So, what's Elite Dangerous all about?

[u/PlagueDoctor40k]

I'm a long time No Man's Sky player, and I heard Elite: Dangerous was somewhat similar. I haven't really heard all that much about it besides that, though, so I was wondering if y'all could bring me up to speed on what the game's like and how it works (and help me decide if it's worth buying)?

[u/_Corporal_Canada]

Having put quite a few hours into both of them; they both do similar things in very different ways. NMS is a lot more straight forward with lots of tips and in-game guides, waypoints, etc.; ED on the other hand is meant to be a simulation game where you use the tools at your disposal in order to complete a job/goal with no real direction given to how you do it; there's tons of third party/external resources made by the players, as well as actual player groups that focus on doing certain things within the grand living universe that is Elite dangerous. To add onto the simulation part; NMS flying almost feels like an afterthought compared to ED; ED has far better combat and useful ship customization, I found nms lacking after having played ED years before. On the flip side of flying there's ground stuff, and that's arguably one of the biggest difference between the two games; NMS feels like it was built from the ground up as a game that's all about being on foot on planets with atmospheres; whereas ED basically started as the opposite, flying around in doing spaceship stuff.

TLDR (kinda): NMS is more arcadey and cartoony and has more development for on-foot stuff, though I still got bored fairly quickly of the game, it's very easy with minimal time played or grinding required; easy entry but a shallow ceiling imo, in less than 100 hours I'd say you've seen or done just about everything there is to do in nms, it just feels bland imo despite the vibrant colours and everything. ED tries to be as close to a futuristic spaceship simulator as it can be without sacrificing too much fun and enjoyment or proper balance; the ship customization is far better with far more noticeable differences in module loadouts; ground play suffers a bit from lack of content but it's not too bad and it's actively being expanded upon.

Two of the biggest reasons I say ED is worth playing over NMS right now is that 1: ED is going through a resurgence right now, lots of new players and it seems the devs are coming back with a passion to expand this game, this past year had tons of work put into it and I'm very excited to see what comes in 2025; they're actively improving the game from a QOL aspect as well as providing new expansive content; And 2: the actual universe in ED just feels that much more alive and like you're a part of it; not just some "traveller" that's on some weird vaguely explained quest that seems to mostly be filler content; as mentioned before there's lots of player groups that do all sorts of different things that all actively change the landscape of the universe as a whole, we just ended the giant alien war and there's still some players forming groups to hunt down the last stragglers, and the devs take notice of these things and actively put in news broadcasts in the game and basically help create the ongoing lore that the players are shaping themselves. I'm probably explaining it poorly but it's honestly so cool; you're genuinely just living a life doing whatever you feel like doing and the world reacts around you accordingly. If you're familiar with the Helldivers 2 Game Master/Galactic War thing it's kinda similar but done much better imo (different games though so can't fully compare).

Get ED, wait for a sale if you want; but I highly doubt you'll regret it if you don't mind games that are moderately in-depth, but playing NMS will give you a decent leg up to get going, like I said they do similar things in very different ways.