No Man's Sky - Early Impressions/Reviews-in-progress Thread

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Definitely a game for those who really like to explore. Not for me really. I need more depth and reason. That's okay though.
 
EventHorizon said:
Hopefully it will. My concern with that is that there won't be any need for base building. So far it doesn't seem to be any reason to stick around on a planet long enough to make any kind of base useful. What they need to do is increase the difficulty and rewards of some planets so that it is worth your while to go there and set up home.

It'd also be interesting if they added a reconnaissance drone capability. You should be able to build them and send them to nearby systems to get a peek at what is there. That way you can make intelligent decisions about where to go next. That would also help reduce the problem of not needing to stick around a planet or system for long. This game should be about setting up strategic bases that are needed to get you to the center of the galaxy.

Increasing the complexity a bit up from that, you should be able to add a bit of RTS strategy by setting up automated resource gatherers and defense on planets that would be susceptible to raiders or other attacks. The purpose of all that would be to build a warp gate that would warp you much farther than you cold normally go. The warp gates would be needed to not penalize players who spend the time to build up a successful base of operations.

No Man's Sky looks like a great foundation to build a game on top of, but doesn't hold up well standing as a $60 game all by itself.
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Especially since it's likely only you will ever visit that planet. I know there's a system for factions. But as you gain traction with one faction does it anger another and cause them to try and hunt you and the like? Can you participate in events and war campaigns amongst species etc? What are the compelling and dynamic events that happen in game as you progress?
 
Camp Freddie said:
I'm definitely going to wait for the honeymoon period to end.

It looks like a fascinating game to start with, but it is entirely dependent on maintaining the illusion that you're exploring an alien world rather than a mathematical algorithm. There has to be something new and interesting to drive you to explore, rather than repetitive follow-the-icons gameplay and tedious inventory management.

If there's lots of meaningful variety then it'll be fun, but it does look like it could just be shooting rocks and animals to make bars fill up, so you can get new/bigger bars to fill up by shooting different coloured rocks/animals.

I'm not sure how base building will work in a game where you're supposed to be constantly on the move. Maybe it will be some sort of mobile base/mother-ship.
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Wagram said:
Definitely a game for those who really like to explore. Not for me really. I need more depth and reason. That's okay though.
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There is story content and alien races, with thousands of pages of actual dialogue and lore to read. There's an overarching story dripped throughout the galaxy for you to follow through, and the game gives you actual objectives and directions to go in to uncover it. Basically, there's loads to discover - it's not just a big, playable procedural algorithm. It feels like what Destiny should have been - a compelling lore which actually has substance and a massive galaxy to explore and progress through to find out more about.

Whether that content will hold up after we reach the galactic center, who knows... That might be the end of the honeymoon period! But right now, for me, it's delivering on what I expected a thousandfold.

Aztechnology said:
Especially since it's likely only you will ever visit that planet. I know there's a system for factions. But as you gain traction with one faction does it anger another and cause them to try and hunt you and the like?
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Yes

Aztechnology said:
Can you participate in events and war campaigns amongst specifies etc?
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Yes

Aztechnology said:
What are the compelling and dynamic events that happen in game as you progress?
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The above with lots of other story content, side quests, 'choose-your-own adventure' sort of moments.

Pirates will scan your ship whenever you enter/exit a system or planet. If you're carrying valuables, they will attack. They can fuck you up and steal cargo worth hundreds of thousands of credits. If friendly alien race ships are nearby they will help you out.

It's happened to me.
 
Wagram said:
Definitely a game for those who really like to explore. Not for me really. I need more depth and reason. That's okay though.
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No Man's Sky and exploring...hmmm who would have thought.

And the planets are super massive with objectives, plenty of reasons to stick around longer on them. Just sounds like most need their hand held to enjoy games.
 
bennibop said:
What a shame for Hello games that idiots insist on writing reviews for games they have not played and giving them 0 - 2 rating. Strange how all these reviewers have either given xbox titles high scores or have never reviewed previously.
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I wonder if Sean being all passionate about the game it's more fuel for internet trolls.

edit:

I never actually played the game, however I am rating this a 0/10 in hopes that fewer people will give Hello Games their money. It makes me happy when hack indie game developers go bankrupt, as they will no longer have delusions that they make art, and as such, will be forced to get real jobs.
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yeah.
 
