Recent reviews by Smol Floofy Redhead

So. I noticed that people are griping about features that were removed in the older versiojns. I never saw that, and while yes, it does kinda seem like techs suck now, but flying sounds a little on the OP side. Mechs sound fun but aren't too practical for exploration.
Now, I've already completed the story and am now playing through with a second character with some items passed down from the first. Exploring is still fun even though Ive seen every planet. I've barely even tried fishing yet. And sometimes the planets can generate very strangely and give an interesting little surprise with biomes, such as bioluminescense biomes generating in volcanic planets (and ember rain always seems to hit right as I find those, heh) and other biome generation that hilariously breaks logic six ways to Sunday.
For a 2D game, some of the landscapes are downright gorgeous. You almost don't want to destroy them, but sometimes you just gotta get the unique tree type there, especially if the foliage generated in your favorite color. You could spend ages collecting them all just for the hell of it. Also geode biomes. What would be amazingly awesome is if they could generate in other colors.
Weapon progression is alright. Challenge rooms are an excellent source of good weapons, and once you start getting legendary goodies you're generally pretty well off. Personally, I've found 3 Ex Machinas on one character... My luck in video games tends to be very stupid. It's either really good or absolutely horrible. As for armor progression, you actually need to do a bit of work to get the best armor. And unless you want the Perfect Set, you need to actualkly make a decision as to how you want to play and get T5 and T6 armor to match.
If you're the creative type, GET THIS GAME. You'd be amazed at what you can do with a 2D space. Whether you're making pixel art or a home for yourself, the possibilities are endless with all the themes out there.
One of my favcorite features is how mod-friendly this game is. Me, I love mods. There's mods for mechs for those who want that back. There's mods that make the game easier or harder. There's ones that add old features and new techs. There's the Phase Shift tech mod for those who want to fly again (and go through walls and be immune to damage as a result of basically becoming a ghost). Mods that change worldgen. New races. More furniture and cosmetic items. Vehicles. Damn near EVERYTHING. Unless you're the type to prefer vanilla, go check out the Workshop for this game.
To end this off, sure, the story and armor progression can be easily rushed by mining planets of a certain tier, crafting the EPP and armor you can now make with those materials and rush the whole story, the game is far from over when the story's done. You can do whatever the hell you want. Look for planets that break logic and see just how broken it can get. Build the base of your dreams. Pimp out your ship. Catch fish and make an aquarium. Grab critters and make a critter pen. Maybe even try to collect them all and display them. Collect pets. Collect other things. Build massive colonies with furniture looted from dungeons. Get a vehicle and go nuts with it. There's MUCH more to do than gather resources and go through the story.
And hey, it's still better than No Man's Sky!