I don't want to be an emperor.

I'm a STALKER Anomaly player (a free-form sandbox experience) and I'm always on the lookout for games in other settings that scratch the same itch, mainly space or medieval.

The thing is, I'm not interested in 4X strategy, management or expansion. The experience I'm after revolves around the individual, the character, not the empire I built. I have no interest in commanding armies or running large-scale trade.

Is there any room for that in X4 Foundations, or would it be a very short and limited experience? Maybe I should look at something like SpaceBourne 2, Elite Dangerous, or whatever? I know very little about space games.

That's my main pain point whenever I go looking for this kind of game. Mount & Blade, Battle Brothers, etc. Its always ends up pushing you toward building an army instead of just being one person living in that world.