So, Starfield was a disappointment (in my opinion). The story isn't interesting. The lore and world-building do not make sense. The game mechanics do not mesh together. (And it doesn't run well on the Steam Deck.)

But the promise of Starfield? The big space game? The big space RPG where you can play as Captain Reynolds type character? That's something I can get behind. I want to traverse space, visit different planets, get lost, meet interesting characters, solve their problems, and shoot some stuff. Two games come to my mind when I think of this:

No Man's Sky
Mass Effect

I've only played a few hours of No Man's Sky, but I think it does space traversal well. To put it bluntly, flying from planet to planet without interruption is better than fast travel. But the gameplay loop did not

Mass Effect nails the space adventure side of things. You visit multiple interesting places, you meet different people with curious problems, and you solve these problems (mainly by shooting). But it's a typical Bioware game: The places you visit are small and confined, and there are (comparatively) few of them. The space traversal is done by clicking a few buttons in a menu.

My question is: Are there any “big space games”? Are there any games that deliver on the promise of Starfield? What are your favourite sci-fi RPGs?

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[–] NerfHerder@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago

SpaceBourne 2

SpaceBourne 2 is a single-player, open-universe RPG and third-person shooter game with an abundance of features, including role-playing, mining, trading, piracy, crafting, and deep exploration. The story picks up where it left off in SpaceBourne, but now the player's goal is to build a new empire in the galaxy, with the methods of doing so being completely up to the player.

[–] korendian@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I know there has been some controversy around it, but Star Wars Outlaws might be worth a look.

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not.

[–] korendian@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Why not? Seems like a fun adventuring game that lets you travel from planet to planet solving problems/doing tasks for people. Seems similar to what the OP is looking for.

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not fun and the writing is bad.

[–] korendian@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Fun and bad writing are subjective. Would you care to be more specific on why it's not good?

[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago

Not really, there's plenty of reviews out there. I just don't think that someone who found Starfiield to be mid will find Outlaws any better.

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 4 points 2 weeks ago

star trek online. you could technically warp to destinations rather than fast travel but it would be hard to keep that up and ignore them. It even has a race event where the ships have to visit major planets and locations and it even allows for transwarps but because of the race nature you at best can use it for a shortcut or two to optimize the path. They used to have events with hourly rotations and just being up and watching the space map was sorta neat as you would see all these ships trying to do the race. They switched to a format where people could choose it more whenever they want though so it lost that particular community effect.

[–] fadingembers@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's loosely in the same genre but you may like Rebel Galaxy. It takes a slightly different approach to space combat making it closer to naval warfare. Very enjoyable soundtrack.

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[–] aphonefriend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

Haven't seen anyone mention Starpoint Gemini. Warlords was probably the best iteration. Kinda like Eve but single player and a half way decent story.

[–] lath@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Not really what is looked for here in most ways, but there's Parkan.

I have little to say other than it exists.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm commenting late, but there is The Precursors which does require Slavjank tolerance, but if you have it, it provides an interesting flavor on a space opera adventure.

I also haven't tried The Tomorrow War which seemingly requires even higher Slavjank tolerance, and probably isn't a top of all time game, but seems interesting if you like peering into strange forgotten games. Warlockracy did a video of this one.

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[–] MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Still in early access, and not very pleasant to looking at first glance, but Ostronauts is a start from scratch go anywhere and solve problems space game. On my first play I was pulled over but the cops for salvaging without a license only for the cop to write me a ticket and then start flirting with me. I got his number. Make sure you can cover the cost of the ticket and docking fees before you dock or they won't let you undock. Flight mechanics are very real and you quickly feel like your piloting a space jalopy. RPG system is great too. You unlock skills that level as you use them and need to repair components as they can break down. Slow development by I think one guy, but a work of love for sure.

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