For the sake of this, I'll assume that performance will eventually be fixed:
Gunplay. It's the big draw to Odyssey and the gameplay feels pretty awful. The solution to all problems should not be, "Just use plasma". Weapons lack punch, feel extremely weak, and the gameplay itself is very weak.
You have a very fast-paced and high movement system, but very chunky enemies. You have to pick, do you want slower and more deliberate gameplay, or do you want Quake style run and gun? You have the movement of Quake, but this weird spongy enemy health system for the sake of keeping combat slow. It's very strange and doesn't feel good.
I'm fine with either style, so long as the direction is consistent. With a game like Elite, I'd actually lean a bit more on the sim side of things, but seeing as you've gone ahead and added a Call of Duty style base-fight thing, the Quake style would be more appropriate.
Just a couple bullets for my thoughts on how weaponry has been implemented:
-All weapons should be deadly the moment that they're purchased. Kinetic could have reduced effectiveness on shields, and energy could have reduced effectiveness on flesh, but both should be deadly. With Plasma being a 'solves all problems' kind of weapon, these weapons become obsolete. In the real world, this would mean that no military or mercenary company would use kinetics or lasers at all.
-Engineering should make sense. In 2021, you can buy a new barrel for your rifle, larger magazines, and different scopes without having to provide the materials to build them. You're telling me that in 1000+ years, you can't buy new components for your weapons wholesale? Can an engineer really not source materials for credits? And are you going to tell me that Picatinny rails or their equivalent don't exist anymore? This system is just needless grind and actually shatters immersion. Engineers should exist for things like customized firing pins, overclocking your laser rifles, and things like that. Basic things like extended barrels, scopes, and extended magazines should be available wholesale.
People keep telling me that Elite is a simulator, so I expect the developers of said simulator to understand weaponry. Even 1000 years into the future and within their own lore, they can make weapons feel grounded within it.
You're welcome to disagree with me and say everything's fine. I could very well be in the minority with this.