EventHorizon said:
Hopefully it will. My concern with that is that there won't be any need for base building. So far it doesn't seem to be any reason to stick around on a planet long enough to make any kind of base useful. What they need to do is increase the difficulty and rewards of some planets so that it is worth your while to go there and set up home.

It'd also be interesting if they added a reconnaissance drone capability. You should be able to build them and send them to nearby systems to get a peek at what is there. That way you can make intelligent decisions about where to go next. That would also help reduce the problem of not needing to stick around a planet or system for long. This game should be about setting up strategic bases that are needed to get you to the center of the galaxy.

Increasing the complexity a bit up from that, you should be able to add a bit of RTS strategy by setting up automated resource gatherers and defense on planets that would be susceptible to raiders or other attacks. The purpose of all that would be to build a warp gate that would warp you much farther than you cold normally go. The warp gates would be needed to not penalize players who spend the time to build up a successful base of operations.

No Man's Sky looks like a great foundation to build a game on top of, but doesn't hold up well standing as a $60 game all by itself.
Click to expand...

This all sounds like a great idea and i hope they add it in!
 
EventHorizon said:
Hopefully it will. My concern with that is that there won't be any need for base building. So far it doesn't seem to be any reason to stick around on a planet long enough to make any kind of base useful. What they need to do is increase the difficulty and rewards of some planets so that it is worth your while to go there and set up home.
Click to expand...

It would be worthwhile if it was a mobile space station that you could build. Perhaps initially you construct on a planet, then can modify it to drag it into orbit. Give it warp capabilities, weapon systems, etc. If I were designing it, I'd give it some kind of delayed warp so that the player would be initially alone when entering a system. That way, you retain the risk of going somewhere new.

Imagine jumping in, getting attacked by pirates, and a few minutes into a losing dogfighr, your base shows up and rains destruction upon your foes.

That's way better than a shack on a hill of some planet.
 
SomTervo said:
There is story content and alien races, with thousands of pages of actual dialogue and lore to read. There's an overarching story dripped throughout the galaxy for you to follow through, and the game gives you actual objectives and directions to go in to uncover it. Basically, there's loads to discover - it's not just a big, playable procedural algorithm. It feels like what Destiny should have been - a compelling lore which actually has substance and a massive galaxy to explore and progress through to find out more about.

Whether that content will hold up after we reach the galactic center, who knows... That might be the end of the honeymoon period! But right now, for me, it's delivering on what I expected a thousandfold.



Yes



Yes



The above with lots of other story content, side quests, 'choose-your-own adventure' sort of moments.

Pirates will scan your ship whenever you enter/exit a system or planet. If you're carrying valuables, they will attack. They can fuck you up and steal cargo worth hundreds of thousands of credits. If friendly alien race ships are nearby they will help you out.

It's happened to me.
Click to expand...

That's good, definitely makes me feel more attracted to the title. I still don't know if it's worth $60 and will wait a few more weeks at least before deciding. But I am disappointed that I can't say visit a friend's planet or something like that. The universe is just too big to a flaw. Elire Dangerous's more than shows that and it doesn't even have anywhere near as interesting of planetary landings.

heringer said:
I do expect NMS to be more feature complete than Subnautica, though.
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What I wouldn't do for co-op in Subnautica. It's the only reason I haven't picked it up.

I don't think NMS is three times more feature complete though.
 
The game being overhyped or not is not relevant for reviews and it's really annoying to hear it be brought up again and again.
 
I just watched DreamcastGuy's review and based on the interface, and comparing to the patched game I can tell that this one is written before the patch.

I can't see that his points are irrelevant, but its important for the people to know. For example he is mentioning the mostly lifeless planets, which after the patch its not true - there is species everywhere now.
 
