focus on development of the universe's history, cultures and civilizations. The political intrigue of many different worlds and star systems. A journey of a young man who seeks to explore the stars and discover mankind's purpose in the universe. And so on. I definitely recommend the game for fans of sci-fi, despite the shortcomings of the gameplay systems, because ultimately it is already so much more than what we usually get in terms of sci-fi games. That's not to say I am lowering my standards, but I think fans of scifi will understand what I'm saying if they do give the game a shot. It's a very different sort of game, but something that is still unique in the genre. That takes ambition and courage to make.

Hope that helps clear up stuff for people wondering about what the game is like.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I'm going to buy this one blind. I haven't used my DS in a while. I have a nasty habit of not finishing my DS games.

 

[Freyjadour]

Since there were several requests of what I thought about the game, I'll just repost my import impressions from the old thread here:

While I was playing the game

Stuff I posted recently in response to questions

Hope that helps clear up stuff for people wondering about what the game is like.

Great stuff. Thanks.

Reviews have really let me down of late on JRPGs. Been leaning more and more on first hand impressions and opinions.

 

[duckroll]

Posting because I can't subscribe to the thread normally due to beta layout

I'm wondering if I should pick this up before my Amazon Prime trial dries up at the end of the month or if I should wait for a price drop. What are the chances of that latter one happening anytime soon?

You can still subscribe to the thread. Even if the drag down is broken, you can find the "Subscribe" link at the bottom left corner of the page.

 

[vareon]

My current backlog and financial conditions prevented me from buying this game now Hopefully I can still get it later.

 

[ag-my001]

This game is sounding interesting; from all the impressions and mention of "space opera", I've now got the image of Banner of the Stars stuck in my head. How limited will the availability be? Should I give up hope of ever finding it if I don't order on-line now and put it at the end of my backlog?

 

[qizah]

Sounds interesting, tempted to get it eventually.

I still have M&L and Spirit Tracks to complete lol.

 

[Shouta]

Only played an hour, but I'm enjoying it. It looks like there are a lot of optional sidequests and the game rewards "backtracking", which I love a lot.

It's ok in that regard, but the complaints of no quest and mission log is pretty valid if that German magazine mentioned it. It's one of my biggest complains with the game. With as much stuff as there is to fly around and poke your nose into, not being able to check up where you are or what you're doing is pretty bad. It means you can't put the game down and come back to it later because you won't know where you are or what happened if you forgot.

 

[Cow Mengde]

I wanted Infinite Space to be a really, really in-depth simulation RPG with tactical ship combat, complete fleet control, tons of detailed customization which has impact on diplomacy, trade, etc.

Yeah, this was kinda what I was hoping for; Uncharted Waters in space. I was silently hyped for the game, and since it's in Japanese, I figured it would be pointless to worry about the details until it's in English. Media blackouts might not be such a good idea.

I might give it a rent and see.

 

[WreckTheLaw]

I broke down and picked it up while I was out today, hoping to get back in time to cancel my Amazon order. I did not get home in time for that, so now I'll have two copies as of tomorrow.

Anyway, impressions: I'm at the first "major" fight now, and it's the first time I've even come close to a loss. I'm fine with that, because I have a feeling that in about five - ten hours I'll hit another similar wall when more mechanics unlock. The combat is simple, but christ I love the way Yuri and Nia shout commands to the no-names lining up shots and dodging incoming barrages.

I love ship building. Even with what few modules I have available, I toyed with it all for quite some time. I'm pleased that there's a module devoted to making you money just by traveling (equipping cargo holds automatically pays you money every time you dock.) It means that money grinding won't just be left to finding and smashing random encounters - hell, you could build a fleet filled with cargo holds and rake in the cash. It actually feels, mechanically, like something out of M:TG, L5R, or some other CCG. In fact, the simple mechanics with dozens of subtle twists via modules/crew feels like that all together.

