You need to borrow a NASA computer or spend a couple grand on a super-rig to run Odyssey properly (and there will still be bugs), but overall Elite is the best first-person space-exploration game on the market.

About half the ships are triangles or trapezoids, which kinda makes them all look a little samey on the surface, but there's good weapon variety and customization, and each ship has its own flight properties and usually its own engine sounds too.

They drop you in the deep end and let you figure out how to swim though, so read some guides or watch some youtube videos. Worth the money for Odyssey for sure, if you like running around on foot and exploring planet surfaces.

The biggest gripe I've got is the grindiness of this game. Once you start Engineering your ship parts, it becomes a chore. You can't buy engineering materials, you can only exchange them for others at a loss, get them from missions or scavenge them from wrecks. Some must be found on planet surfaces too. Start grabbing floating debris as you shoot pirates early, because you blow through it all really fast.

Besides that, it's annoying to have to pay for a ship you own to be transported to your location and then still have to wait upwards of an hour of real time in some cases for them to arrive. If you book a flight with a space taxi and have no ships at the destination, you can literally be stuck for hours waiting on a ship to be delivered. Stored ship parts also have wait times on top of the fee for being shipped. It's a little ridiculous... Also, if a ship is delivered to us like that, why can't the pilot be transported with it? Until you own a ship with a long jump range, long-distance travel can be a real pain.

Overall, 8/10. TL;DR Breakdown:
+++Combat
++Customization
++Music
++Graphics
+ Immersion
+ Surface Exploration
= Hardware Requirements
= No Handholding/Short Tutorial
= Unimaginative Ship Designs*
- Bugs (Odyssey)
- Lack of Explanation on most things
--Grindiness
--Travel-related Issues

*compared to competitors like Star Citizen or Eve Online

UPDATE 11/28/2024:

After massive updates to the Powerplay system, new ships, Thargoid wars, and more content like Colonization on the horizon, the future is looking bright. The best time to jump into Elite might've been a while back, but the second best time is now!

You need to borrow a NASA computer or spend a couple grand on a super-rig to run Odyssey properly (and there will still be bugs), but overall Elite is the best first-person space-exploration game on the market. About half the ships are triangles or trapezoids, which kinda makes them all look a little samey on the surface, but there's good weapon variety and customization, and each ship has its own flight properties and usually its own engine sounds too. They drop you in the deep end and let you figure out how to swim though, so read some guides or watch some youtube videos. Worth the money for Odyssey for sure, if you like running around on foot and exploring planet surfaces. The biggest gripe I've got is the grindiness of this game. Once you start Engineering your ship parts, it becomes a chore. You can't buy engineering materials, you can only exchange them for others at a loss, get them from missions or scavenge them from wrecks. Some must be found on planet surfaces too. Start grabbing floating debris as you shoot pirates early, because you blow through it all really fast. Besides that, it's annoying to have to pay for a ship you own to be transported to your location and then still have to wait upwards of an hour of real time in some cases for them to arrive. If you book a flight with a space taxi and have no ships at the destination, you can literally be stuck for hours waiting on a ship to be delivered. Stored ship parts also have wait times on top of the fee for being shipped. It's a little ridiculous... Also, if a ship is delivered to us like that, why can't the pilot be transported with it? Until you own a ship with a long jump range, long-distance travel can be a real pain. Overall, 8/10. TL;DR Breakdown: +++Combat ++Customization ++Music ++Graphics + Immersion + Surface Exploration = Hardware Requirements = No Handholding/Short Tutorial = Unimaginative Ship Designs* - Bugs (Odyssey) - Lack of Explanation on most things --Grindiness --Travel-related Issues *compared to competitors like Star Citizen or Eve Online [b]UPDATE[/b] 11/28/2024: After massive updates to the Powerplay system, new ships, Thargoid wars, and more content like Colonization on the horizon, the future is looking bright. The best time to jump into Elite might've been a while back, but the second best time is now!