Primethius said:
I like how there's only 1 or 2 finalized reviews while the rest are reviews in progress but conclusions on it being overhyped are already being drawn.

:lol
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The floodgates opened up to the fence sitters and not wanting it's, while the ones who were interested were playing the game.

There is no coincidence the hard shift the comments took 20 minutes after 12am EST, lol.

The game delivered exactly what I hoped for in it.

Primethius said:
The reviews-in-progress sound pretty positive to me (in the OP).

And hyped up to be a 10/10? I'm sorry, I wasn't browsing those circles. I was on GAF.

The reviews seem to indicate it's a pretty good to great game. If people overhyped themselves because they do that sorta thing, that's their problem.
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.

Oh and Jim on the "Skinners Box" comment, ... disingenuous in context of gaming, because it applies to all games. That is the basis of getting people hooked, lol. Especially more so in quest fetch games.

Zombie James said:
https://twitter.com/jimsterling/status/762989501958483968

Yuuuuup. I think we know where this one is going.
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I mean, it's no Fallout 4's polish. *tries to hold a straight face*
 
I'm sad to see some people are expecting this game to be something it isn't. I'm having a great time with it.

My heart was actually pounding as I began moving away from my ship and into a cave system- There could be anything inside, and this sense of discovery and wonder settled in.

I'm also feeling stupid after reading this thread. I didn't know there could be more than one upgrade(suit, tool, ship, etc) and soon after getting resources to fix my ship I moved on. It was a modera climate country, with peaceful fauna and PLENTY of GOLD. Yeah..stayed 30 minutes on it and that was it.
 
Pop said:
Exactly how the mass on the internet acts. No wonder people latch on to his opinions.
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He's the voice for all those jaded players out there in the world who have played to many games in there time to tell the difference between a bad game and a game that is average or higher but they just don't like.
 
SomTervo said:
You can't judge from videos or streams. Play it yourself.
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Oh yes I can. I've gotten really good at judging if I'll like a game or not based on looking at gameplay. If there is any bias, it is that I am too likely to overrate my enjoyment of a game due to the hype, not underrate it. I got burned by Dragon Age Inquisition due to this, and have since learned to compensate for it. I pegged Destiny spot on. I knew it would be a game I'd like to play but not for $60. I waited and ended up buying the game when the Taken King expansion had been out and went on sale for like $35. Great decision on my part.



SomTervo said:
It's an incredibly complex system. There seems to be a 'median' sort of planet and animal generated - you'll come across similar things quite often - but then out of nowhere you'll encounter a totally fucked up place or a type of animal you've never seen before.

This keeps happening to me. I'm 15 hours in and I'll visit four planets seeing similar sorts of stuff - and the BAM I encounter something I never expected that is almost scary. The exploration is rewarded tenfold because of moments like this and they make up for planets upon planets of similar stuff.

It's a big universe with an incredibly complex procedural engine behind it.
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Yea, but is that just some new tileset or configuration you haven't seen before? Does it change the gameplay at all? Sounds to me like creatures and planets are just combinations of smaller items put together in random ways. When I say that you figure out how the procedural generation system works, I'm not just saying that you've seen all the possible pieces. I'm saying that you can intuitively see the gears working behind the scenes.

For example, just sitting here I can imagine a new crazy world that has a reverse T-Rex with massive front arms that it walks on, a bird like head with a beak, tiny hind legs that don't touch the ground, and a big bunny tail. That might make for a truly unique screenshot of something I had never seen before, but I could see how the game just pieced together parts of other animals. If there was a lot more to the game then that, it would be perfectly fine as background ambiance, but if that is the main purpose of the game it sounds only slightly more interesting as staring at a good random character generator in an RPG.
 
Playing it now and on my 3rd planet. Very cool game now but still early days obviously, the sense of scale is bang on imo and I can't wait to shit like blackholes. Saying that, there is a lot of downtime in the game which wont please everyone. If you're on the fence, definitely just wait for the next update and for the game to be worked out more so that we can understand the true variety before jumping in.
 
