Worth getting Nexus first?

[Dreamsurfer]

I thought I would get that one first since it came out earlier. I know the storylines are separate but do I gain something else by playing that first?

[Scrogdog]

No because the two stories are completely independent wrt each other and there are no re-occurring characters, etc.

The only reason in my mind to start with Nexus is so that you see the progression in terms of game mechanics and QOL stuff that Unknown Space has when you play it.

If you do it the other way around, then you may find yourself missing features from Unknown.

[Darke]

Originally posted by Scrogdog:

The only reason in my mind to start with Nexus is so that you see the progression in terms of game mechanics and QOL stuff that Unknown Space has when you play it.

If you do it the other way around, then you may find yourself missing features from Unknown.

Yeah, as someone to played from day one early access for both; the only reason to play Nexus first is so that you don't get annoyed about how less 'polished' or lacking in features it is compared to it's sequel.

They're both good games, but dev's increasing skill, and polishing time from building on an existing engine, make the second one more pleasant to play, even though the mechanics are pretty similar.

[Dreamsurfer]

I was thinking it could have more content as well? Given that it has been around for longer? Some of the complaints in the reviews here talk about lack of stuff to do but I don't know if that is correct.

[Kypamop]

I've bought both games a week ago. Finished Nexus, now I'm somewhere in the end of Unknown Space.
And I think that Nexus is better gameplay-wise.
There are less mechanics, ships look clunky, shipbuilding is much more simplified, but it is not bad as for me. You do not need these ugly wings on every ship, armor boosts modules around it so you don't need to overburden ship with armor on the edges, etc.
And you got enough research points to try everything.
And the story is way more straightforward, you are not overburdened with 10 missions at once.
Crew mechanic looks good on paper in Unknown Space, but in the end it adds only RND and you have to savescum to do what you want to do.

If the developer works on all of these issues (and there are many more) and somehow fixes them all, Unknown Space would become a better game than Nexus.
But for now it is not.

So go get Nexus and try it first.

[A Magnet]

I wish I could go back and play Nexus first, not because of the story, more because the mechanics of Nexus aren't as polished as Unknown Space. When I tried to play Nexus I didn't get very far because I was missing some QoL features.

I would eagerly pay full price for a remaster, I could tell the things I love most about this game are there too

[Dreamsurfer]

Still might be worth it at that low price. I can always get this later.

[Alan]

Originally posted by Dreamsurfer:

Still might be worth it at that low price. I can always get this later.

Coming across this topic as I look into buying SCU, I'll note that Nexus was a fine game for the sale price but I probably wouldn't buy it at full price. If (as noted by prior posters) it's not necessary for knowing the SCU story, perhaps wait for it to be on sale. IMO, Nexus's biggest weaknesses were
1. Lack of direction it was often very easy to fun into points where there was no indication what to do next and then spend hours just flying around hoping to run into some hint.
2. Difficult to figure out the trading system, though trading becomes fairly pointless pretty quick, because getting resources is super easy.
3. Not being able to expand your ship outward without rebuilding half the ship was annoying if you didn't specifically plan your design with expansion in mind.

That said, I still got several dozen legit hours enjoyment out of it (subtracting the hours of frustrated searching).