Revisiting No Man's Sky - Article

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 04 August 2018 / 3,857 Views

Hello Games' No Man’s Sky launched back in 2016 to more hype than even the vast majority of AAA games. Prior to release many people - myself included - treated it like it was going to be a great leap forward for gaming. All of the promises of procedural generation, the idea of an infinite universe awaiting to be explored, and bumping into people across a universe of space, seemed like such novel ideas.

And then we played the game.

Amongst other things there was little guidance on how to do anything; most of the player base started out on horribly deadly planets and were confused as to how to expand from there. Options were also limited, not least the base-building functionality. And of course the people you might hope to bump into weren’t even there. In the end, No Man's Sky was a bitter disappointed; a lonely and shallow experience.

That was then, however. Since 2016, the game has received update after update, slowly pushing it from being a mediocre game to a decent one. Now, with the release of the 'NEXT' update, it has finally made the move from decent to pretty great.

Visually it has improved significantly. A large number of new assets have been added to the game to give the whole procedural generation gimmick a fresh coat of paint. Now the game really does have a wide variety of planets, creatures, and flora. So far, every planet I've visited since the update has been markedly different from all of the others. One felt like Mars, for example, another like a deceptive oasis planet plagued by acid rain, and one even like the planet Hoth from Star Wars.

There are far, far more computer characters, pieces of technology, races, and fleets than ever before; and items, things to discover, and beings to interact with are all over the place. Random NPC ships will fly overhead every now, which makes the experience feel much less lonely. Granted, I’ve only encountered one real person thus far (and that a Steam friend), but the ability to join another player's session and unlock their bases to go through what is in effect a Stargate is a huge improvement.

I'm currently in the process of fervently constructing my own glorious base on a planet that I found with my aforementioned it. It almost feels like Minecraft in space, but with stronger visuals and the addition of some enjoyable exploration components. This is the game I wanted (an expected) at launch. Unlike Minecraft it doesn’t get aesthetically boring either, at least not so far. The sheer number of possibilities, especially with future updates, should ensure that it remains interesting for a long time to come.

When No Man’s Sky first came out I was incredibly excited. I came from an Eve: Online background and loved many aspects of that game but simultaneously hated how slow it felt and how you never had direct control over your ship (it's a point and click game, for the uninitiated). When No Man’s Sky was announced and shown off, I soaked it in like Squidward eating Krabby Patties. Then, when it was released, I played it for about three hours before hanging up my boots and walking away from the depressingly isolated and limited experience.

Now? Now I can’t stop playing it. Every day I feel an eager temptation to play it, and when I do I’m lost in this universe for at least an hour (which is a lot of time for me to devote to a session). I love the exploration, the discovery, the interaction with aliens, and the possibility of easily and meaningfully interacting with people. I love that the resources required are always available in some way, shape, or form, and usually rather easily. I love that I continue to learn as I play the game, figuring out how to do things better and more efficiently. I love the gorgeous sunsets on beautiful planets... which quickly turn into deadly hot acid rain. I love that I can literally pick it up and play for a bit, quickly save, and then resume right where I left off. I love how easy it is for friends to join my play sessions. There are so many things about this game that I love, now, that I could keep going on like this for quite some time.

What makes this update even better are the implications for the future of the game, with this as the basis for what to expect. Hello Games' press release was rather telling of the developer's intentions in this respect:

"This is an incredibly important update for us, but it’s also just another step in a longer journey, and we’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky in this way for the foreseeable future. This is an incredibly important update for us, but it’s also just another step in a longer journey, and we’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky in this way for the foreseeable future."

No Man's Sky has gone on a long journey, from being straight up bad, to middling, to now good. So who knows, it's possible that one day No Man's Sky will eventually morph into a superb game.

In truth, dozens of major features that have been added to No Man's Sky since its disastrous launch in 2016, and many more significant tweaks have been made beyond that. If you own the game but quickly gave up on it back in 2016 then now is a great time to experience all of these improvements for yourself. I can honestly say I have never seen such a drastic turnaround in all of video gaming - No Man's Sky was a complete and utter disappointment but now it's finally fun to play.