No Man's Sky - Early Impressions/Reviews-in-progress Thread
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depths20XX
Member
Yeah, I don't get the "they aren't exploring the planets enough" mindset. What do you think they're going to find? Isn't there only one biome per planet?
gamechanger87
Member
Bloodporne
Member
My question I guess as someone who used to be kind of psyched about this game is what am I missing by NOT randomly wandering on that planet for hours if nothing particularly complex, no city scapes, building clusters of note or anything of that nature will be there? Variations of rock, flowers and animals that all behave essentially the same? For a game that only has exploration going for it, I just wish any of these planets captured on screenshots didn't all look fundamentally the same to each other.
The exploration seems to promise nothing to actually discover at the end, so why wander that 30 minutes, two hours, whatever away from the way points? What should I expect to find that makes that worth it when I can see the vistas just the same without blowing an extra hour?
Netherscourge
Banned
I was talking in terms of upgrading your way to some goal. Adding spaceships. Adding scanning. Stuff like that.
The systems inside NMS could be replicated into Minecraft. Well, other than the 18 quintillion different worlds. But you could make one huge Minecraft world with different biomes through the one world and whatnot, to simulate all the variety.
I don't even know why we're comparing the two games honestly.
NMS isn't about digging and building. It's about exploring and upgrading.
Bloodporne
Member
Just found this on Harry Denholm's Twitter and thought it was relevant. They didn't exactly shoot down the comparisons.
https://twitter.com/HarryDenholm/status/755155729821077504
https://twitter.com/HarryDenholm/status/755155729821077504
orthodoxy1095
Banned
Zombie James
Banned
That's a problem I have with the majority of streams I've watched. I can totally see people getting bored or disappointed if all they want to do is jump from waypoint to waypoint as quickly as possible. If you treat the game like a grind, it'll be a grind. That's the impression I'm getting.
Sectorseven
Member
I said it earlier, but thinking about it some more, I was definitely hoping for something more akin to Star Trek. Not a slight against the gameplay, but maybe it could've focused more on a broader narrative, like you're on a mission to explore the unknown and make contact with new civilizations, and in the process you get into smaller, quest size adventures along the lines of GTA or Mass Effect missions.
I did not want to leave my first planet and I'll just leave it there. Here is the actual scale of it from space after I left:
And yes you can go all around planets and land anywhere.
I have a question... does the landscape you see in that image from that altitude/space actually match the reality of the terrain when you fly down? Or is that a generic texture and things are only procedurally generated when you get lower down?
Pop
Member
I know exactly why. Still building blocks though.
In my experience it's showing the actual terrain while you're in space.
GAMETA
Banned
Well, Minecraft was survivor only when it was first released.
I believe NMS has the potential to become "the next Minecraft", but that would require years and years of constant updates, support, new mechanics and an active community.
I don't see why they'd not add multiplayer in a few years from now if the game keeps on selling and if the feature keeps on being requested by a really large community.
Making a planet "your own" would be awesome too, a "teleporter" could bring friends together and so on... I believe it would all be possible, but only, ONLY, if the community is active, growing and demanding like it's been for the past few years with Minecraft.
gamechanger87
Member
Minecraft was survival only, but you survived by digging and building shelters. The fundamentals of the game have never really changed. Minecraft is a sandbox game and Notch set out to create a building sandbox game.
NMS and Minecraft are completely different games and have different goals. I get frustrated when people try and claim this game is just like Minecraft when it is not. This is an exploration/survival game through and through. It's more Ark with procedurally generated worlds and a large galaxy than Minecraft.
It really isn't. I'm trying to figure out what made Hello Games even add the survival aspect.
Pop
Member
Do you just want to be handed everything without working towards improving your items?
These games have upgrades. Just like other games with them. To shit on one but not others seems out of place.
The game requires you to grind apparently.
Which is why it has been constantly said that NMS is not for everyone.
Pop
Member
You could just float in space forever.
