I first played Everspace about 18 months ago on Xbox One, but like many games that I already own or have even completed, I jumped at the chance to experience it again on Nintendo Switch, mainly due to the fact that I can play that console while laying in bed. Thankfully, like a fair few games that have made the transition to Switch, Everspace on Nintendo’s console comes in the form of a Definitive Edition, with a new ship, new weapons, and a new race to encounter.
Everspace is a rogue-like, though first impressions don’t necessarily give off this vibe. There’s a brief snippet of story, and then you’re placed into a tutorial that explains how to control your spacecraft and how to switch between the various weapons and equipment that your ship is outfitted with. After this, you’re let loose in the galaxy, free to explore and fight your way through a series of stages. It’s only once you die for the first time (and to be fair, this will happen quite quickly) that you start to realize that death is a major part of this game, and that your progression through Everspace will be in a series of small steps, rather than one giant leap.
Each time you finish a run-through, you’re awarded the currency that you earned by destroying enemy ships and harvesting resources, and you’re prompted to spend this on upgrades for your various ships. Money doesn’t carry over from one run to the next, so it’s worth spending as much as possible on improving your chances for the next attempt. Upgrades come in levels, and while some levels can be bought in a single transaction, others require multiple purchases to fill their bar and unlock their bonuses. On top of this, improvements are generally fairly small, sometimes in fractions of percentages, but considering that currency is gained fairly easily, and each run doesn’t take much more than a few minutes, you’ll soon start to see the various bars increasing and your ships’ abilities improving.
As you progress through the world(s) of Everspace, I was impressed by how alive my surroundings felt, and how much it felt like I was a small part of a much larger galaxy. This is in part due to the fact that you’re not constantly bombarded by enemies, and that some NPCs will ignore you entirely unless you either stray too close, or you fire upon them or their assets. This sense of immersion is added to by your ship’s onboard AI, who both talks to your character to explain certain aspects of the galaxy, and delivers codex entries at the point that you discover something new and interesting. There’s a story to this universe that feels like it existed before your character came along, and will continue after he’s gone, and your actions feel like just a small addition to something much larger.
Exploring each area and discovering the narrative of the galaxy in an emergent fashion is intriguing and enjoyable, and unfortunately, it’s a much stronger experience than the main narrative that tries to tie the whole experience together. Without getting into too much detail, it involves clones and a great deal of mystery and intrigue, but it’s delivered so sporadically that it starts to become inessential fairly early on. Each chapter is delivered as a form of reward for making it through a sector, but the story segments are so short that it wasn’t exactly something that I felt I had to work towards. The sense of progression in Everspace instead comes from making your ship stronger, and easily defeating enemies that previously gave you massive problems.
I enjoyed Everspace when I first played it on Xbox One, and I’ve enjoyed it again playing on Nintendo Switch. It’s a perfect game for playing in small bursts, which makes the experience perfect for the portability of the Switch, but it contains an addictive enough loop of combat and upgrading to ensure that hours will pass quickly if you play it on the couch as well. What’s most impressive is that my experience on Switch was near identical to that on Xbox One, and the addition of DLC extras means that you’re getting a little extra punch for your money, even if the release is over a year later. If you’re looking for a space combat simulation with a little bit of a twist, Everspace is certainly worth looking at on any platform, but the Switch version is definitely best if you want to take the game on the go.
