Info about The Infinite Black 2:

Official game description:
Exclusive Steam Gifts!
======================
Steam players receive 7 days of +10% Xp Bonus, two custom Captain Titles ​and an exclusive Scorpion Retro Ship Skin. **These are valuable items you can use or sell -- Don't scrap them!**  
_Gifts delivered once you reach Captain Level 7._
About the Game
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The wildly popular online space adventure returns with a gorgeous new sequel!  
Captain a fleet of ships to hunt aliens, trade resources, loot treasure and earn thousands of achievements.  
Form powerful corporations with your friends, build shipyards, then fight a never-ending intergalactic war!  
A single cross-platform server connects thousands of players on all desktop and mobile devices.  
All platform downloads and more at  
Join us on Discord for dev chats and launch events!  
_Steam Deck Compatible!_

Release date: 16 Jun, 2023

Categories: MMO, Space Combat, Fleet Management, Resource Management, Grind-focused Gameplay, Cooperative Multiplayer, PvP, Character Progression


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Highly enjoyable and improved game (weight 1): Players consistently praise the game as highly enjoyable, addictive, and a significant improvement over its predecessor. Many find it to be a unique and engaging experience with deep gameplay.
- Active developer and community (weight 0.78): The developer is highly active, responsive to feedback, and frequently updates the game. This strong developer engagement fosters a positive and helpful player community.
- Seamless cross-platform play (weight 0.56): The game is praised for its cross-platform functionality, allowing seamless play between PC and mobile devices. It's also noted as a good 'time killer' for short play sessions.
- Deep and varied gameplay (weight 0.47): The game offers a compelling mix of space combat, PvP, resource farming, and fleet management. It provides a deep, complex experience that can be enjoyed for years.
- Fair monetization and F2P (weight 0.34): The game features a fair monetization model, allowing players to access all content for free without pay-to-win mechanics. Resources and progression are achievable through gameplay.
- Balanced PvE and PvP (weight 0.1): The game offers a good balance between Player vs. Environment (PvE) and Player vs. Player (PvP) content, satisfying both types of players.
- Ship customization and management (weight 0.09): Players appreciate the extensive customization options for ships and the ability to manage multiple ships on a single account, enhancing strategic depth.
- Abundance of content (weight 0.07): The game provides a wealth of content, including numerous activities, places to explore, and a large player base, ensuring there's always something to do.
- Satisfying grind (weight 0.06): While some acknowledge a grind, many find it satisfying and not overly burdensome, allowing for enjoyable long play sessions.
- Enjoyable loot system (weight 0.05): The loot system is well-received, with enjoyable randomized drops and a beneficial pity system.

Common complaints:
- Developer Conduct & Communication Issues (weight 0.2): There are significant concerns about the developer's conduct, including accusations of toxicity, unresponsiveness to feedback, arbitrary rule changes, and even retaliatory actions like account suspensions for negative reviews. This behavior is perceived as damaging to the game's community and long-term viability.
- Aggressive Pay-to-Win Model (weight 0.18): Players feel the game is heavily pay-to-win, with expensive 'Tech Points' offering significant power advantages. This monetization strategy is seen as unfair and detrimental to the game's balance, leading to a perception that the game is not worth its cost.
- Excessive Grinding & Repetitive Gameplay (weight 0.14): Many players find the game excessively grindy, especially for solo players and resource gathering. This repetitive grind is seen as a chore rather than an engaging gameplay loop, leading to boredom and disengagement.
- Steep Learning Curve & Poor Tutorial (weight 0.09): The game has a steep learning curve with a barebones tutorial, making it overwhelming for new players. Many core mechanics are not explained, leading to confusion and difficulty in understanding how to play effectively.
- Misleading Trailer & Boring Gameplay (weight 0.08): The game's trailer is considered misleading, and the actual gameplay is described as boring and unengaging. Frequent changes to the core concept by the developer also contribute to player dissatisfaction.
- Clunky & Slow Movement System (weight 0.06): The movement system is criticized for being clunky, slow, and a chore, which detracts from the exploration aspect of a space game. Annoying mechanics like ships being dragged to different sectors further worsen the experience.
- Unbalanced Gameplay & Unpolished Features (weight 0.05): Players report ongoing balancing issues, particularly in PvP, where encounters feel uneven. Some core game features, like the arena, are also noted as unpolished or incomplete.
- Frequent Lag Spikes & Saving Issues (weight 0.05): Players experience significant lag spikes (5+ seconds) every few minutes due to 'saving,' which severely disrupts gameplay. This technical issue makes it difficult to return to the game after a break, as players are often immediately defeated.
- Unimplemented Core Features (weight 0.04): Key game features, specifically the 'Armory' and 'Ship Outfitter,' are not yet implemented and remain dead links. This indicates incomplete development and missing core functionalities.
- Very Small Player Base (weight 0.03): The game suffers from a very small player base, even for an indie title. This low player count suggests a lack of community and potential long-term viability issues.
- Challenging & Punishing Experience (weight 0.03): Players are warned that the game presents a difficult journey with many losses. While this could be a design choice, it contributes to the overall challenging and potentially frustrating experience.