I'm curious as to why I can't keep Nia in her own ship and have Yuri captain the new destroyer. Maybe I can and I can't figure it out? Also, I'm curious where I'm actually keeping the ships I own but that aren't in my fleet proper? Thoughts?

 

[Foxix Von]

Managed to snag the only other copy in town. Got home and played for maybe 15 minutes. Just enough to get past the tutorial and see Nia kick some butt and then my battery died :lol So far I think I like it. Not really sure if I get the timing of the combat yet, but so far it's good.

In fact I would say the dialogue alone in those 15 minutes, technobabble and all, is so many leagues less stupid than FFXIII's that in some weird way it almost compensates for it.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Wait, this game has random battles?

 

[Lafiel]

This game is sounding interesting; from all the impressions and mention of "space opera", I've now got the image of Banner of the Stars stuck in my head. How limited will the availability be? Should I give up hope of ever finding it if I don't order on-line now and put it at the end of my backlog?

It's a sega game, you probably shouldn't have any trouble finding it in 2-3 months or so. In fact, you'd probably be able to get it for half the price.:lol

 

[duckroll]

I'm curious as to why I can't keep Nia in her own ship and have Yuri captain the new destroyer. Maybe I can and I can't figure it out? Also, I'm curious where I'm actually keeping the ships I own but that aren't in my fleet proper? Thoughts?

I don't quite understand what you mean. You select one ship in your fleet to be the flagship, and that is where your entire main crew is. You don't assign characters to roles on every individual ship. As far as keeping ships go, I don't remember having a ton of ships not in my fleet. I remember having a limit on the number of ships you can have in your fleet, which opens up. I didn't have a ton of money at first, so to build and outfit more ships I generally had to sell the one I was planning to replace anyway. Since you can only change formations and stuff on planets with space ports, I guess you store them in a warehouse somewhere, it's not that hard to deliver a ship across ports given how such worlds are generally in safe range of void gates.

 

[WreckTheLaw]

I don't quite understand what you mean. You select one ship in your fleet to be the flagship, and that is where your entire main crew is. You don't assign characters to roles on every individual ship. As far as keeping ships go, I don't remember having a ton of ships not in my fleet. I remember having a limit on the number of ships you can have in your fleet, which opens up. I didn't have a ton of money at first, so to build and outfit more ships I generally had to sell the one I was planning to replace anyway. Since you can only change formations and stuff on planets with space ports, I guess you store them in a warehouse somewhere, it's not that hard to deliver a ship across ports given how such worlds are generally in safe range of void gates.

Ah, okay. I didn't realize the way crew worked. So now that I've moved out of the Daisy, that's it? It can't even be in my fleet?

Wait, this game has random battles?

Yeah, far as I can tell you are occasionally jumped in between planets/destinations. Plus there seems to be a healthy amount of side quests. I do really wish that there were a quest log... but I'll live. I will say that the IGN reviewer who claimed that the module shop doesn't list what modules do seems to be out of his head. The stat ups are RIGHT THERE. Man.

 

[Gerald]

I can't believe this. I went back and tried AGAIN and that chapter 8 battle is still looming before me like an impassible wall.

Seriously impossible. I don't have a much earlier save, I'm stuck.

 

[Lafiel]

I can't believe this. I went back and tried AGAIN and that chapter 8 battle is still looming before me like an impassible wall.

Seriously impossible. I don't have a much earlier save, I'm stuck.

Curious - how many save slots does this game have?

 

[duckroll]

Ah, okay. I didn't realize the way crew worked. So now that I've moved out of the Daisy, that's it? It can't even be in my fleet?

You know, I can't really remember. I can remember the story and all, but the early gameplay stuff doesn't register very well because by the end of the game I had spent so much more time with the fully unlocked systems and options that the early stuff is just sort of all vague. Sorry.

Curious - how many save slots does this game have?

It should have 5 slots.

 

[soldat7]

I'm a bit worried about the lack of a mission log. I tend to put my handheld games down for long stretches of time.

 

[WreckTheLaw]

Curious - how many save slots does this game have?

