Never judge a book by it's cover.
When I first came across this game a couple of years ago. I decided against it. It was a high price, and the reviews painted a large 'caution' sign in my face. However, after watching a friend play it on his computer, he convinced me to get it. Within a short time, I was ready to give up and uninstall it, but I kept pushing through, hoping that it would get better. And it did, very much so.
At first, the game will be horrible. None of the controls will work correctly, nothing will make sense, and you will get thrown into the middle of everything without even so much as a 'good luck!'. But if you stick with it, you eventually find your own rhythm and controls (which you will need to map/remap).
Does it get grindy? yes. Is there a lot of mission variety? meh. Does the game provide overarching objectives to complete? not really. Does every system begin to look that same after a while? 100% yes. But despite all that, I still come back for more.
Maybe it's because I really want to buy that fancy new ship. Maybe it's because I need to upgrade my current ship. Maybe it's because I just want to explore the galaxy. Maybe it's the meta-game, maybe its Maybelline. Who really knows. Whatever the reason(s), I suspect that I will be playing this game for a long, long time. Maybe not as avidly as I played Skyrim or Portal, but I will play it.

I will say 2 things, however. #1: buy Horizons, it completes what would otherwise be 70% of a game. Don't think of it as being cheated part of the game. Think of it as buying a $30 trial version of a $60 game, because that what Elite Dangerous + Horizons is. You can still play Elite Dangerous without Horizons, but every now and then you will be feel like a tiny piece of the game is missing.
#2: The Meta-game. For real though, the Meta-game. This is an aspect of the game that I am still learning and trying to grasp. Huge galaxy + crafty developers = paranoia + fun. To summarize the highlights, currently the community of ED is standing on the edge of a cliff, and the devs are just staring at us waiting for us to fall off. Players keep finding alien ships and, as of a couple of days ago, massive structures. We don't know what they do or what they (the aliens AND/OR the developers) are planning, but I suspect that it is going to change the galaxy and the game. And that's just the short version.

All in all, I do recommend this game, but with caution.

Try it if:
you like games that are more so experiences than games
you like sandbox environments
you can handle some grind now and then
you want a long-term game

reconsider if:
you want an action packed, fast-paced game
you do not have a gamepad/joystick

Never judge a book by it's cover. When I first came across this game a couple of years ago. I decided against it. It was a high price, and the reviews painted a large 'caution' sign in my face. However, after watching a friend play it on his computer, he convinced me to get it. Within a short time, I was ready to give up and uninstall it, but I kept pushing through, hoping that it would get better. And it did, very much so. At first, the game will be horrible. None of the controls will work correctly, nothing will make sense, and you will get thrown into the middle of everything without even so much as a 'good luck!'. But if you stick with it, you eventually find your own rhythm and controls (which you will need to map/remap). Does it get grindy? yes. Is there a lot of mission variety? meh. Does the game provide overarching objectives to complete? not really. Does every system begin to look that same after a while? 100% yes. But despite all that, I still come back for more. Maybe it's because I really want to buy that fancy new ship. Maybe it's because I need to upgrade my current ship. Maybe it's because I just want to explore the galaxy. Maybe it's the meta-game, maybe its Maybelline. Who really knows. Whatever the reason(s), I suspect that I will be playing this game for a long, long time. Maybe not as avidly as I played Skyrim or Portal, but I will play it. I will say 2 things, however. #1: buy Horizons, it completes what would otherwise be 70% of a game. Don't think of it as being cheated part of the game. Think of it as buying a $30 trial version of a $60 game, because that what Elite Dangerous + Horizons is. You can still play Elite Dangerous without Horizons, but every now and then you will be feel like a tiny piece of the game is missing. #2: The Meta-game. For real though, the Meta-game. This is an aspect of the game that I am still learning and trying to grasp. Huge galaxy + crafty developers = paranoia + fun. To summarize the highlights, currently the community of ED is standing on the edge of a cliff, and the devs are just staring at us waiting for us to fall off. Players keep finding alien ships and, as of a couple of days ago, massive structures. We don't know what they do or what they (the aliens AND/OR the developers) are planning, but I suspect that it is going to change the galaxy and the game. And that's just the short version. All in all, I do recommend this game, but with caution. Try it if: you like games that are more so experiences than games you like sandbox environments you can handle some grind now and then you want a long-term game reconsider if: you want an action packed, fast-paced game you do not have a gamepad/joystick