There is something wonderfully appealing about a game that simply lets you disappear into space. Not in the cold, lonely sense that some space simulators embrace, but in the more adventurous way that makes every distant light look like somewhere worth visiting. EVERSPACE 2 has always understood that appeal, combining fast arcade dogfights with exploration, loot, progression and a surprisingly substantial story. The Galactic Edition feels like the natural conclusion to that vision. Bringing the complete experience to Nintendo Switch 2, including both major expansions and the Supporter Pack, it is an impressively generous package that gives spacefaring adventurers an enormous amount to get stuck into.
A Galaxy Worth Getting Lost In
EVERSPACE 2 wastes little time establishing its particular brand of science fiction. You play as Adam Roslin, a clone pilot trying to survive on the fringes of a galaxy populated by military factions, criminals, corporations and mysterious alien forces, but the story is only one part of the attraction. The real magic comes from the feeling that there is always something else waiting just beyond the next waypoint. Whether you are following a mission, hunting for better equipment, investigating a strange location or simply flying around because you spotted something interesting, the game constantly gives you reasons to keep moving.
The galaxy itself is not one enormous, seamless playground, but a collection of handcrafted star systems packed with individual locations and activities. Across ten systems and more than 120 handcrafted locations, there is a satisfying sense of discovery that procedural space games can sometimes struggle to replicate. Asteroid fields, abandoned structures, hostile bases and planetary environments all have their own character, while hidden loot and environmental puzzles give exploration a purpose beyond simply admiring the scenery. It makes the universe feel designed rather than generated, and that distinction becomes increasingly important over the lengthy campaign.
Dogfights That Never Lose Their Bite
The greatest strength of EVERSPACE 2 remains its combat. ROCKFISH Games has created a flight system that is accessible enough to learn quickly yet deep enough to reward players who master movement, positioning and their ship’s abilities. Dogfights are fast, energetic and wonderfully tactile, with enemy fighters darting across the screen as missiles streak through the darkness and weapons light up the surrounding debris.
There is a pleasing physicality to throwing your ship into a turn, boosting towards an opponent and switching weapons as the situation changes. Different ship classes also add welcome variety to combat, allowing you to build around speed, firepower, durability or more specialised approaches. One ship might encourage aggressive close-range attacks, while another feels better suited to picking enemies apart from a distance. That flexibility becomes particularly rewarding once the loot system starts feeding you equipment that complements the build you have been creating.
The Looter Shooter In Space
At its heart, EVERSPACE 2 has more in common with a traditional action RPG than with a serious space simulator. Weapons, shields, modules and other equipment constantly appear as rewards, creating that familiar temptation to check every new item and wonder whether it might improve your current setup. It is a system that could easily become exhausting, but the game generally keeps the chase enjoyable because equipment directly affects how your ship performs.
There is also plenty of room to specialise. Players can construct ships centred on particular damage types, defensive capabilities or tactical abilities, while different classes encourage entirely different approaches to combat. The result is a progression system that gives you something meaningful to work towards without turning the experience into an endless spreadsheet exercise. You can spend as much time as you want perfecting a build, but the game rarely makes that feel mandatory.
Wrath of the Ancients
The Galactic Edition becomes particularly impressive when you look beyond the base game. Wrath of the Ancients is a substantial expansion that adds four new star systems, fresh story content and plenty of additional challenges, giving players even more reason to continue exploring after the main adventure. It also introduces the Wraith, a stealth-focused starfighter that adds another interesting option to the already varied collection of ships.
The expansion feels like more than an assortment of extra missions. It expands the universe and gives experienced players new reasons to experiment with their equipment and combat strategies. There is a sense that ROCKFISH Games understood what players had enjoyed about the original adventure and built upon those strengths rather than simply making the same experience bigger. For anyone coming to EVERSPACE 2 for the first time, having this content included makes the complete package feel remarkably substantial.