Five plus an autosave slot. I do my best to save every 30 minutes on top of the auto save.

 

[Foxix Von]

Curious - how many save slots does this game have?

Errr... it's either 4 or 5 with the 5th or 6th slot being an autosave slot.

Edit: beaten. And with more accurate info. Darn...

 

[duckroll]

Five plus an autosave slot. I do my best to save every 30 minutes on top of the auto save.

I made it a point to always keep a save at the start of the current chapter. It's a good habit because that way, in a worst case scenario like if you fuck yourself up with the autosave or whatever other save slot, you will at most have to restart at the beginning of the chapter you're in.

 

[Gerald]

I kept multiple saves, but up until this fight in Chapter 8 I've been rolling along with no trouble, so I stopped keeping backup saves. I've got one that's like 3 chapters back, but I don't see how grinding would help me beat this battle.

I already have the best battleships, carriers, and destroyer configurations available. (I can afford all the ships and modules, so it's not like I'm missing a possible upgrade.)

 

[duckroll]

I kept multiple saves, but up until this fight in Chapter 8 I've been rolling along with no trouble, so I stopped keeping backup saves. I've got one that's like 3 chapters back, but I don't see how grinding would help me beat this battle.

I already have the best battleships, carriers, and destroyer configurations available. (I can afford all the ships and modules, so it's not like I'm missing a possible upgrade.)

Which battle is this you're having trouble with? I'll see if I remember how I beat it. Use spoiler tags of course.

 

[Calavera520]

Cool, been looking forward to it. Has a sort of 'Ender's Game' feel. At least I hope it does.

 

[jaundicejuice]

Been looking forward to this game for a while now, not quite as intently as 7th Dragon, but Infinite Space has been on my radar for a while. Given that Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey comes out soon and all other games will fall by the wayside when that game hits I may simply wait to play Infinite Space given it's lack of a mission log. I want to devote my full attention to the game so this thread may come lurching back from the dead when that happens.

 

[Gerald]

Which battle is this you're having trouble with? I'll see if I remember how I beat it. Use spoiler tags of course.

Chapter 8.

Spoiler

It's the fight where you finally face the Lugovalian fleet. Valantin (#1 ranked Zero-G Dog) comes in and blasts the giant enemy capital ship, weakening it. Even in its weakened state, it still blows me up. I can't barrage it because it always dodges, unless I wait for it to shoot first. But when I have dodge up, it just blasts me with Normals. It has longer range than I do, even with my range maxed out, so I can't just pepper it from long range like I do in most battles. It's the only fight that I can't seem to beat no matter what ship configuration I bring. The most annoying part is that I can have 3 ships, but one HAS to be the NPC ship, and the NPC leaves before this battle. UGH!

 

[C-Jo]

I know almost nothing about this game, other that it's in the mail and on its way.

Now where's 7th Dragon?

 

[duckroll]

Chapter 8.

Spoiler

It's the fight where you finally face the Lugovalian fleet. Valantin (#1 ranked Zero-G Dog) comes in and blasts the giant enemy capital ship, weakening it. Even in its weakened state, it still blows me up. I can't barrage it because it always dodges, unless I wait for it to shoot first. But when I have dodge up, it just blasts me with Normals. It has longer range than I do, even with my range maxed out, so I can't just pepper it from long range like I do in most battles. It's the only fight that I can't seem to beat no matter what ship configuration I bring. The most annoying part is that I can have 3 ships, but one HAS to be the NPC ship, and the NPC leaves before this battle. UGH!

Oooooooooooooooh.

Spoiler

You're basically at the mid-point fight of the game. It's meant to be hard. Have you tried using a carrier and engaging the main ship with fighters, while you evade and close in for close range combat? Range battling isn't always the best option either. You can try that, and while evading, as long as you always have 2 command levels when it pulls off a normal attack, return with a normal attack and then evade immediately and wait again. If it ever does a barrage, return a barrage immediately. As long as you can survive his normal attacks, it shouldn't be too hard. The fighters should wear it down too if you have good fighters.

