Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is in the final stages of its alpha period, and pilots can finally land in pilot snapshots from the live game ahead of the expansion's launch on May 19.

After weeks of restricting pilots to a limited section of space, Odyssey testers can now jump in anywhere from where the commander of the main game left off (snapshot taken last week). The entire galaxy can now be explored and landed on, and we can see what "Odyssey" looked like at launch as never before.

However, I am not optimistic. Since first stepping foot into the Odyssey, PC Gamer co-pilot Andy K. and I have been less than enthusiastic about the expansion. The station's interior is full of creepy plastic people, the much-hyped combat system is a bit tasteless, and while we respect the elite budget airlines' commitment to boredom, we can't imagine anyone abandoning spaceflight to travel in an Apex Interstellar I don't.

In Phase 4, none of these systems have changed radically. However, there is a sense that the extensions are somewhat undercooked. For example, when importing the main pilot, I noticed that the commander's outfit (cosmetics purchased with real money) was missing.

Whether this was deliberate replacement or a simple oversight, this is a change that is emblematic of the "Odyssey."

Despite this, I eagerly await the release of "The Odyssey" for one simple reason. Stepping out of my own boat is phenomenal. It was neat when I landed in the disposable ship I picked up in Alpha, but it was even more intense to land the ship I had piloted for months - the ship that had seen me through hundreds of bounty hunters, near-death experiences, shattered canopies and actual death experiences - and see the beast of prey from a human perspective.

After all, I was piloting a ship the size of a much larger house.

The world of the elite is astonishingly huge. Landing on a horizon that stretches for thousands of miles feels like a Neil Armstrong moment, echoing Sean Murray's "planet-sized planet" quote even more than in No Man's Sky.

But even as we approach the end of the alpha, I'm not convinced that this expansion needs more than that; the behind-the-scenes features of "Odyssey," while practical at best, often feel decidedly broken. Still, I recommend getting it on its May 19 release date. If only to leave your first footprints where no one has gone before.