Can it be? A space combat and trading sim that also lets you adventure on foot and... actually works!? Mostly, yes!
That's not to say it works perfectly, however. Far from it. The first blemish you'll notice, and arguably the most glaring, is the atrocious translation from Russian to English. Despite an excellent fan-made translation patch (which also addresses other issues and is highly recommended,) the dialogue is still laughter inducingly poor at times. Thankfully it's always at least clear enough that missions make sense, and it really does become part of the game's charm after a while. Beyond the translation issues, there are painfully abundant repeat character models, generic (and at times tedious) fetch and kill missions, and writing that is adequate at best for most of the game. All of these issues become more tolerable and ignorable once the game opens up and you realize the sheer ambition and scale on display here.
Issues that may be more permanent nuisances depending upon your tastes included some interface foibles and difficulty curve missteps. First and foremost, there is just an enormous amount of detail to absorb and acclimate to. Everything from healing items, to medication (to which you can become addicted,) to weapons and their upgrades (which can degrade over time,) to different munitions and ammo types, there are acres and tons of interface to get used to. This includes a multi-limbed, multi-leveled health system. When injured, different body parts take damage. They must be healed individually, and this must be done from within your inventory. Moreover, you cannot pause while in said inventory, so if you're trying to heal in combat you have to rely on the hotkeys, or quickly enter the menu to drag and drop healing goods into your body. Given the unbalanced amount of damage that enemies can deal, this can make venturing outside of towns a truly harrowing (and at times frustrating) experience.
And yet... give it time. Precursors grows on you rapidly. It quickly becomes clear that the interface is cumbersome due to sheer volume, not by design. Everything about it is functional, makes sense, and once you've gotten the hang of it (something you will do if you simply invest sufficient time, because the game hits you up with thorough, detailed text tutorials for every little facet of the game,) you won't lose it again. You can just play the game. Likewise, once you adapt to the challenging combat, it becomes an intense bit of fun (if not state of the art or particularly polished.) The health system even ultimately lends the game a survival feel befitting its "simulation" moniker.
And once all of this begins to click, the game rewards your patience and persistence with an immense universe, on a scale that is both surprising and impressive. Planets are enormous. Starports and space stations are labyrinthine structures that you must explore to find vendors and quest givers. Your spaceship is an actual environment that you can walk around within. The sense of exploration is truly grand once you get into the game. You'll be greeted by all sorts of quirky, unexpected creatures, tasks, and weapon types. You'll also be surprised by the - while not the norm, by any means - unexpectedly interesting and unique quests. A few of them are genuinely thought provoking and pleasantly different from what you might find in other games.
Ultimately, Precursors is a game that fulfills its mandate, does so functionally and effectively, and just plain works. This is far more than can be said for most of its contemporaries, and none of its contemporaries try to juggle such a variety of gameplay types. Given its ambitious scope and depth, despite some decidedly rough edges, it's a truly remarkable achievement. If this is the kind of game you've always dreamed of and you can tolerate the learning curve and less than stellar design in certain places, it will gradually reveal an amazing universe for you to explore if you're so inclined. It's definitely a niche product for a niche audience, but if you find yourself in that niche, it's more than worth your time.