EVERSPACE™ - Encounters Review Summary

Excellent-value DLC adds quests and missions for replayability and variety, but its new ship is underpowered and fragile, base game feels barren without it, and dialogue and storytelling are poor.

Excellent DLC expansion value: Players overwhelmingly describe the DLC as a substantial and essential expansion. It significantly enhances the base game, adds considerable content, and provides excellent value for the price.

Adds new quests and missions: The DLC includes numerous side quests, story missions, and bounty quests that provide interesting content and rewards. These missions add depth and replayability.

Enhances replayability and variety: The additions provide more variety in each run, making the game less repetitive and more lively. Players find the game stays attractive for longer.

Adds new NPCs with stories: Five unique NPCs are introduced, each with their own questlines, dialogues, and motivations. These characters add life and narrative to the game.

Adds substantial content: The DLC adds a ton of new content, including quests, skins, a new ship, and toys, significantly augmenting the gameplay.

New ship underpowered and fragile: The Sentinel ship is criticized for having only one primary weapon slot, weak weapons, and being extremely fragile. It feels less useful than the gunship and lacks meaningful differentiation.

Base game feels barren without DLC: Many players report that the core game lacks sufficient content on its own, describing it as boring, repetitive, and slim without the DLC. The base game cannot support prolonged play, especially for completionists.

New NPCs are frustrating and unhelpful: Added characters are often rude, annoying, and give pointless quests. Companions order the player around without being helpful, and some betray the protagonist.

Poor dialogue and storytelling quality: Players criticize the story as forgettable, lacking depth, and poorly written. Dialogue scenes are slow, voice acting is poor, and the reasoning behind conversations is weak.

DLC is non-refundable and hidden costs: Players are frustrated that the DLC is listed as a consumable, making it non-refundable, and that it sometimes shows as not installed or missing from the store page. Many feel the DLC should have been part of the base game.

DLC Adds New Ship: Multiple clusters highlight that the expansion introduces new playable ships, including the Colonial Sentinel and the Sentinel. This is a core feature that expands the roster and offers new playstyles.

New Weapons and Equipment: The DLC adds a variety of new weapons, devices, and consumables to enhance combat and customization. This content is frequently mentioned as a key addition.

Adds NPCs and Quests: New NPC characters with side quests and storylines are introduced, enriching the game world and providing additional content. These NPCs spawn during runs and offer interaction.

Side Missions and Events: The expansion adds side missions, events, and errands that can be completed alongside the main story. These provide more variety and objectives during runs.

New Ship Sentinel Details: The Sentinel ship has unique mechanics, including 1 primary weapon slot and 4 modification slots, offering different armament possibilities. It is a notable addition for players seeking new gameplay styles.

Runs well on high-end hardware: Players with high-end systems such as AMD CPUs, 16GB RAM, and GTX3090 GPUs report the game runs smoothly at max settings. Performance is stable with no significant issues.

Excellent ultrawide support: The game runs flawlessly at 3440x1440 ultrawide resolution, providing a seamless experience for users with super-wide monitors. No scaling or distortion issues were mentioned.

Launch issue on some systems: Some users experience the game exiting immediately to Steam upon launch, preventing them from playing. This bug appears to affect a subset of configurations.

Linux and Nvidia compatibility: The game works well on Linux distributions like Debian Stretch when using Nvidia GPUs such as the GTX 960. Proprietary drivers are recommended for optimal performance.

Must-buy for Everspace fans: Most reviewers consider the Encounters DLC essential for anyone who enjoyed the base game, calling it a must-have that meaningfully expands the experience. Multiple clusters specifically frame it as borderline mandatory or virtually required to get the full experience.

Buy DLC with base game: A strong recurring recommendation is to purchase the DLC together with the base game in one bundle, since playing without it reportedly diminishes the overall experience. Several reviewers note there is no advantage to buying the DLC later.

Strong overall recommendation: Across many clusters, reviewers simply give a strong positive recommendation, often with enthusiasm. The DLC is widely praised as a great addition to the base game.

Essential expansion for base owners: Reviewers who already own and enjoy the base game overwhelmingly recommend the DLC as a no-brainer purchase. It is described as worthwhile for anyone looking for more content from the core experience.

Wait for sale before buying: Some reviewers advise waiting for a sale before purchasing, suggesting better value at a discounted price. Others recommend waiting until after beating the base game at least once.

Community fair range: $9.99 - $19.99.

Game completion: 74.0h.

Story completion: 20.0h.

Session length: 1.5h.

The clearest signal is that the game is addictive but initially confusing, and enjoyment clicks once players get the hang of its systems. Other reviews condition sustained fun on DLC, mods, and added variety, while warning that the base roguelite can become repetitive.

Friction: Difficulty working out what is going on at the beginning; Base game repetition from roguelite structure; Slim content for supporting many runs; Repetition without mod support.

Unlock drivers: Roguelike progression and leveling up; More content, weapons, and characters for varied runs; New ship and gameplay mechanics that reduce repetition.

Veteran Pilot Seeking More Content: Integrates new events, ships, and characters into familiar roguelike runs, seeking more of what they already love. Motivation: To continue enjoying the base game with fresh content and extended playability. Stance: buy.

Hardcore Roguelike Challenge-Seeker: Aggressive close-quarters combat, repeated runs to improve survival times, and embracing hardcore mode. Motivation: To overcome challenging roguelike runs and master the game's combat mechanics. Stance: buy.

DLC Ethics Skeptic: Plays the full game but is hesitant to support additional monetization, often waiting for sales or avoiding purchase on principle. Motivation: To enjoy the game while protesting against what they perceive as exploitative DLC practices. Stance: no buy.

Monetization: The reviews focus on the Encounters DLC and deluxe-edition extras rather than in-game microtransactions. Users generally praise the DLC as substantial and worthwhile, while one complains about the Deluxe Edition art book and soundtrack bundle, and a few feel the DLC is necessary for the base game to feel complete. There is no evidence of real-money gacha, loot boxes, battle passes, paid power, paid convenience, or a cash shop. Under the audit rules, traditional DLC/expansions and deluxe/soundtrack bundles keep the game in the fair range.

Favorable Comparisons To Other Space Games: The game is compared favorably to Elite Dangerous, FTL, No Man's Sky, Freelancer, and Privateer. Combat is said to capture the Star Wars feeling better than Star Wars Squadron.

Bundle With Base Game Encouraged: The DLC is designed to be played together with the original game from the start. It is often sold in bundles containing the game and all content, and is recommended to be bought alongside the base game.

DLC Enhances Replay Value: Completing all new content extends full completion playtime and provides several hours of entertainment even for veterans. It adds plenty of content to explore, new playstyles, and achievements.

DLC Refund Restrictions Frustrate Buyers: Multiple clusters highlight that the DLC is sold as a consumable add-on, which circumvents Steam's refund policy. Reviewers explicitly note the item is not refundable, causing frustration.

DLC Adds Ships Characters And Weapons: The expansion introduces a new ship, five new NPC characters, a fourth ship, and various weapons and upgrades. It also adds new missions and powerful upgrades at a large station.