Recent reviews by gun spy

I believe in the potential of KSP 2, but Early Access is not an excuse for fundamental, bare minimum features to break the game.

PREFACE -

I played KSP back when the game crashed if you even got to space. I've been around a LONG time and have played a LOT of KSP. It got boring, even with mods as they are often broken, unmaintained messes. I was hoping KSP 2 could be the solution. I known the pain points of KSP 1 well. I'm invested in KSP 1 and will be in KSP 2. I will be harsh on a game I care about.

ISSUES -

1. The biggest issue is saving ships sometimes doesn't work and sometimes completely destroys an entire save game. I worked for hours on a deep space tug with multiple vehicles and for no reason, saving it doesn't work, I can't launch any ships, and the entire save of that game is useless. Several hours wasted.

2. The vehicle editor is insanely buggy. Discarding parts doesn't work literally half the time, if not more. Symmetry, while in theory better, doesn't know what you're trying to be symmetrical to often times. Saving ships with different names in the same workspace is either immensely confusing or completely broken. Looking under payload fairings is broken. Sometimes ships just don't load right until you restart. The camera system sometimes centers around things weirdly. If you have multiple vehicles in one workspace, don't expect camera centering to work at all.

3. The nav ball is fine, but it's missing a few features. There's no indicator to tell the user what your input is actually doing, which is super important for docking. If I'm pressing I/K or J/L, show me that little indicator that KSP 1 had showing where your ship was trying to go. It's crucial for docking. I wish the nav ball was centered but that's a knit pick.

4. There's just a general lack of things to do because the game doesn't even have a comparable parts list to KSP 1. While some of that is fine, science isn't in the game yet so why have science parts, other absences aren't OK. You almost need robotics to make large ships viable and we don't have those. We NEED larger fairings and we don't have them.

5. Auto strut is not there so everything is a broken, wet noodle. Again, KSP 2 prides itself on bigger parts but hasn't provided the features needed to make that functional whatsoever.

GOOD THINGS -

1. The game looks and sounds great. The visuals are nice (I haven't played modded KSP in years, I have no visual mods to compare to) and the sounds is drastically better.

2. The UI is... new... but has potential to be better in the long run. From the VAB buttons to the nav ball, it all seems like it will be better when the game gets fleshed out.

3. They are clearly trying to add a different, more difficult, and long term route of end game play for players who want that, which I appreciate. It's just not there yet.

CONCLUSION -

Should you buy this game right now? Probably not. It's not a $50 Early Access title. It's a $25 Early Access title right now. It's buggy beyond enjoyment and grossly unfriendly to anybody without significant experience. However, I bought this in Early Access knowing what I was getting in to. I believe the game will get better, but it's not there yet. If you are OK waiting around for things to get better, go for it. Seeing things come together is fun and I enjoyed that process in KSP 1 Alpha and Beta. If you expect a good experience Day 1, hold off for a while.

^^^ Review from 25 Feb 2023. Listed as Not Recommended. ^^^

I will update this review each time I think it needs revision.

Solid game if you like management and planning. It's early access so I don't expect a full or polished game, but even still, it's been good.

Pros:
-Gameplay is largely well paced and engaging
-Performance, feel, and usability are solid
-Lots of potential for future updates with a strong mechanical foundation

Cons:
-Steep learning curve. The built in tutorials are good but you really struggle for a while to learn how everything fits together and what things do.
-In game UI is not fast or fun to navigate. Hot bar and clearer method of navigating research, items list, etc. would be nice.
-Repetitive. Much of the game feels the same for the moment. Most of the challenge comes from finding ways to automate things better but that begins to feel the same at times.

Feature Requests:
-Naming storage, machines, etc. would make planning and navigating big arrays of machines much easier
-Item disposal would be nice. Especially early-mid game I end up with more than I need of something and it stops up an entire production line.
-More to do with your mech. Eventually it becomes impractical to use for anything but movement. Would be cool if it had some uses only it could do later in the game waiting for some research to finish for example.

Lots of promise to this game and I am genuinely surprised. If you like that early game feel, this is a good pick. If not, wait a bit of time for it to flesh out.

This game makes my ♥♥♥♥ rock hard

So apparently the new EULA was basically Take Two ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ you in the ass. Even after the price hike, they are stealing your info and selling it. I've owned the game for many years, since well before it was on Steam. It's a shame it ended this way.

Praise be to Sir Swag.
Embrace the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.