 

[Gerald]

Oooooooooooooooh.

Spoiler

You're basically at the mid-point fight of the game. It's meant to be hard. Have you tried using a carrier and engaging the main ship with fighters, while you evade and close in for close range combat? Range battling isn't always the best option either. You can try that, and while evading, as long as you always have 2 command levels when it pulls off a normal attack, return with a normal attack and then evade immediately and wait again. If it ever does a barrage, return a barrage immediately. As long as you can survive his normal attacks, it shouldn't be too hard. The fighters should wear it down too if you have good fighters.

Hah. I'm totally sitting here refreshing the page to see what advice you have. I've been stuck on this fight for DAYS and it's so very frustrating. Anyways...

Spoiler

I've tried a carrier, loaded with like 24 of the best anti-ship fighters. The enemy's AA takes them down pretty quickly and my battleship hasn't been able to deal enough damage to take it down before we get blown up.

I've tried doing the dodge-wait for an attack-counter technique, but his normal shots hit me really hard, killing the carrier in like 2 hits, then taking down my battleship. What position do you recommend I put them in? I have them in a straight line, 1-2-3, with 1=battleship, 2=carrier, 3=stupid NPC that runs away. Thanks for your help.

 

[duckroll]

Hah. I'm totally sitting here refreshing the page to see what advice you have. I've been stuck on this fight for DAYS and it's so very frustrating. Anyways...

Spoiler

I've tried a carrier, loaded with like 24 of the best anti-ship fighters. The enemy's AA takes them down pretty quickly and my battleship hasn't been able to deal enough damage to take it down before we get blown up.

I've tried doing the dodge-wait for an attack-counter technique, but his normal shots hit me really hard, killing the carrier in like 2 hits, then taking down my battleship. What position do you recommend I put them in? I have them in a straight line, 1-2-3, with 1=battleship, 2=carrier, 3=stupid NPC that runs away. Thanks for your help.

Hmmm...

Spoiler

Sounds like you need more defensive modules for your ships, and maybe more HP. Also, instead of trying to stay far away from the ship, if you try hugging it really close, you might take less damage because some guns don't work beyond a certain close range. Have you tried putting your best combat NPCs in security roles and trying a boarding attack? I can't remember if it's possible in this fight, but that also helps.

What about special crew member skills? There is a command skill which repairs your ships, would that help? You probably don't have the much stronger version which heals all ships immediately yet, but some of your crew members should have the normal ability to do general repairs.

Sorry, it's been about a year, so I can't offer that much specific advice, other than stuff which should work on tough battles.

 

[Llyranor]

I've been going through this pretty slowly, taking my time, but somehow it's been almost 2 hrs! Random thoughts in no order:

1) The interface is lacking in some ways. Info is too limited (or not displayed where you'd want it to be), and you can't get details on some skills - it's a bit cumbersome. I'm getting by, but I hope it doesn't get more annoying as more stuff gets unlocked.

2) Interface is loads of fun. Customizing your ship, trying to fit in all the modules is a blast. Realize that I'm a huge sucker for ship building.

3) Story/writing is actually pretty interesting so far. Nothing hugely mindblowing, but I'm definitely in the space opera vibe now.

4) Music is nice enough.

5) I'm only past the first warp gate, and the galaxy so far is somewhat multilinear, with a fair amount of branching. Going to local taverns to unveil new info has been enjoyable exploration.

6) So much I want to buy, so little money! I'm trying to save up money for a second ship, but I also want to upgrade my current one with these brand-new awesome modules, but then I also want to recruit some new crew members to enhance the ship. I'm not going to grind for the money (but in a way it's kind of tempting!), but I'm already foreseeing tough decisions in resource management ahead. Which is awesome!

7) Random encounters are a non-issue so far. You'll maybe encounter one or none when travelling from one planet to the next, and more often than not you can simply choose to avoid it altogether.