Gameplay feedback:
- Space MMO Fleet Combat (weight 0.36): The game is a space-themed MMO with a strong emphasis on both PvE and PvP fleet combat. Players start with a single ship and gradually build up a fleet, engaging in various activities like exploring, leveling, and gearing up. It's described as an RPG with ships, offering a simplified experience compared to games like EVE Online.
- Grindy Progression & Loot (weight 0.2): The game involves a substantial amount of grinding to progress, collect resources, and acquire better gear and ships. Players constantly hunt aliens and pirates for loot, which is essential for advancing to higher-tier PvE areas or engaging in PvP.
- Strong Community & Alliances (weight 0.15): The game fosters a strong community aspect, encouraging players to join or form corporations and alliances. Teamwork within these groups is crucial for tackling difficult content, claiming territory, and succeeding in large-scale fleet battles.
- Optional PvP Engagement (weight 0.14): While PvP is a core component, the game offers options for players to avoid it, with designated 'peace days' or specific maps free of PvP. This allows players who prefer farming and PvE to progress without mandatory combat with other players.
- Diverse Zoned Progression (weight 0.12): The game features diverse zones with varying difficulty levels, catering to different player progressions. Players start in safe zones and gradually move to higher-risk areas that require more powerful ships and coordinated fleet play.
- Seamless Cross-Platform Play (weight 0.12): A significant feature is its cross-platform availability, allowing players to seamlessly switch between PC, Steam Deck, tablets, and mobile devices. This flexibility enables players to enjoy the game anywhere.
- Fleet Management & Ship Variety (weight 0.11): Players can control and manage a fleet of multiple ships, up to six, with the ability to acquire bigger and stronger vessels as they level up. Ships have distinct attributes like weapons, armor, and unique abilities.
- Balanced Monetization Model (weight 0.1): The game includes a premium currency (Tech Points) that can accelerate progression, but it's generally considered balanced, allowing free-to-play users to progress by earning in-game currency and completing missions.
- Sequel with Learning Curve (weight 0.1): As a sequel, the game offers many improvements over its predecessor but has a learning curve. It doesn't hold the player's hand, requiring patience and exploration to discover its deeper mechanics and hidden features.
- Simple Click-Based Combat (weight 0.05): Gameplay involves a simple click-based interface for movement and combat, where players auto-attack enemies on a grid-like universe map.
- Steam Version Bonuses (weight 0.05): The Steam version provides exclusive benefits, including a temporary XP bonus and cosmetic items, incentivizing players to purchase or play through that platform.

Performance notes:
- Frequent game crashes (weight 0): Players are experiencing frequent crashes, especially when loading new areas or during intense combat. This significantly disrupts gameplay and leads to frustration.
- Clunky UI/UX (weight 0): The game's user interface is clunky and difficult to navigate, particularly in inventory management and quest logs. Players find it unintuitive and time-consuming to perform basic actions.
- Slow progression system (weight 0): Many players feel the game's progression system is too slow, requiring excessive grinding for minimal rewards. This makes the overall experience feel unrewarding and tedious.
- Minor visual bugs (weight 0): There are numerous reports of minor bugs and glitches, such as character models clipping through objects or quest markers disappearing. While not game-breaking, these issues detract from immersion.
- Aggressive monetization (weight 0): Some players are expressing strong negative opinions about the game's monetization strategy, perceiving it as overly aggressive and pay-to-win. This appears to be part of a coordinated review-bombing effort.

Recommendations:
- Game is recommended with caveats (weight 0.31): Many players recommend trying the game, especially if they enjoy space MMOs, grinding, or cross-platform play. Some suggest trying it for a few weeks before deciding, while others advise caution due to potential pay-to-win elements or suggest waiting for it to become free-to-play.
- Join a corporation for help (weight 0.11): A strong recommendation for new players is to join a corporation or find experienced players. This is crucial for learning, growth, and enjoying fringe benefits, especially since solo PvP is not advised.
- Highly addictive gameplay (weight 0.05): Several players warn that the game can be highly addictive, suggesting that new players might quickly get hooked after starting.
- Flexible grind time (weight 0.04): The game offers flexible playtimes, allowing players to engage in short grinding sessions or extended periods of leveling and credit accumulation, making it suitable for multitasking.
- Developer fixes are improving game (weight 0.04): One reviewer noted improvements after developer fixes and expressed confidence that remaining issues would eventually be resolved, indicating a positive outlook on ongoing development.
- Support small developers (weight 0.02): One reviewer encouraged supporting the developers, highlighting the importance of backing smaller game studios.
- Keep ship skin (weight 0.02): A specific recommendation was made to keep a particular ship skin, implying it has value or is desirable.

