I'll preface this by saying that this is not a game for everyone, it is quite grindy and while there are certainly moments of high tension/action, much of the game is quite calm and could be called boring by some. Additionally, it's not a game that will tell you what to do, you are just dropped into a simulation of our milky way galaxy and it's up to you to figure out what you want to do and how to do it. There are in game codex tabs that give you a basic overview of the activities available, but they are bare bones.

That said, I can confidently say you won't find a space sim that balances this level of technical richness with such beautiful backdrops and breadth of gameplay avenues.

Technical richness -
Everything on your ship matters, the weight, thermal efficiency, armor plating, cargo capacity, life support, etc. all makes a difference and can be modified by the modules you select for your ship. There are 36 playable ships as of writing this review, with 4 released in the last year. Some of these ships are intended for a specific role, but ultimately, you get to decide the role you want to build each ship for. Want to turn a luxury spaceliner into a sleek explorer? you can. There is so much depth here, it is hard to keep track of, but there are 3rd party tools such as edsy, which will let you prototype builds before you buy a ship.

Beautiful backdrops -
I am unaware of any other game that operates at the scale that Elite Dangerous does, save perhaps NMS. While you may be initially bummed that Elite only simulates the milky way galaxy, this simulation contains 400 billion star systems, more than enough to keep every explorer happy with uncharted systems until the end of time. Many of these systems can be unremarkable, but that is because the systems are based on real-life scientific principles, and continuously updating space data from real life telescope data. these systems are rendered in beautiful detail with water worlds and earth-like worlds a rare treat. Aside from the visuals, the audio in this game is a real treat, from the sounds of your ship thrusters boosting to the sound of your windscreen cracking as you take damage the sounds of this game are an absolute delight and really immerse you in the game.

Breadth of gameplay-
There are a lot of things to do in Elite, not all of it will make you rich, but I think there is something for anyone with a spaceship flying fantasy.
Trading - Be a space trucker, making bulk deliveries between star systems, buy low, sell high. conversely, you can buy "rare" goods that are unique to a single system, and sell them to far away systems for a tidy profit.
Mining - Equip your ship with mining lasers or precision explosive charges and find a profitable asteroid belt to mine, then sell the tons of materials to stations for a profit.
Exploration - Explore uncharted systems, scanning down every body in the system and probing particularly interesting bodies for extra credits and even landing to make biological discoveries of miscellaneous bacteria and simple plants.
Combat - Outfit your ship with weapons, shields, hull reinforcements, and all manner of combat systems and find yourself some opponents. You can work as a mercenary, bounty hunter, or pirate. Currently you can even help combat the Thargoid threat, alien invaders who fight very differently than human opponents. I will warn that PvP combat is rare in this game unless you set up adhoc matches with other commanders.
Search and Rescue - Find the aftermath of piracy/combat and gather black boxes, escape pods, and/or wreckage components and deliver them to the relevant authorities.
I am sure there is more to get into, but that's what I could remember off the top of my head.

To top it all off, after 10 years since release, Frontier has returned to making great updates to this game and I hope they continue.

If you read all that and you are interested in playing this game too, I recommend buying a throttle/joystick combo, they aren't strictly necessary to play, but I think they make the experience much better.

I'll preface this by saying that this is not a game for everyone, it is quite grindy and while there are certainly moments of high tension/action, much of the game is quite calm and could be called boring by some. Additionally, it's not a game that will tell you what to do, you are just dropped into a simulation of our milky way galaxy and it's up to you to figure out what you want to do and how to do it. There are in game codex tabs that give you a basic overview of the activities available, but they are bare bones. That said, I can confidently say you won't find a space sim that balances this level of technical richness with such beautiful backdrops and breadth of gameplay avenues. Technical richness - Everything on your ship matters, the weight, thermal efficiency, armor plating, cargo capacity, life support, etc. all makes a difference and can be modified by the modules you select for your ship. There are 36 playable ships as of writing this review, with 4 released in the last year. Some of these ships are intended for a specific role, but ultimately, you get to decide the role you want to build each ship for. Want to turn a luxury spaceliner into a sleek explorer? you can. There is so much depth here, it is hard to keep track of, but there are 3rd party tools such as edsy, which will let you prototype builds before you buy a ship. Beautiful backdrops - I am unaware of any other game that operates at the scale that Elite Dangerous does, save perhaps NMS. While you may be initially bummed that Elite only simulates the milky way galaxy, this simulation contains 400 billion star systems, more than enough to keep every explorer happy with uncharted systems until the end of time. Many of these systems can be unremarkable, but that is because the systems are based on real-life scientific principles, and continuously updating space data from real life telescope data. these systems are rendered in beautiful detail with water worlds and earth-like worlds a rare treat. Aside from the visuals, the audio in this game is a real treat, from the sounds of your ship thrusters boosting to the sound of your windscreen cracking as you take damage the sounds of this game are an absolute delight and really immerse you in the game. Breadth of gameplay- There are a lot of things to do in Elite, not all of it will make you rich, but I think there is something for anyone with a spaceship flying fantasy. Trading - Be a space trucker, making bulk deliveries between star systems, buy low, sell high. conversely, you can buy "rare" goods that are unique to a single system, and sell them to far away systems for a tidy profit. Mining - Equip your ship with mining lasers or precision explosive charges and find a profitable asteroid belt to mine, then sell the tons of materials to stations for a profit. Exploration - Explore uncharted systems, scanning down every body in the system and probing particularly interesting bodies for extra credits and even landing to make biological discoveries of miscellaneous bacteria and simple plants. Combat - Outfit your ship with weapons, shields, hull reinforcements, and all manner of combat systems and find yourself some opponents. You can work as a mercenary, bounty hunter, or pirate. Currently you can even help combat the Thargoid threat, alien invaders who fight very differently than human opponents. I will warn that PvP combat is rare in this game unless you set up adhoc matches with other commanders. Search and Rescue - Find the aftermath of piracy/combat and gather black boxes, escape pods, and/or wreckage components and deliver them to the relevant authorities. I am sure there is more to get into, but that's what I could remember off the top of my head. To top it all off, after 10 years since release, Frontier has returned to making great updates to this game and I hope they continue. If you read all that and you are interested in playing this game too, I recommend buying a throttle/joystick combo, they aren't strictly necessary to play, but I think they make the experience much better.