I dunno, I have fun with it. Especially when I'm pretty far out from my ship and I realize I've been ignoring my suit/life support/multi-tool. It helps drive home the fact that I'm an explorer and this place is unwelcome--it's not just scenery.
Otherwise it's basically just a fancy screensaver.
MegaSackman
Member
In my planet that's a pretty simple thing to do really, I stumble upon any kind of minerals every two steps, my only problem is that the place's really cold so I have to keep an eye on my suit but then again, I can recharge it as I walk and wander around the surface. It's a really misterios and intriguing world/game so far. (2hs in, still on starter planet).
Darth Smurf X
Member
Here are my early impressions. Which, may or may not contain spoilers, because I have no idea what type of planet everyone will start on, but I can assume some things will be similar.
I thought for sure they'd start me in the shallow end, get my feet wet, teach me the basics before throwing me into the deep end. I thought my starter planet would be devoid of life, rich in resources, so that I could learn at a leisurely pace. Nope. I start out taking radiation damage and have no idea what I'm doing with only some VERY basic instructions. It felt almost identical to the very first time I fired up Minecraftyou know danger is coming and you have a limited amount of time to prep for it. And you are fumbling to figure things out. Fast. Once you get the hang of things though, the radiation warnings were easy to circumvent.
Exploring caves also gave me the Minecraft vibe. That feeling you could get lost and never find your way out... so I tend to play it safe and not venture too far in any given direction.
Then, I began fixing and upgrading things and life got easier. I found animals, non-threatening ones, and it was like a feeling I've never had in a gameknowing this animal will probably never be seen by another living human. And it moved and interacted with me and the other animals around it. I marveled at the tech behind this and could not believe this was random 'maths' at work.
Once I got my ship up and running, I went exploring the surface more, because there were things on my scanner that were too far to walk to, but a ship had no problem reaching them in seconds. Now I had a different sensationMass Effect 1. Except, prettier. With more variety. And things to do. I remembered tooling around in the Mako, trying to collect things, but this was the Mako on a completely different level. Someone didn't hand draw these mountains. There wasn't a set course that everyone in the world would follow, the same architect didn't design every base and everything was completely unknown. It was what I wanted the "extra credit" planets in Mass Effect to be. Driving the Mako around a barren wasteland had it's moments, but this was way better.
I actually like that you start off having to survive. It teaches you the game rapidly. And I know that once I upgrade a few things, the game will get easier. Then, of course, harder, I'm sure. Yeah. Your inventory is laughably small. But I know that can be upgraded later, so whining about it now is foolish. Unless you get paid to whine like the Polygon staff.
tl;dr - This game is amazing. It's the love child of Mass Effect and Minecraft and I can't wait to get home and play some more. It feels like someone transported me directly into the reveal trailer and handed me a controller. It's exactly what I've been waiting to play for years.
I thought for sure they'd start me in the shallow end, get my feet wet, teach me the basics before throwing me into the deep end. I thought my starter planet would be devoid of life, rich in resources, so that I could learn at a leisurely pace. Nope. I start out taking radiation damage and have no idea what I'm doing with only some VERY basic instructions. It felt almost identical to the very first time I fired up Minecraftyou know danger is coming and you have a limited amount of time to prep for it. And you are fumbling to figure things out. Fast. Once you get the hang of things though, the radiation warnings were easy to circumvent.
Exploring caves also gave me the Minecraft vibe. That feeling you could get lost and never find your way out... so I tend to play it safe and not venture too far in any given direction.
Then, I began fixing and upgrading things and life got easier. I found animals, non-threatening ones, and it was like a feeling I've never had in a gameknowing this animal will probably never be seen by another living human. And it moved and interacted with me and the other animals around it. I marveled at the tech behind this and could not believe this was random 'maths' at work.
