By Kimari Rennis

Imagine yourself on a ship out in deep space with tangerine horizons and laser-filled skies. It’s true I’ve never been too good with roguelike games. Whether it was the acceleration or controls, I never found comfort playing. Instead, I got confused and dizzy. Yet things feel a little different with Everspace, the roguelike, fast-paced shooter set in space developed by RockFishGames.

Right off the bat, it’s easy to say that this game can be unforgiving at times. However, this can be a good thing. Through numerous deaths and exploration,  Everspace will remind players that they must be prepared for many different scenarios. I had to conserve and use limited supplies. And I had to cautiously consider what to do before picking a fight with the wrong spacecraft that may have been too powerful to take on.

The consequences of playing and winning in Everspace is almost like a chain reaction, and that’s what makes the game enjoyable. The difficulty determines the amount of currency you earn. And the more currency you earn, the more perks you are able to purchase and upgrade. Some perks allow you to amplify the damage and critical hits you inflict – super useful in fights. Another example in game would be the more you mine in game, the more materials you get. The more you mine, the longer you take. The longer you take, the more likely enemies are to attack you. As you play, you take all of these scenarios into consideration, and use them to your best ability to have successful runs.

Everspace is absolutely gorgeous. The main reason I was so immersed in this game was the graphics and environment. Every aspect of the game was highly detailed from the chunks of ice and lighting in space down to the galactic background and daunting black hole.

The controls make maneuvering the ship simple and enjoyable. For me, every mistake I made in game was not based on my ship’s stats or my understanding of the controls. If I crashed or piloted my ship into, say, bright webs of lightning, it was my fault for not being aware. The ship had precise maneuverability and its armor, health and remaining fuel is based on your skill and decisions when immersed within the battlefield of space.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Everspace for its jaw dropping beauty and superior challenge. I’ve never been so immersed, stressed yet focused, in this genre of game. After each and every jump gate and galaxy, I would calculate my chances of survival, make split second decisions, and monitor every aspect of my ship based on the environment and the enemy’s relentless attacks. Everspace is a more realistic riff on the idea of fighting aliens in space. There is far more to take into consideration than just the enemy spacecraft. That’s why Everspace is unique.

Kimari Rennis is a New York Videogame Critics Circle intern, part of our ongoing partnership with the Bronx’s DreamYard Prep School.