I think Hbomberguy has a video where he says the true test of a good sim game is whether you can bypass a hard fight by stacking enough boxes together or use a grenade to open a room full of locked containers.
Elite Dangerous went really hard in the sim design direction …. Until they were done with the landing sequence… then after that it takes this really hard turn into more of amusement park design.
While most games seek to marry up their gameplay loops to keep things dynamic, FDEV silos their design and makes each activity its own little roped off attraction. And just like Disney Land there’s a 2 hour wait to ride each ride that involves traveling, prep, and just generally trying to find things in the menus.
Using a flak cannon to clear a forest and using limpets was the last/most SIM thing in this game. All the people saying it’s such a minor inconvenience to use the SRV are missing the point.
It was about engaging in play outside the incredibly limited scope of this game. FDEV should lean into that at every turn, because it creates play they don’t have to design.
Stop saying this game is a SIM. It’s not a SIM, it’s world of Warcraft with space planes. People only whip out the SIM argument to paper over issues.