Do you ever have those times when everyone recommends a game, saying it is the best thing since sliced bread, yet when you try it, you feel as though they must have been playing something completely different? That is exactly how I felt while playing Everspace 2: Galactic Edition on the Nintendo Switch 2.
Everspace 2 was originally released for PC in April 2023, followed by PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S that August, where it received considerable critical acclaim. Since then, additional content has been released, and the Nintendo Switch 2 Galactic Edition includes the base game, the Titans and Wrath of the Ancients expansions, and the cosmetic Supporter Pack for an RRP of £39.99. Altogether, it offers more than 50 hours of story and side content.
The game has garnered something of a “hidden gem” reputation: One of those titles that may not attract an enormous audience but is adored by many of those who discover it. “Best sci-fi game ever.” “Fantastic space looter-shooter.” You do not have to dig far to find people raving about the game and just how good it is.
With that in mind—and with my inner Han Solo looking forward to some rebellious space-shooting fun—I approached Everspace 2 with high, and possibly too high, expectations. I was brought back down to Earth within minutes.
I immediately felt uncomfortable with the default flight controls. I carried on at first, assuming I would get used to them, but eventually gave up and spent the next hour experimenting with the control settings to find something more comfortable. When I finally did, I had made such a hash of the opening hour that I decided to restart the game with my newer, tighter setup.
The difference certainly helped, and I began to enjoy myself considerably more. Even so, the handling feels caught somewhere between a space-flight simulator and an arcade shooter, such as Star Fox. For example, I can move my ship freely in three dimensions, but I cannot perform a complete roll beyond the restricted banking movement. I honestly think I would prefer to play it with a flight stick rather than a conventional controller.
Unfortunately, the controls were not my only issue. Even many of the game’s most positive reviews have criticised its story and dialogue, and I have to agree. There is a considerable amount of lore behind Everspace 2, which continues directly from the original game, and background material is available through the menus for anyone wishing to catch up. However, the characters here are dull, and the storyline struggles to inspire any emotional investment. I never particularly liked or cared about these people; they mostly seemed to exist simply to move the game forward.
The way the story is presented is actually very good. I loved its modern graphic-novel style, with excellently drawn scenes that are occasionally given subtle animation to add visual interest and impact. It is just unfortunate that the story being presented is not nearly as compelling as the artwork surrounding it.
Without giving too much away, much of the game ultimately revolves around one of two objectives: Go somewhere and shoot something or go somewhere to find something—and then shoot something. I knew I was buying a space shooter, of course, but there is not enough mission variety to prevent the structure from eventually feeling repetitive.
Thankfully, Everspace 2 does not keep sending you through identical locations. The Galactic Edition contains ten star systems and more than 120 handcrafted areas, many of which are visually stunning. One of the game’s greatest strengths is its fantastic artwork and environmental storytelling.
Visiting incredible vistas filled with strange worlds, planets, and asteroid fields rarely gets old. These environments are frequently packed with space debris, planetary rings, abandoned structures, and the remains of destroyed ships. There is a wonderful sense that events have taken place here long before you arrived.
As attractive as these locations are, the Switch 2 image did not appear quite as sharp or clearly defined as I had hoped. Having only played this version and seen footage of the others in trailers, I cannot make a direct technical comparison, but I was occasionally disappointed by its image clarity.
Technically, however, the game ran very smoothly throughout my time with it. Performance appeared to sit at around 30fps, so it did not seem to be pushing the Switch 2 particularly hard, but I did not experience any major performance problems that interfered with play.
I played exclusively in docked mode on my television. The HUD already contains a great deal of information, accompanied by small text and numerous figures, and I felt that many of these elements would be far too small for me to read comfortably on the Switch 2’s handheld screen. Portability may appeal to some players, but for me, this is firmly a game to play on a larger display.
What bothered me immensely was the HUD itself. Gameplay trailers show spacecraft flying around amid clean-looking battles filled with lasers and explosions. The game obviously contains all of that, but the screen is also covered in icons. Much like the flight controls, I spent hours experimenting with the interface settings and trying to remove as much clutter as possible, with little success.
The problem is that the game often gives me a marker when I do not want one but fails to give me one when I actually need it. Enemy ships fly around in the distance, and pointing the reticule towards them reveals the enemy type and distance. As you get closer, that information is joined by a targeting circle and health bar. Now, multiply that by the number of enemies you are fighting—generally at least three—and the screen quickly becomes cluttered.
You fly towards those targets and blow them up through various entertaining means. Great, yes? Not necessarily, because the ships themselves may still be little more than tiny dots behind all that information. I rarely felt as though I was seeing and fighting actual spacecraft. It creates the same sense of detachment I sometimes experience in games such as Ace Combat. Trailers show planes dogfighting in close proximity, but the reality can feel like attacking on-screen icons rather than physical aircraft. When the ships in Everspace 2 do get close, the combat can be great fun, but that was not my experience for much of the game.
The overall gameplay loop is one that I understand many people will love, but it became dull for me. One way or another, you spend much of the game farming items and equipment to become stronger, allowing you to defeat tougher enemies and acquire still better loot. There is not enough nuance or variety beyond that cycle for my tastes. I am not generally a fan of looter-shooters, which is undoubtedly one reason the system failed to gel with me.
Knowing that, I still wanted to push through the campaign. A few hours in, however, I reached a point where I needed to purchase an item to progress. The completed mission rewarded me with credits but deliberately not enough to buy the required item, forcing me to wander around looking for other ways to earn money.
Plenty of games require players to acquire enough currency or equipment before allowing them to continue. The better ones, however, make it reasonably clear where to go or what to do next. Everspace 2 often does not.
I followed the nearest side-quest marker, which led me to a spacecraft containing a puzzle I needed to solve. I could not solve it because I could not even work out what I was supposed to be doing. In a well-communicated puzzle, I might know that I need to reach a particular point and then have to determine how to get there. Here, I struggled to understand the objective itself, let alone its solution.
Then there are the RPG systems. If you enjoy looking at lots of numbers, you are going to have a wonderful time. There is a vast selection of ways to upgrade your ship, weapons, equipment, and statistics, alongside several different types of spacecraft to pilot. The number of potential configurations is staggering. For me, though, it became overwhelming. It felt as though too much effort had been invested in these systems and not enough in other areas, particularly the story and mission design.
I know I have spent much of this review pulling the game apart. It quite obviously did not resonate with me or suit my gaming tastes, but here is the important thing: I can still appreciate what Everspace 2 and its developers set out to achieve—and they have largely succeeded.
I would not criticise the game merely for being a loot-driven RPG rather than the linear arcade space shooter I personally prefer. If this is your type of game, you could have an incredibly good time with it; you simply need to understand exactly what sort of experience you are getting.
If you want to switch off from the real world for an evening and enjoy exploring, shooting things, finding loot, upgrading, and perfecting your spaceships, as well as marveling at some incredible visions of space, then this could be the game for you. I am personally more inclined towards a direct, arcade-style experience such as Star Fox, but that is perfectly fine. We all have our preferences.
Even when judged on its own terms, however, there are areas in which Everspace 2 could be improved: its story and characters, the repetitive mission structure, the cluttered interface, the small text and the way its control options are initially presented. It also needs to do more to guide players towards what they are meant to do and where they need to go. At times, I genuinely felt as though I had been dumped in the middle of space without any idea what to do next.
Fortunately, in space, no one can hear me sigh.
Developer: Rockfish Games
Publisher: Rockfish Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2
Release Date: 12th August 2026
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Everspace 2: Galactic Edition for Nintendo Switch 2 was provided by the publisher.
