During PAX West 2019, a lot of gamers got to play a ton of great games. One that I’m particularly interested in is by Rockfish, and it’s called Everspace 2. The sequel to the incredible sleeper hit Everspace, builds on the groundwork from the first title which actually surprised me. The story wasn’t too great, but it’s the engrossing gameplay that kept me and many gamers hooked.
The gameplay in the original is quite striking, not only are the visuals incredible, but the sheer depth is insane. Crafting your experience within the roguelike mechanics is all about using your weapon and ship loadouts effectively. And luckily for those of us who like to tinker, no particular play style is overly encouraged, as the game will often adapt to your choices and loadouts.
That all sounds great, and it looks like Everspace 2 is turning that feeling up to 11. The ship customization and gear loadouts are being made deeper, but easier to understand through changes to UI elements and the like. This makes feeling out what works best for you even easier. And other gameplay changes will move the sequel into a new sub-genre, but not entirely.
Fans have wanted the game to move into a fully-realized universe with RPG elements, rather than the typical roguelike elements. This means that the choices you make in-game are more persistent, and have more impact on the game universe, which some players will no doubt like. I can imagine some players will be turned off by this change, but them’s the breaks I guess. Maybe this game will be my replacement for the disappointingly broken X4: Foundations.
Being one of a long line of Kickstarter-funded titles, Everspace 2 is making a lot of promises that it will have to live up to in some form. Rockfish Games has already established a pretty strong base to build from with the first game in the series, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for the future.
Everspace 2 will come to Steam Early Access next year before migrating to other platforms in 2021. You can see some earlier gameplay for the title down below. Today, the studio announced that the official Kickstarter launch will be delayed until Oct. 2 so keep that in mind.
