Infinite Space

Now this is an RPG. Filled with lots of unlockables (you’ll need 3 playthroughs to get them all), branching storylines, and choices that actually affect things.

The basic combat system is simple, yet a decent amount of complexity is added by the robust ship-building system. We’re talking Master of Orion-like ship customization and crew assignment. It becomes quite fun once you gotten some decent ships/weapons and there are some pretty cool touches like the way the bridge area you see while traveling/talking changes depending on what type of bridge is on your flagship.

The storyline and characters on the other hand are a complete mess. While the second half is better than the first, the game as a whole plays out like a real badly directed/written Anime (it is internally consistent though, with early scenes that seem like throwaways making far more sense on a second playthrough). And that’s not the only flaw. There’s no quest log or map of any sort and, in the second half especially, it’s sometimes not specified where you have to go next (or the next location is simply named and you’ll have to remember where that is on your own).

More minor issues would be the inability to simply click on a location to start traveling there (you have to manually click each individual waypoint), the battle camera having to be switched over to close-up mode at the start of every fight (the enemy often ends up covered in normal view if you have a large ship in your fleet), and the way new crew conversations in the Taverns aren’t prioritized (you have to spam-click the ‘Talk with friends’ option and just hope you’ve seen them all). It’s also a bit overwhelming when just starting out with no idea what to build/focus on.

My first playthrough took ~45 hours (that includes 3 spent grinding to get enough Fame for the Evstafi and various Ranking reward ships). Before going through it again to see the other sides of the branching paths on NG+ though, I’m going to try out Rebel Galaxy. I bought it during a GOG sale a while back on a whim, never really intending to play it… but I’m now inspired to make the attempt.

Sample Act 1 Fleet:
Otlichny/Perekop -> Borodino
Orfey/Derzky
Askold

Sample Act 2 Fleet:
Borodino -> Pelayo/Ciscar -> Evstafi/Freedom
Askold -> Paradizo/Adrasteia -> Tigro/Eleganta/Janitsch
Junkyard x2 -> Zanetti/Fellowship x2 -> Picaroon/Belenus x2
Lykourgos/Tsahih/Erebos

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Tips
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General:

The Help section covers most things well, but not all topics are initially unlocked.

If you’re not using a walkthrough, stop at every location and talk to every character multiple times.

It’s very easy to miss things otherwise.

Don’t overlook the Ranking option at the CTA.

Character-related:

Character Special Abilities don’t stack.

They increase in rank every 20 character levels (+1 at level 20/40/60/80), with a maximum rank of 5.

Fill the lead crew section positions last.

The Captain’s stats are added to any section lacking a lead position.

Combat:

Never use Barrage unless the enemy has just either attacked, used a Special, or launched fighters.

In random battles, you can usually quickly win using melee by just spamming the ‘Shoot’ option.

Assuming the enemy is outmatched, they’ll almost always keep trying to retreat (which Shoot prevents).

Make sure all your ships are outfitted with the best Security Stations; extra crew quarters are unnecessary.

Try to stagger your melee battle choices so that they occur a little after the opponent’s.

Ship Modules:

Ship modules of the same type that increase EXP don’t stack; you only get one bonus even if they’re on all 5 ships.

Don’t bother with Holds until/unless you want to do dedicated farming runs mid-late game.

Modules only need to have one square placed on the same-colored background area.

Fill your R&D positions and build a Science Lab and Analysis Room as soon as possible.

New weapons are unlocked through science research, which happens automatically.
The game does not notify you when they become available.

Fleet Construction:

Build the Borodino Battleship immediately; there’s nothing better until the 2nd half of the game.

Fighters are expensive; hold off on upgrading them until you’ve purchased your 5 main ships.

You can buy 60 fighters per ship, but can only use as many as you have Hangers for.

The darkened squares indicate fighters that won’t be used.

The Escondido Lane area in Chapter 12+ is a good place to grind Fame/Money.

Progression:

Ship Livability should be around 40-50 early game, up to around 70-80 after you get the Mess Hall module.

Try to have close to 7000 Fame before the end of the first half (Chapter 8).

That’s how much is required for the Junkyard blueprints to show up for purchase.

Try to have 60k+ credits before the end of the first half.

The blueprints you get early in the second half are far better than anything you’ve been using in the first half.

Only credits, characters levels, and character stats carry over to NG+. Everything is unlocked in Extra Mode though.

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