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

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It's interesting the game still has great places in Amazon after these reviews:
2. Disc Version
4. Digital Version
Amazon UK: 1. Disc Version

Why do people buy digital versions from Amazon?! Can't they buy it from PS Store easily? Serious question.
 
Someone is just going to pull out the tired "But that only costs $10" while ignoring the fact that a price of a game doesn't affect it's quality.
This is the problem with having an industry with non-standard pricing. With music, you roughly know what any new album will cost you. With films, you roughly know how much a ticket to any new movie in the theater will cost.

With games, the prices diverge so widely that it's insanity. Games can be anywhere from a few dollars to dozens of dollars. And when writing "reviews," which are essentially consumer guides, it's hard to not factor the price into the quality discussion.
I find this discussion point bizarre, I wouldn't have liked the game any more if I'd only have paid $15 for it.
I mean for many people, there's an element of "Eh, I only spent a fiver on it, so who cares if it was bad?" Something that I've had happen fairly regularly with my habitual Steam purchases. But I think that overall I agree. Even if the game was $40 or $20 or even $15, I'd still have a fair load of criticisms to lob at it.
 
If like me, you are incredibly disappointed in this game then watch the ending on YouTube.
You'll delete the game and move onto something else.
Deus ex is out soon and I've still fallout 4 to finish, for me NMS is just a distant, disappointed memory.
 
It's interesting the game still has great places in Amazon after these reviews:
2. Disc Version
4. Digital Version
Amazon UK: 1. Disc Version

Why do people buy digital versions from Amazon?! Can't they buy it from PS Store easily? Serious question.

Maybe fear of getting hacked? And they don't want to put their credential up on psn every damn time
 
sounds similar, right?

cVgrB5o.png

Nobody remembers MirrorMoon in which you got to name the planets that you discovered. No hype, nothing.


The description sounds so familiar though. Forget for a moment that it is not NMS.

This is a game about mystery and exploration set in outer space.
These space travels begin on a red planet and its unique moon and extend across galaxies.
The single-player part blends adventure and exploration with navigation-based puzzle solving.
The multiplayer part lets players share Galaxy Maps with other players: the first explorers to land on a planet will be able to name its Star System and that name will be forever bound to the star for any other fellow traveller who encounters it.

Each Galaxy consists of a thousand Systems: it will be possible to fully discover the mysteries of this game only while collaborating with other players.
Through the apparently indecipherable cockpit of an unknown spacecraft, players will be able to locate and travel to mysterious planets. Each planet has artefacts, buildings, and puzzles on its surface, hidden in astonishing low-poly sceneries.

Even Steam reviews sound familiar.

Positive reviews:

A procedurally generated space themed environmental puzzle game with a focus on exploration and navigation. Puzzles are procedurally generated and run the range of obvious and simple to clever and surprising. And sometimes even after the anomaly is solved there will still be things to do and discover on the planet, revealing Easter eggs and other surprises. Once an anomaly is solved you get the right to name the star, as players explore the galaxy and solve anomalies the galaxy fills up with the unique signatures of various astronauts. This is a starkly beautiful game, evocative of the Italian underground indie freeware classic Noctis. The visual themes call back to Kubrick and Tarkovsky's work. This game is all about the journey.

This is the first game capable of allow me to reach a meditative state each time I played it. Therapeutic, unassuming, inspiring.

Negative reviews:

This game is very atmospheric and beautiful, but I feel like it is very short. You feel really lost in the universe, which is good, but once you've figured out the mechanics, the game doesn't have much more to give. Still, it's really enjoyable and it is a good game, but I wouldn't recommend it for XX€, but if you're wondering if you should buy it on sale, I would say go for it.

Not my cup of tea. Graphics are nice. I like the art style. Sound effects are cool. Control is cumbersome but you sort of get used to it. Sort of ... But the puzzle of the first planet is not fun. It doesn't really make any sense. You do things and it eventually works out and you don't even really know why. Keep in mind i complete the first planet only. Maybe it becomes better later on and it eventually makes sense. I just don't have the will to find out. I just don't see any reason to keep going. It's sad cause i wanted to like it. Can't recommend it but i guess if you are really really really into puzzles and space exploration maybe you might like it who knows?
 
btw, just for comparison – http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/proteus



sounds similar, right? but look at the score :)

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Elite Dangerous has an 80 average too and that has a lot of repetitive elements and you are limited to space / landing vehicle travel only, no on foot gameplay and nowhere near as much to do on planets either.

The over hype has probably not done NMS any favours but having played Elite and NMS, I would say NMS is just as good, if not a little more enjoyable because of more variety.
 
The over hype has probably not done NMS any favours but having played Elite and NMS, I would say NMS is just as good, if not a little more enjoyable because of more variety.

I think the comparison between Elite and NMS is pointless, they are very different games, that appeal to very different demographics.
 
But it doesn't make any sense. Just because some game is cheaper, that doesn't mean "more fun".

It affects its value and what consumers expect from the product. Jeff Gerstman talked about this a bit a long while ago on the bombcast but price does play a role in a final score. After all, it's a recommendation and you don't recomend something without considering the complete costs involved, and what your audience expects for those costs.

