If you are the simmy type or like space, Elite Dangerous is insanely good, but has a learning curve up front. It’s the only game I’ve put over 1,100 hours in and still haven’t explored everything.
Subnautica is another game I can highly recommend.
If you wanna play games with friends (Elite is also MP), The Forest is a great game to bond over.
I have 1000 hours in Elite and it’s nowhere near as on rails or limited. It’s set in a full scale Milky Way where you can pick up missions from a station’s bulletin board, hunt pirates, or just pick a direction and jump to make discoveries, spending months alone scanning systems. The game has well developed lore that regularly updates through an in game feed, but it’s mostly background fluff unless you want to strengthen your faction or if there’s a major community event. It’s also a good time to jump in since new ships have been added and the galaxy is rebuilding after the last war event.
It’s not very arcady, and has a bit of a learning curve, though a HOTAS helps a lot. It’s a lot more simulation-esque. Not as much as MSFS, but closer to that end. Combat, exploration, mining, tourism, rescue. It’s a 1:1* replica of the Milky Way in about 1,300 years. Trailer for context: https://youtu.be/YESNObZJTgQ
It will blow your nuts off in VR, especially the Ship Launched Fighters (SLFs). One of the coolest VR experiences I’ve ever had, particularly near the center of the galaxy where the stars are much more dense than in our portion of the Milky Way.
*Some stars had to be removed near the center of the galaxy because they are so close, it makes it nearly impossible to navigate between them. On older computers, the galaxy map in the core of our galaxy will make your computer lag. Yes, we have that many stars IRL.
Different genres. Starfield is mostly you running around on foot, having shootouts, and interacting with people and human-sized environments. The space combat is basically an elaborate mini-game.
Elite Dangerous is mostly about flying space ships around.
Personally, I liked Starfield, though I think that it’s weaker than most prior Bethesda offerings. I stopped playing Elite Dangerous, though I have enjoyed some past space-combat-and-trading games, like Escape Velocity. Just never really hooked me. I didn’t like the Elite Dangerous “faux online multiplayer” thing at all — multiplayer breaking immersion in crafted environments is one thing that I’m not a fan of, and unnecessarily adding that just seemed obnoxious to me. The cockpit UI felt like it was more-oriented towards VR use to me, which may be good if you have a VR headset.
It may make you happy to know that ED has solo mode. Player fleet carriers are still around (as they act as psuedo stations out past the edge of developed space) and the markets are still effected by player actions, but you don’t have to worry about Cmdr Immersion Breaker screaming by in his hot pink jankmobile, or ganking you with it.
It’s also worth noting that compared to the size of the universe in ED, the amount of “crafted” environments is relatively small (but definitely there). The universe is so big that depending on where you are in it, you can also go long periods without encountering other players. It’s a simulation before any sort of RPG.
If you are the simmy type or like space, Elite Dangerous is insanely good, but has a learning curve up front. It’s the only game I’ve put over 1,100 hours in and still haven’t explored everything.
Subnautica is another game I can highly recommend.
If you wanna play games with friends (Elite is also MP), The Forest is a great game to bond over.
Black mesa is another banger.
X4 is on sale as well, if you want something similar to Elite
How does Elite Dangerous compared to starfield? I’m 20 hours into starfield but finding it quite fun.
I have 1000 hours in Elite and it’s nowhere near as on rails or limited. It’s set in a full scale Milky Way where you can pick up missions from a station’s bulletin board, hunt pirates, or just pick a direction and jump to make discoveries, spending months alone scanning systems. The game has well developed lore that regularly updates through an in game feed, but it’s mostly background fluff unless you want to strengthen your faction or if there’s a major community event. It’s also a good time to jump in since new ships have been added and the galaxy is rebuilding after the last war event.
o7 #KRAITKREW
Space sim? How’s exploration compared to no man’s sky?
Mostly combat focused?
It’s not very arcady, and has a bit of a learning curve, though a HOTAS helps a lot. It’s a lot more simulation-esque. Not as much as MSFS, but closer to that end. Combat, exploration, mining, tourism, rescue. It’s a 1:1* replica of the Milky Way in about 1,300 years. Trailer for context: https://youtu.be/YESNObZJTgQ
It will blow your nuts off in VR, especially the Ship Launched Fighters (SLFs). One of the coolest VR experiences I’ve ever had, particularly near the center of the galaxy where the stars are much more dense than in our portion of the Milky Way.
*Some stars had to be removed near the center of the galaxy because they are so close, it makes it nearly impossible to navigate between them. On older computers, the galaxy map in the core of our galaxy will make your computer lag. Yes, we have that many stars IRL.
Different genres. Starfield is mostly you running around on foot, having shootouts, and interacting with people and human-sized environments. The space combat is basically an elaborate mini-game.
Elite Dangerous is mostly about flying space ships around.
Personally, I liked Starfield, though I think that it’s weaker than most prior Bethesda offerings. I stopped playing Elite Dangerous, though I have enjoyed some past space-combat-and-trading games, like Escape Velocity. Just never really hooked me. I didn’t like the Elite Dangerous “faux online multiplayer” thing at all — multiplayer breaking immersion in crafted environments is one thing that I’m not a fan of, and unnecessarily adding that just seemed obnoxious to me. The cockpit UI felt like it was more-oriented towards VR use to me, which may be good if you have a VR headset.
It may make you happy to know that ED has solo mode. Player fleet carriers are still around (as they act as psuedo stations out past the edge of developed space) and the markets are still effected by player actions, but you don’t have to worry about Cmdr Immersion Breaker screaming by in his hot pink jankmobile, or ganking you with it.
It’s also worth noting that compared to the size of the universe in ED, the amount of “crafted” environments is relatively small (but definitely there). The universe is so big that depending on where you are in it, you can also go long periods without encountering other players. It’s a simulation before any sort of RPG.