Eight years ago I witnessed one of the most disappointing launches to a hyped up game that I had ever witnessed. At that time No Man's Sky was a shell of what was promised for the game. Since then the developers have been hard at work releasing free content updates to the game and it now sits as one of the most beloved space exploration games out there. One of those updates newly released so I decided to download the game for my PS5 and give it a go.
No Man's Sky big selling point back then was having what is basically an endless universe that you're able to explore as you see fit. Every star in the sky is a solar system you can visit, and those solar systems have planets in them that you can explore. You'll discover new lifeforms, new minerals and flora while uncovering ancient universal secrets. At least that's how I remember them marketing it back then. It sounded amazing.
In reality what you did was fly from planet to planet and shoot rocks with your laser to collect materials to be able to go the next planet and solar system. Eventually you would reach the center of the galaxy where some huge mystery was hiding. The mystery was nothing more than some kind of anomaly that sent you back in time and then the game started all over again. Quite disappoiting. You could visit space stations in each solar systems but they were mostly empty. There were so few elements to the game that it became stale really fast.
Over the year they've now added a ton of new features to the game. I haven't followed the development that closely so I can't list all of what it is but I know that the game is both deeper and richer now. There's new quest lines to uncover, better trading options, actual NPCs to talk to and you can even meet other people in different hubs. There's also a lot done to how planets are generated to increase variety. Oh, it would also be a crime to not mention base building and fast travel possibilities.
After playing No Man's Sky for a good four hours I think I can safely say that no matter how much better it has become it's still not a game for me. It's a little to slow for my liking with not enough stuff happening. That's not a critique to the game as it's being what it's meant to be. A chill, relaxed and cozy space exploration game.
In my four hours I went through the starting quest line. I repaired my ship and I set off into space. I lander on the ugliest planet I could ever imagine as you can see in the thumbnail so I left that place as fast as I could. When I settled on a new planet to build my base I was constantly hit by radiation storms that ended up bogging down my gameplay. I was about to ragequit when I found out that I could change difficulties on the go. I had started in normal mode which makes the game into a survival game. I changed it to relaxed and then later to creative so I could just roam around without systems bogging me down.
The game got a lot better for me then. I think that's what I wanted from the game. Just being able to fly around and explore at my own place. Not to fight weather phenomenons on alien planets while trying to build a wooden shelter. I flew around for two hours just sightseeing planets and following a quest line that gave me some lore of the universe. When those two hours had passed I felt satisfied and was ready to put down the game.
I don't see myself playing much more of No Man's Sky but I can definitely see myself getting the urge to sit down for an hour and two and just fly around to do sightseeing on more planets. The game definitely looks beautiful but I have no interest of interacting with most of the system it has in place. I think it's really good that you can tailor the game to suit your own playstyle so that I can just explore while others can choose to have a more hardcore survival experience. Accessibility is key.
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.
