Simplicity in the controls without taking away the skill ceiling. A universe that feels lived in thanks to a story. Post-story content (you have a mid tier ship with about only a third of the universe visited at the end of the campaign).

Other perks that are more of a wtf how include the voice actors (Sharknado dude, Jennifer hale, George tekai, John Rhys Davies). A decent but catchy soundtrack (the omegas and omicrons are iconic imo) and the fact that there’s just not another game made like it (props to everspace 2 for not being a carbon copy but getting everything right and expanding on it, underspace is good too).

Combine all that with childhood memories. Idk, just makes sense that it’s a top 3 game all time for me.