Once I got my ship up and running, I went exploring the surface more, because there were things on my scanner that were too far to walk to, but a ship had no problem reaching them in seconds. Now I had a different sensationMass Effect 1. Except, prettier. With more variety. And things to do. I remembered tooling around in the Mako, trying to collect things, but this was the Mako on a completely different level. Someone didn't hand draw these mountains. There wasn't a set course that everyone in the world would follow, the same architect didn't design every base and everything was completely unknown. It was what I wanted the "extra credit" planets in Mass Effect to be. Driving the Mako around a barren wasteland had it's moments, but this was way better.
I actually like that you start off having to survive. It teaches you the game rapidly. And I know that once I upgrade a few things, the game will get easier. Then, of course, harder, I'm sure. Yeah. Your inventory is laughably small. But I know that can be upgraded later, so whining about it now is foolish. Unless you get paid to whine like the Polygon staff.
tl;dr - This game is amazing. It's the love child of Mass Effect and Minecraft and I can't wait to get home and play some more. It feels like someone transported me directly into the reveal trailer and handed me a controller. It's exactly what I've been waiting to play for years.
Tatsumi Oga
Banned
But...
In Minecraft you can create though, you can't in NMS though, right? So that comparison isn't exactly accurate.
Coffee Dog
Banned
What should they be doing if not play the game? Just wander around and look at stuff?
Yeah, speaking as someone still fucking trapped on the starter world there's really a pretty quick cap on how much you care about exploring the same terrain and finding the same handful of creatures.
Having to continually hunt out carbon - though it's thankfully not a hard task - just to maintain my ability to walk around and mine things is already getting annoying.
letmetrythisname
Member
I personally don't like Minecraft but I respect it as a creative platform. NMS is completely missing the creative aspects, though, and is instead another formulaic survival game with a big universe and a bigger marketing budget.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
It isn't. That's really the only thing standing in my way of really enjoying the game. It's frustrating.
GAMETA
Banned
I'm not saying it's like Minecraft, all I'm saying is NMS could add, in the future, mechanics that'd allow it to become more "Minecraft-y" when it comes to user interference and creativity in the worlds.
It is actually a forest type planet that is teeming with life. And yes it procedurally generates once you enter. But it will now remain the same every time I go except for the changes I make from mining and such.
Ah whaa Sony gave a game they though had value a large ad budget.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Maybe that's what's bothering a few people? I mean I get not liking a game and stating that clearly but at this point we're so far beyond that it's a bit sad
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Pretty easy system to get down too I pretty much know where to find everything I need(except stuff I haven't found yet obviously)
Exactly. It can also lead to some cool discoveries you might have missed otherwise.
You actually made me laugh out loud hard at work. Sorry to laugh at your misfortune, but after reading your previous post about getting stuck I can just feel the irritation radiating off these sentences.
I'm calling it now... but when people start to reach the "center" of the same Galaxy we all start in, and start exploring planets around the "center", and still don't encounter the other thousands / millions of other players doing the same thing, and realizing that the planets are not graphically laid out the same for all players, people are gonna start asking questions.
I do think complaints about the inventory are largely due to the fact that a lot of games ask you to collect everything these days. Or it's just become second-nature to have everything you possibly can rather than the Resident Evil-style system of carrying only what you need + some extras to sell. Preference certainly comes into play, of course, but it's hard to break out of certain patterns when every other game beats it into you.
JetSetRadio
Banned
Sounds meh, at least ABZU was great.
But then what's the purpose of exploring if not to collect things?
Depends on if you like the genre or not and if you're coming from PC or console. Minecraft started in 2009, which kicked off an avalanche of Survival titles. If you liked searching, exploring, and building. You'll love it. There isn't much like this on the PS4.
But an issue arises, PC has stuff from Ark, to Space Engineerings, Day Z, Forest, Subnatica, Solus, The Long Dark, and so many more. Each one doing something unique. Some are more story, some multiplayer, some purely building, others purely survival, some PvP, some coop, etc.
CarbonFire
Member
If it is any consolation, almost everything you have to manage can be upgraded to work better, last longer, and require less (to almost no) maintenance.
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