Talthorn

Fifty hours into the game so far, and it was everything I expected from a Bethesda RPG, with a few things extra, due to it being set in space. I can easily see myself playing this game for years, before I wring every last drop out of it. The spaceflight in this game isn't top tier, but at least it isn't nearly as bad as No Man's Sky. Once you level up your piloting skill, you gain access to full six-degree of freedom flight. I wasn't expecting a top-tier flight sim, but at least Bethesda exceeded what little expectations I had. One pleasant surprise is that the skybox in the game is seems to be fairly accurate. You can see moons orbiting their planets, some moons are clearly in inclined orbits, as well other evidence of a fairly accurate celestial simulation. Considering this is an RPG, this is going above and beyond in my book. The only thing that's keeping it from a ten is that the protagonist isn't voiced like they were in Fallout 4. Some people prefer it that way, but I was disappointed that this wasn't the case. Especially since they went the Codsworth route with Vasco.

I was feeling nostalgic, so when I saw this game on GOG, I had to buy it. It remains, by far, the best 4X game of all time. It's a pity that its "spiritual successor" wasn't up to its standards. It's amazing how game development studios relied on fantastic gameplay when they couldn't rely on pretty graphics to sell their products.