After twelve hours or so, I love this game, but it's probably the most subjective thing ever, and that's okay. It's alright if this isn't for you. In a way we really needed a game like this in the current Internet age of comment sections, Metacritic, knee-jerk reactions, premature reviews, confirmation bias and dramatic hyperbole. Everything is pre-judged based on other people's opinions that we gently subjugate as our own. Everything always has to be either amazing or a piece of shit, but here's a game that is what you personally make of it. Just jump in, see what happens. You may be bored in an hour, or captivated in a way gaming rarely has achieved before. It's a risk worth taking.

One piece of advice I'd give, is there's a real 'luck of the draw' aspect. I feel like I got lucky and had an utterly amazing first galaxy. One planet was a huge Winter woodland, thick with tall pine trees, with really unique geometry and networks of caves that you could actually get lost in. It was so sensational in 'design' that it blows my mind that it was created procedurally. This random wooded planet had a better atmosphere and feel than all of Firewatch. I'd advise you don't base your thoughts on the game on the first planet, or even the first few; go a little further. There's some real proper gems out there, and it's down to luck how many you come across; just the way it should be.
 
Someone said that if you love exploring in games like Fallout 3 and 4 this game is for you. I might have to buy this game, watching Giant Bomb and Jeffs impressions, it looks really fun to explore. Soo tempted atm.
 
It reminds me a lot of how people lost their shit over Scribblenauts

Until the limitations of the systems begin to become apparent

I still think I would have fun journeying to the center of the Universe in this game but once the walls of its systems and mechanics are uncovered.....
 
EventHorizon said:
Hopefully it will. My concern with that is that there won't be any need for base building. So far it doesn't seem to be any reason to stick around on a planet long enough to make any kind of base useful. What they need to do is increase the difficulty and rewards of some planets so that it is worth your while to go there and set up home.

It'd also be interesting if they added a reconnaissance drone capability. You should be able to build them and send them to nearby systems to get a peek at what is there. That way you can make intelligent decisions about where to go next. That would also help reduce the problem of not needing to stick around a planet or system for long. This game should be about setting up strategic bases that are needed to get you to the center of the galaxy.

Increasing the complexity a bit up from that, you should be able to add a bit of RTS strategy by setting up automated resource gatherers and defense on planets that would be susceptible to raiders or other attacks. The purpose of all that would be to build a warp gate that would warp you much farther than you cold normally go. The warp gates would be needed to not penalize players who spend the time to build up a successful base of operations.

No Man's Sky looks like a great foundation to build a game on top of, but doesn't hold up well standing as a $60 game all by itself.
Click to expand...

This sounds utterly awful to me, turning the game in to a base building RTS is not something I am keen to see happen at all.
 
SENPAIatLARGE said:
Jim going against the grain of the No Mans Sky cult must mean he hated it from the start.
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His criticisms were kind of predicted in advance though right?

We knew when this game was described that there would be certain limits to what this game could be

Thats not to say that they wont add things and update others though. Sean Murray did say this is just the beginning of support for the game so who knows
 
Itchy//Tasty said:
One piece of advice I'd give, is there's a real 'luck of the draw' aspect. I feel like I got lucky and had an utterly amazing first galaxy. One planet was a huge Winter woodland, thick with tall pine trees, with really unique geometry and networks of caves that you could actually get lost in. It was so sensational in 'design' that it blows my mind that it was created procedurally. This random wooded planet had a better atmosphere and feel than all of Firewatch. I'd advise you don't base your thoughts on the game on the first planet, or even the first few; go a little further. There's some real proper gems out there, and it's down to luck how many you come across; just the way it should be.
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Good advice.

For me, I think its not knowing whats over the horizon or on the next planet, or through that bit of space that will really hook me in. I love exploration in games, I'll spend ages in even linear games looking in all the nooks and crannies - give me a proper open world and I'll play it for years just pottering about. I'm still finding new and interesting things in GTA 5 and Witcher 3. There needs to be a sense of discovery to make it fulfilling for me, to come across interesting stuff - I think NMS will provide that in spades.

