Man this game really sneaked up on me. I bought it a while ago when it was on sale for like $4 or $5 (regular price is $10), and never installed it. Then I installed it yesterday on a whim and couldn't stop playing it.
It's basically a roguelike in a spaceship. You control a ship crew and run a spaceship as you travel through various star systems, running from a fleet, upgrading/buying parts/hiring crew etc along the way. It's completely random, and you can't really grind money for too long before the fleet catches up with you, so you always feel somewhat underpowered by the time you reach the end boss.
http://www.ftlgame.com/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/20 ... -light-pc/
This gives you an idea of what to expect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUggnZ4gOc
I'm such a masochist.
FTL
Re: FTL
Beat it for the first time on Easy!
I think my first million attempts were too focused on too simple a strategy - namely focusing on upgrading systems early, loading up my ship with burst lasers and getting max shields + a defense drone to shoot down missiles. It works for pretty much every enemy up until the end boss, which laughs at that strategy.
My winning layout had 1 burst laser, 2 types of missiles (which bypass shields), a beam weapon (extremely powerful once you take down the enemy's shields), a CQB squad of 2 mantis warriors and backup of a human and rockman, transporter to send my troops onto the other ship, cloaking, and 1 laser and 1 beam drone. I upgraded my shield to level 2, but otherwise left my systems unupgraded until I had bought the additional tech (transporter, cloaking, drone systems, new weapons) and saved the upgrading for the late-game.
Still a lot left to do in this game, including unlocking all the ships and secondary layouts (15 in total I think?) and other random stuff. Also, beating it on Normal difficulty.
I think my first million attempts were too focused on too simple a strategy - namely focusing on upgrading systems early, loading up my ship with burst lasers and getting max shields + a defense drone to shoot down missiles. It works for pretty much every enemy up until the end boss, which laughs at that strategy.
My winning layout had 1 burst laser, 2 types of missiles (which bypass shields), a beam weapon (extremely powerful once you take down the enemy's shields), a CQB squad of 2 mantis warriors and backup of a human and rockman, transporter to send my troops onto the other ship, cloaking, and 1 laser and 1 beam drone. I upgraded my shield to level 2, but otherwise left my systems unupgraded until I had bought the additional tech (transporter, cloaking, drone systems, new weapons) and saved the upgrading for the late-game.
Still a lot left to do in this game, including unlocking all the ships and secondary layouts (15 in total I think?) and other random stuff. Also, beating it on Normal difficulty.
Re: FTL
After having beaten the game for the first time, and unlocked a couple more powerful ships ("power" can take the form of more diverse crew, more powerful weapons, better ship floorplans), the experience is very different. Much more leisurely, focused on finding stuff rather than just survive.
It's fun, but I kind of miss the feeling of getting through a sector by the skin of my teeth.
Then again, there is "Normal" difficulty. And I had a similar experience with Dark Souls (though I still technically never beat it).
Cloaking (especially at level 3) is probably overpowered. The Weapon Pre-Ignition Augment (gives you fully charged weapons to start each sector with) is also pretty powerful. Between the two, you can basically start a battle with two free volleys before the enemy has a chance to do anything; and by then you've probably disabled their offensive capabilities.
It's fun, but I kind of miss the feeling of getting through a sector by the skin of my teeth.
Then again, there is "Normal" difficulty. And I had a similar experience with Dark Souls (though I still technically never beat it).
Cloaking (especially at level 3) is probably overpowered. The Weapon Pre-Ignition Augment (gives you fully charged weapons to start each sector with) is also pretty powerful. Between the two, you can basically start a battle with two free volleys before the enemy has a chance to do anything; and by then you've probably disabled their offensive capabilities.