8) I can already see why the lack of an in-game journal would be annoying. Few rumors here, some story details that might be pertinent for later on, bunch of planet names being conjured up. Can't remember all of that! Strangely enough, I don't even view this as a negative. Instead, I'm going to do what I did in the good old RPG days. I'm going to take pen and paper and jolt down my own notes. As primitive as it is, it should make galaxy exploration much more enjoyable (I use auto-journals when they're available, but there's something to be said about the good old days when I'd take my own notes - somehow makes things more immersive!). Anyway, I can see why some people would be annoyed by it.

9) Combat so far has been fun enough. Does a good job in putting you at the captain's helm, with your tactile input on moving the ship and issuing orders via stylus. It's less of just an simple outright rock-paper-scissors, since you can also see the gauge charge status of your opponent. Do you risk going for normal shots and keep peppering the opponent, or take a wait and see approach while his gauge is charging near red, or opt to barrage him after you've evaded one of his big attacks, or realize he's going into evade mode given his drop in gauge status, or do you pull out of range after you've deal a big attack to avoid retaliation, or just charge right in to put all your weapons in range? I can't attest to its lasting depth/appeal, but it's working pretty well so far. On paper, it sounds pretty shallow, but the reality of the game so far is that ONE barrage destroys my flagship. I thus need to make proper tactical decisions to avoid getting in such a situation at all cost, which I feel may be where the challenge of the combat lies. But we'll see.

Early impressions are fairly positive, in any case.

 

[Gerald]

1) ... and you can't get details on some skills - it's a bit cumbersome.

I believe the in-game help robot has info on every skill you've unlocked. I've also taken the old-school approach and brought out the pen and paper to take notes. An in-game quest log would have been nice, but it hasn't been that big a deal to just jot down the yellow text whenever I encounter it.

 

[Gerald]

Hmmm...

Spoiler

Sounds like you need more defensive modules for your ships, and maybe more HP. Also, instead of trying to stay far away from the ship, if you try hugging it really close, you might take less damage because some guns don't work beyond a certain close range. Have you tried putting your best combat NPCs in security roles and trying a boarding attack? I can't remember if it's possible in this fight, but that also helps.

What about special crew member skills? There is a command skill which repairs your ships, would that help? You probably don't have the much stronger version which heals all ships immediately yet, but some of your crew members should have the normal ability to do general repairs.

Sorry, it's been about a year, so I can't offer that much specific advice, other than stuff which should work on tough battles.

Thanks for the help. Gonna try a new tactic now.

Spoiler

Going in close may work. You can't board on this fight, but perhaps I can get in closer than its minimum range, which may be advantageous for me. I've got all the defensive modules possible on my battleship and carrier for this one, sacrificing all the XP-gain modules for pure battle upgrades.

Wish me luck!

 

[Shouta]

Thanks for the help. Gonna try a new tactic now.

Spoiler

Going in close may work. You can't board on this fight, but perhaps I can get in closer than its minimum range, which may be advantageous for me. I've got all the defensive modules possible on my battleship and carrier for this one, sacrificing all the XP-gain modules for pure battle upgrades.

Wish me luck!

You may also want to try

Spoiler

using more ships rather than one stronger one so that one ship isn't soaking all the damage all the time. Also, dodging until you catch an opening to fire is a good idea but just make sure you have room to dodge again in case you miscalculate the enemy's ATB.

 

[Gerald]

You may also want to try

Spoiler

using more ships rather than one stronger one so that one ship isn't soaking all the damage all the time. Also, dodging until you catch an opening to fire is a good idea but just make sure you have room to dodge again in case you miscalculate the enemy's ATB.

Yeah,

Spoiler

in this battle you're limited to only two ships maximum, since my max fleet size is three and the NPC bails on you. I'm going with a battleship and carrier. Dodging has been painful, though, because this boss seems to love to pepper me with normal shots.

 

[Llyranor]

I was supposed to get some sleep 30 min ago, but spent it recustomizing my ship instead.

Oh yeah, another important point to add: L and R allow you to read through (or skip) text pretty quickly. Pretty essential!