I find this discussion point bizarre, I wouldn't have liked the game any more if I'd only have paid $15 for it.

I liked Proteus and would recommend it without hesistation, but if that game were $60 I'd say fuck that. It would absolutely affect my opinion of it as a product being sold, I'm sure the situation is the same for many other people here. The same is potentially true for NMS.
 
He just discussed he price. Says it doesn't feel like a $60 game. It feels like a good $15 game. Should be "an indy game at an indy price".
Which "indie price"? $3 like Downwell? $5 like Devil Daggers? $10 like Undertale? $15 like Starbound? $20 like Oxenfree? $25 like SuperHOT? $30 like Soma? $40 like Kerbal? $45 like Torment?
 
It's an apt comparison for 2 reason:

1. The game is a survival game, resource collecting is going to be a *huge* part just like Minecraft or any of those other games. To be surprised that a majority people are doing that is silly. Just like I shouldn't be surprised everyone is just shooting something in OW.

But there are much better survival games out there. Where you have to search for food, craft medicines, avoid enemies with stealth, build impromptu defenses, etc.
 
It affects its value and what consumers expect from the product. Jeff Gerstman talked about this a bit a long while ago on the bombcast but price does play a role in a final score. After all, it's a recommendation and you don't recomend something without considering the complete costs involved, and what your audience expects for those costs.

it's still nonsense to me. you can't measure "fun" with money.
 
OpenCritic

5 out of 7 reviews so far are 7/10 and up. 3 out of 7 reviews are 7,9/10 and up.

Pretty good. I am enjoying the hell out of it 5-6 hours in. I would probably give it an 8/10 for now.

I do expect to get bored with it after 30-40 hours or so, but very few games manage to hold my attention for longer than that, so that is fine by me.


Edit: and i just saw that 3 reviews are giving it a 9/10 when browsing metacritic.

Pretty good.
 
it's still nonsense to me. you can't measure "fun" with money.
Why not?

I can tell you that I enjoyed Assault Android Cactus (costing $15). I can also tell you that if someone tried to sell you a copy for $60 that I don't think that would be worth it.

I don't see the problem with examining the value proposition of a purchase.
 
it's still nonsense to me. you can't measure "fun" with money.

That's ridiculous.

I may like my local fast food burger joint and give it a good review. But if I went to a restaurant that charged $60 for entrees and got a fast food quality burger, I'll give them a negative review.

No, the burger didn't taste any worse, but if I'm paying $60 I will expect something better.

Quality of a product can never be completely separated from the price the business is charging you for the quality. It's the quality/price ratio that determines whether something has good value and is worth purchasing.
 
Reviews look about right - seems less fun than Starbound while being much more expensive. NMS would benefit from a coop feature to add more replay value, or more customization ala Minecraft/Starbound...if it had the former I would still be on board, oh well. At least it should make plenty in sales for a sequel or VR edition, the hype was off the charts
 
Why not?

I can tell you that I enjoyed Assault Android Cactus (costing $15). I can also tell you that if someone tried to sell you a copy for $60 that I don't think that would be worth it.

I don't see the problem with examining the value proposition of a purchase.

But would you have had less fun with it?

Value and fun aren't a parallel tracking line.
 
But would you have had less fun with it?

Value and fun aren't a parallel tracking line.
No, the fun would have still existed. The product is just the product. But the fun isn't experienced without the gateway of a purchase, and in that example it would be a poor return for your money.
That's ridiculous.

I may like my local fast food burger joint and give it a good review. But if I went to a restaurant that charged $60 for entrees and got a fast food quality burger, I'll give them a negative review.

No, the burger didn't taste any worse, but if I'm paying $60 I will expect something better.

Quality of a product can never be completely separated from the price the business is charging you for the quality. It's the quality/price ratio that determines whether something has good value and is worth purchasing.
Precisely.
 
Even for $30 or less – it will be still the same game.

Keep in mind that value means different things for different people. Someone with a lot of disposable income might not care about price or even review score.

I used to be that person. I used to pay $109 AUD for almost every new PC game that came out over a 6 year period. That included paying full price for absolute hot messes like StormRise and Universe at War. I didnt care though because I just wanted to play the game.

Nowadays price is one of my main considerations. Sometimes I just have to wait for a price drop. I still havent bought Dark Souls 3 or Uncharted 4 yet.
 
That's ridiculous.

I may like my local fast food burger joint and give it a good review. But if I went to a restaurant that charged $60 for entrees and got a fast food quality burger, I'll give them a negative review.

No, the burger didn't taste any worse, but if I'm paying $60 I will expect something better.

Quality of a product can never be completely separated from the price the business is charging you for the quality. It's the quality/price ratio that determines whether something has good value and is worth purchasing.

All that needs to be said really
 
No, the fun would have still existed. The product is just the product. But the fun isn't experienced without the gateway of a purchase, and in that example it would be a poor return for your money.

This is my point, I wish I could make it in a more eloquent way, value isn't intrinsically linked with fun, value is something different.

Why is this significant? He didn't save anything for 12 hours? There's no autosave?