I can't wait to play, its potentially the game I've been waiting for for 26 years.
 
Game feels like Minecraft mixed with survival game meters and inventory. All things I dislike. Visited a few planets and all feeling so samey (ones cold next is radio active, ect..)

If you like wondering aimlessly and inventory management this game is for you. Not my cup of tea, does PSN do refunds?
 
Karadaliev said:
I just watched DreamcastGuy's review and based on the interface, and comparing to the patched game I can tell that this one is written before the patch.

I can't see that his points are irrelevant, but its important for the people to know. For example he is mentioning the mostly lifeless planets, which after the patch its not true - there is species everywhere now.
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There's no lifeless planets? That would be weird.
 
Landford said:
Love Jim, but he had a bone to pick with NMS since years ago. Hes not very fond of the game well before playing it.
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Love him too, but yeah, when I saw this tweet, I figured it might be something like that:

https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/762861290696179712

Yeah, Jim, pretty much. But I mean, that's fine, opinions and all. Still agree with the dude most of the time.

Also, Alex Navarro seems to be enjoying the game quite a bit and also looks to be doing the review for GB. Haven't seen much mention of his opinions here.

https://twitter.com/alex_navarro/status/762863789712683009
 
Can somebody assuage my fears that there's no solar systems in this game, just a single giant star in the center? From the little footage I've now seen of the completed(?) game, it looks like a game about space without galaxies, a game of infinite planets hanging in swaths of pollution of different colors -- it didn't communicate the cold, dark vastness and senseless complexity of space at all. Or do people simply start out in a nebula they eventually escape?
 
Zombie James said:
What's the backstory?
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I wouldnt like to presume his thoughts too much, as I said, really love the guy and listen to almost all his podcasts, but If i had to guess it was the whole "hype" around it, the ridiculous expectations partially created by Sony, and the troubled development. He and Laura joked a lot about the game never coming out.
 
Landford said:
I wouldnt like to presume his thoughts too much, as I said, really love the guy and listen to almost all his podcasts, but If i had to guess it was the whole "hype" around it, the ridiculous expectations partially created by Sony, and the troubled development. He and Laura joked a lot about the game never coming out.
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Oh lord, lol. Come on. Not like this.

So juvenile to hold grudges based on e-hype and the like, especially if you want to be taken seriously. Judge something for what it is. Reads like someone who is 'too cool or hip'.

ProTip: Hype is personal and subjective (do not throw shade at a perceived community, because that is just your bias)... if we are not hive minds and all.

Landford said:
What do you mean?
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I elaborated.
 
I'm pretty glad that I have no idea who this Jim person is. Internet personalities and the cult that grows up around them are something I'll never understand.
 
Goldmund said:
Can somebody assuage my fears that there's no solar systems in this game, just a single giant star in the center? From the little footage I've now seen of the completed(?) game, it looks like a game about space without galaxies, a game of infinite planets hanging in swaths of pollution of different colors -- it didn't communicate the cold, dark vastness and senseless complexity of space at all. Or do people simply start out in a nebula they eventually escape?
Click to expand...

I think you probably just saw a single solar system and assumed it was the whole game lol.
 
Goldmund said:
Can somebody assuage my fears that there's no solar systems in this game, just a single giant star in the center? From the little footage I've now seen of the completed(?) game, it looks like a game about space without galaxies, a game of infinite planets hanging in swaths of pollution of different colors -- it didn't communicate the cold, dark vastness and senseless complexity of space at all. Or do people simply start out in a nebula they eventually escape?
Click to expand...

Every dot is a star with it's own solar system

https://youtu.be/jXAi3wbSMco
 
cr0w said:
I'm pretty glad that I have no idea who this Jim person is. Internet personalities and the cult that grows up around them are something I'll never understand.
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Yea picking individual reviews for a game like this would be pointless. You can take a look at something like metacritic for an average and see if it is generally well received but some people dont like certain types of games and their reviews show it.
 
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