Absolutely love EV and EVO. I played a bit of Nova but it didn’t grab me the same way (perhaps it was too many years later, although I did replay EV much more recently and loved it).

This is the second time today I’ve seen someone mention Endless Sky. It looks really interesting to me. Have you started playing it yet? I think what makes or breaks these games is the quality of writing and the effort and detail that goes into the different planets, factions, missions, and story.