The game saves every time you leave your ship.
 
Keep in mind that value means different things for different people. Someone with a lot of disposable income might not care about price or even review score.
That's exactly why I side stepped out of the combo when I saw it coming lol. People have different values so the conversation will go nowhere but in circles for example I don't think stuff like Titanfall,overwatch and evolve is worth $60 but that for me! In no way would I say that's the definitive answer
 
It affects its value and what consumers expect from the product. Jeff Gerstman talked about this a bit a long while ago on the bombcast but price does play a role in a final score. After all, it's a recommendation and you don't recomend something without considering the complete costs involved, and what your audience expects for those costs.

though this logic - interweaving price and review score - would kinda dictate that you'd have to up the review score when a serious price drop happens. :P

I don't think a cheap Hyundai should receive a similar score than a Porsche, just because it's priced "accordingly".
"i can buy a 56 points car for 20.000$, or i could buy an 83 points car for 75.000$" makes for a reasonable way to make a purchase decision.
As soon as we 'normalize' by price, you'll end up with all that "70-80" rating mush.

a game should be scored highly if does great in what it sets out to do ... regardless of price. Tell me which is the better game, let me make the value decision by myself.
in general, i have more money that i could spend on video games, than i have time ... so a good game could be a 100 bucks for all i care. The reviewer's job is to tell me what i'm going to buy, don't "patronize" me by telling me what's worth my money.
 
OpenCritic

5 out of 7 reviews so far are 7/10 and up. 3 out of 7 reviews are 7,9/10 and up.

Pretty good. I am enjoying the hell out of it 5-6 hours in. I would probably give it an 8/10 for now.

I do expect to get bored with it after 30-40 hours or so, but very few games manage to hold my attention for longer than that, so that is fine by me.


Edit: and i just saw that 3 reviews are giving it a 9/10 when browsing metacritic.

Pretty good.

I've never been so on the fence with a game before. I have it preordered on Steam and i like what i've seen in the giant bomb and various other quick looks but reading some threads here seriously gets me bummed out. Then i see someones screens and go the other way!

I think i'm the same as you with my time in games, generally ill spend 20-40 hours with a game even if i love it, ill generally get 'bored' around the 40 hour mark, move on then possibly revisit depending what type of game it is.

If i can get 20-40 hours initially from NMS ill be happy especially with the possibility of seriously coming back with future patches, updates etc.

Recently I've been playing ABZU as a nice palate cleanser between more action packed games and it looks like NMS will fill that spot after my initial binge on it.

Just waiting on it unlocking now!
 
If the game costs half the price, you can then buy another game which you'll also be able to enjoy for the same outlay. It's not complicated.

Anyway, I've been keeping up with reviews and holy moly does this game seem bland.
 
I've never been so on the fence with a game before. I have it preordered on Steam and i like what i've seen in the giant bomb and various other quick looks but reading some threads here seriously gets me bummed out. Then i see someones screens and go the other way!

I think i'm the same as you with my time in games, generally ill spend 20-40 hours with a game even if i love it, ill generally get 'bored' around the 40 hour mark, move on then possibly revisit depending what type of game it is.

If i can get 20-40 hours initially from NMS ill be happy especially with the possibility of seriously coming back with future patches, updates etc.

Recently I've been playing ABZU as a nice palate cleanser between more action packed games and it looks like NMS will fill that spot after my initial binge on it.

Just waiting on it unlocking now!
I'm like this as well only jrpgs really hold my attention too long. Im now 35+ hours in nms only been on 5 planets there are some really apparent flaws(inventory,walking speed, sentinels) but there's enjoyment to be had I think you'll like it
 
though this logic - interweaving price and review score - would kinda dictate that you'd have to up the review score when a serious price drop happens. :P

Plenty of reviews do recommend to purchase certain games on sale or similar, but they have to review what the game is at that point in time though. I can guarantee you NMS is going to have massive updates ala Minecraft but these review scores will remain the same regardless


a game should be scored highly if does great in what it sets out to do ... regardless of price. Tell me which is the better game, let me make the value decision by myself.
in general, i have more money that i could spend on video games, than i have time ... so a good game could be a 100 bucks for all i care. The reviewer's job is to tell me what i'm going to buy, don't "patronize" me by telling me what's worth my money.

The main thing here is that review scores aren't just made for you. Especially as seen in this thread, most people do put value on their money in regards to videogame purchases and expect more if they pay more, and it would be disingenuous for a reviewer to not consider that at all when recommending a game. That's been how reviews are weighed since the beginning.
 
If the game costs half the price, you can then buy another game which you'll also be able to enjoy for the same outlay. It's not complicated.

Anyway, I've been keeping up with reviews and holy moly does this game seem bland.

Bland is a good word, although I played it again this morning, I was selling some elements I mined, I found a good planet with lots of resources on it (still looked as bland as the other 20+ planets I've landed on), was going to start selling them, and then I thought, what could I do with all that money?, sure, I could buy a new spaceship, but the reality is, they are nothing more than a cosmetic avatar, it may have some preinstalled blueprints, or a larger inventory, but it doesn't actually change anything in the game.
 
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