Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector joins its predecessor in my hall of fame, without question. The adventure to their life simulator, while the original splays life out along Erlin's Eye, splattered with choice and hope, vignetted by danger, Starward Vector takes off into that darkness and carves light out of it. Though the two games are fairly different mechanically, here things are more stressful, with more failure states (on Risky or higher difficulty), and more of a dance with the dice than with time management, they share one soul. There is no misstep in either game, for me, in any sense, other than perhaps if you come from 1 to 2, you might not be ready (or interested) in its tougher exterior. Multiple endings for Sleeper in 1 are replaced with multiple endings for your crew in 2, and that sense of imagining how life will be different after each one in 1 manifests instead as a cathartic exhale at the end of 2 when everything you've gone through (certainly more STRESS) is released into the belt.

I just finished the game and I'm emotional-- anyway! To stop with comparisons, CS2 is filled with curiosities, filled with potential, and constantly challenges you to make choices and think through the processes required to see what's on the other side of that curiosity, that potential. And yes of course we want our RPG choices to "matter" and they do have plenty of gameplay impact, but what this game achieves so beautifully is the feeling and fallout of every choice hits with appropriate magnitude and satisfaction (or pain). I'm sure there are ways to RPG-out the fun here, but the stress and the consequence are part of the journey and at no point did I feel like things were artificial or overly brutal. CS2 is a hefty game and you feel that weight throughout the story, especially as its systems promote a strong, adventure narrative to go with its scores of beautiful and tragic stories attached to the spine.

I won't go into the thematics too hard because experiencing what this game is about is essentially *the point* but this (and its predecessor) are the kind of games a lot of folks need right now. It has a lot to say, and there's a lot to feel, and all of that is extremely worth the price of admission. I look forward to the next if there is one~

... See you, Citizen Sleeper