Titans Takes Things To Another Level
Titans shifts the scale of the adventure in a different direction by introducing huge boss encounters that can make even a well-equipped ship feel surprisingly insignificant. Facing enormous enemies such as Leviathans and Dreadnoughts delivers some of the most memorable encounters in the entire package, particularly when you have already invested dozens of hours developing your favourite ship and suddenly find yourself staring down something that looks capable of swallowing it whole.
These encounters also serve as a useful reminder that EVERSPACE 2 is at its best when it pushes you to adapt. Having powerful equipment is helpful, but understanding how your ship works and recognising when to attack, retreat or reposition is equally important. The Titans content offers a satisfying late-game challenge for players who have already mastered much of what the main campaign throws at them.
More Than Just Another Switch Port
The Nintendo Switch 2 version is perhaps the most interesting part of this release. Getting a game of this scale, with its detailed environments, busy battles and expansive content, onto Nintendo’s newer hardware is no small technical achievement. The Galactic Edition targets a capped 45 frames per second, a sensible compromise for a game that can become extremely busy during combat.
It is not quite the same as playing on a powerful gaming PC, and expectations should be realistic, but that misses the bigger point. Being able to take this entire space adventure with you makes the Switch 2 version feel particularly well suited to the game’s structure. You can spend twenty minutes completing a few activities or disappear into it for an entire evening, and the portable format gives the experience a new kind of freedom.
A Story With Plenty To Offer
The story is not necessarily the sole reason to play EVERSPACE 2, but it is considerably stronger than it needs to be for a game primarily built around flying, shooting and collecting loot. Adam’s journey gives the various locations and factions a sense of context, while the supporting cast helps keep the narrative moving between the larger action sequences. There are moments when the storytelling leans into familiar science fiction territory, but the presentation has enough personality to keep it engaging.
What works particularly well is how the narrative and gameplay continually feed into one another. New destinations lead to new missions, new missions lead to new equipment, and new equipment encourages you to return to earlier systems with a stronger ship. That loop gives the adventure a satisfying rhythm. Even when the main story takes a back seat, there is always another reason to climb back into the cockpit.
The Complete Package
The Galactic Edition is difficult to judge as a simple re-release because it contains so much more than the original game. Alongside the main campaign, players receive Titans, Wrath of the Ancients and the Supporter Pack, creating a package that comfortably exceeds fifty hours when the additional content and side activities are taken into account. That is a huge amount of science-fiction adventure for a single purchase.
The only real criticism is that the sheer volume of content can occasionally make the experience feel overwhelming. There are systems to learn, equipment to manage, missions to track and countless distractions waiting to pull you away from whatever objective you were originally pursuing. For some players, that freedom will be the main attraction. Others may occasionally wish the game would simply point them towards the next big adventure and let them get on with it.
The Final Verdict
EVERSPACE 2: Galactic Edition is a superb example of how a space action RPG can balance accessibility with genuine depth. Its combat is fast and satisfying, its exploration rewarding, its progression systems encourage experimentation, and its story provides enough personality to make the journey worthwhile. Most importantly, it understands the simple pleasure of climbing into a spaceship and wondering what lies beyond the next planet.
The Galactic Edition also feels like the definitive way to experience the game, particularly for newcomers. With the base adventure, major expansions and additional content gathered together, there is little here that feels like an afterthought. The Switch 2 release is an impressive technical achievement too, offering a remarkably complete version of a substantial PC and console experience in a format that can be enjoyed almost anywhere.
EVERSPACE 2 may not reinvent the space adventure, but it does something arguably more valuable. It takes familiar ideas from arcade shooters, looter RPGs and open-world exploration, then combines them into something with its own identity. There is always another weapon to discover, another ship configuration to try, another strange location to investigate and another enemy waiting to turn your relaxing trip through the stars into a frantic dogfight. For anyone with even a passing love of science fiction, that makes the Galactic Edition an easy recommendation.
