Yeah beating that game relies fairly heavily on luck and good RNG for what encounters you run into. I can say as someone who isn't an expert at that game, you can beat it on regular without too much effort. Though some ship builds/types make it a lot easier than others. But yeah, a lot of it is just if RNJesus is smiling down on your or not. It's a fun game I think, but it's got a short shelf-life of engagement for me.
I get the appeal of rogue likes with permadeath, but doubt it’d ever be something I’d personally find engaging. With the limited time I have for gaming in the first place, the idea of losing all progress at the drop of a hat - not unlike a corrupted save for instance - sounds dreadfully masochistic.