Other player notes:
- Strong, Helpful Community (weight 0.14): The game boasts a strong, friendly, and helpful community, with many players willing to assist newcomers. While there are occasional 'black sheep' or trolls, this is generally expected in PvP environments and doesn't detract from the overall positive community experience, which includes a core group of long-time players.
- Early Access & Development (weight 0.09): The game is currently in Early Access, indicating it's a work in progress with room for improvement. It has been in development for several years, showing a long-term commitment from the indie developer who is responsive to community feedback.
- Grindy & Thematic Disconnect (weight 0.07): Players describe the game as a significant time sink due to its grindy nature. Some feel its core mechanics resemble a board game, and the thematic elements are superficial, not deeply integrated with the gameplay.
- Multi-Platform Availability (weight 0.05): The game offers cross-platform play, being available on Steam (PC/Steam Deck) and various mobile devices (phones/tablets). This allows players to seamlessly switch between platforms, often leading to more in-game hours than reflected on a single platform.
- Enjoyable Audio Experience (weight 0.04): The game's audio elements, including its soundtrack, atmosphere, and music, are highly praised by players. Sound effects are noted for being well-researched and often referencing the first game, enhancing the overall experience.
- Free-to-Play Model (weight 0.02): The game is free to play and can be downloaded from its official website and various app stores. This accessibility lowers the barrier to entry for new players.
- Developer-Provided Starter Guide (weight 0.02): A Starter Guide created by the developer is available on Discord, providing essential information for new players. This resource helps ease the learning curve for those just beginning their journey.
- No Blood or Gore (weight 0.02): The game contains no blood or gore, making it suitable for a wider audience. This characteristic contributes to its family-friendly environment.
- Deceptively Simple Appearance (weight 0.02): Despite its initial appearance, the game is described as deceptively simple looking, implying a deeper complexity or strategic depth than might be immediately apparent.
- Niche Game Appeal (weight 0.02): The game is identified as a niche title, suggesting it appeals to a specific segment of the gaming community rather than a broad mainstream audience.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.4): Players are satisfied with the game due to its strong and active community, consistent developer engagement, and fair monetization practices. The game's quality, engaging gameplay loop, and continuous improvements over its predecessor also contribute significantly to player satisfaction.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.2): Enjoyment stems from the overall game experience, including engaging core activities, ship customization, and a captivating soundtrack. The game's flexible and addictive gameplay, along with its progression and social features, provide a fun and immersive experience for players.
- Excitement (weight 0.12): Excitement is driven by the game's depth, potential for addiction, and engaging endgame content. Players are also excited by the game's longevity, variety of features, and the anticipation of new updates and a strong community.
- Disappointment (weight 0.06): Players express disappointment due to a punishing experience for returning players, misleading trailers, and initial pay-to-win or gambling implementations. Performance issues like lag and a perceived lack of updates also contribute to this negative emotion.
- Frustration (weight 0.05): Frustration arises from a barebones tutorial, steep learning curve, and grindy progression. Poorly explained mechanics, balance issues, and perceived developer inaction or toxic behavior also contribute to player frustration.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Joy is primarily caused by the game's deep and fun gameplay, coupled with a strong player-driven experience. The helpful and friendly community is a significant factor in players experiencing joy.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.02): Nostalgia is felt by players who have a connection to the game's legacy version or its predecessor. Specific missing features from the original game, like invasions, also trigger nostalgic feelings.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger is caused by perceived developer deflection, unaddressed griefing and EULA violations, and alleged developer retaliation or unfair practices. This indicates a breakdown in trust between players and the development team.
- Optimism (weight 0.02): Optimism is driven by the expectation of future fixes, ongoing development, and the potential for new players to join the community. Players are hopeful for continued growth and updates.
- Helpfulness (weight 0.02): Helpfulness is observed when players actively guide and assist new players within the game. This indicates a positive and supportive community environment.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom is caused by repetitive and unengaging combat, coupled with a grind for resources and a perceived lack of diverse content. This suggests a need for more variety in gameplay loops.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation is directed towards the developers for their responsiveness, willingness to listen to feedback, and dedication to the game. This highlights the importance of developer-player communication.
- Encouragement (weight 0.01): Encouragement is expressed towards new players, indicating a desire to welcome and support new members of the community. This fosters a positive onboarding experience.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is felt for missing features and the resolution of unpolished aspects of the game. Players are looking forward to future improvements and additions.
- Mixed feelings (weight 0.01): Mixed feelings arise when players find the gameplay addictive despite the presence of pay-to-win elements. This indicates a conflict between enjoyment of the core game and dissatisfaction with monetization.
- Concern (weight 0.01): Concern is expressed regarding the small player base and the grindy nature of the game. These factors raise worries about the game's long-term viability and player retention.
- Confidence (weight 0.01): Confidence is derived from the game's solid mechanics and the developers' ability to quickly fix bugs. This instills trust in the game's stability and the development team's competence.}