Okay, I am happy I took the leap of faith on this one. Above left is the 2016 book's table of contents. On the right is the 2022 book's ToC. Here is a short list of the first things that jumped out at me with this version of the main rulebook:
- 23 pages added
- Lots of flowcharts and how-to diagrams were added
- Better artwork throughout
- All of the bad pieces and eye-cringe are gone
- Much better presentation
- Use of facing pages where they can!
- Cleaner layout overall
- Bullet points!
- The all-black pages that ate toner are gone
- Much more printer friendly
- Style does not jump around between sections
- Less confusing
- More color in the artwork
- Looks "happier"
- Less of a dreary, dark "Alien RPG" look
- Getting a Star Frontiers vibe overall
- Better equipment and starship images
- The weapons, suits, and tech look "cool" now
- Spacecraft construction is back in the main book!
Overall, it feels like a team of graphic designers went over the 2016 book and made a lot of hard choices on presentation, and the work they did looks great. The bulleted rules and facing pages layouts help a great deal, and the cleaner and consistent presentation overall helps the organization of the book tremendously.
And the universe, ships, gear, and guns look cool too. Not overly high-tech and clean, but rugged, functional, dirty, and functional designs that do not look too "concept art." Great job on the art revamp.
It feels like someone took a long, hard look at Old School Essentials and ask themselves, "What did they do right?"
Granted, they would need to rewrite a lot of the book and rules to get this to an OSE-level of cleanness, but with the game they have and keeping it compatible, they did a pretty good job here.
I can't wait for my hardcopy coming in January 2022, this is one I am looking forward to. I am pleasantly surprised by this one.
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