I Love No Man's Sky and No Man's Sky Loves Me (Sometimes)

Ah, a cool summer's evening. The mosquitoes are in the air, Covid-19 is blooming, and the Uber Eats driver is calling you for instructions even though clear delivery instructions that only a negligent fool can miss are right there in the app. If there's ever been a time to escape our Onion News article reality, now is it, and No Man's Sky is a solid way to do it.

Behold

After No Man's Sky dumped on the PS4 back in 2016, I thought the game wasn't very good. The few areas that were actually finished weren't enough to make you forget you were playing a glorified tech demo. Remember those dumb as hell animals running around? Ya' know, ones like this:

I sure do. In fact, I recall saying that It's ambition outgrew Hello Game's talent/work ethic or whatever in my first review of the game.

But hark, I say. Hark!

Hello Games didn't sleep on their dookie pile video game! Instead, they've pinched out 12 major content updates over the give years. They include but are not limited to base building, dinosaurs, cross platform multiplayer, Battlestar Galactica style portals, and removal of the hideous color pallet that made everything look like a twice-baked Instagram photo. That alone made the game look way better than it used to.

I appreciate Hello Games for sticking in there especially after selling the game based on lies made on late night TV. I bet a lot of us would've cut and run after making a few sales, so, more power to them for turning the ship around.

Anyway, the most important updates is the multiplayer additions, base building, and design/graphical updates. Exploring alone is its own sort of cathartic relaxation, but nothing is quite as enjoyable as exploring with friends. It's strange because you still can't really interact with others outside of sending 'em stacks of loot and moving around near them, but it still adds value... to a point. 

Base building it's own beast, but I gotta give another shout out to the graphical overhaul and world generation; just look at all the beasties, ships, and beautiful planets here and compare them to the video from the beginning of this review. It looks like an entirely different game an that's very good. 

I'm aware that I thought the original pallet of this game was good, but the new look is definitely better.

Back to base building: it truly adds a whole 'nother level of gameplay. Let's be real: the net effect of all them updates don't budge the core "travel" ethos of No Man's Sky very much. Hell, even the idea of base building in an infinitely generating galaxy where you'll find zero civilization is kind of dumb, but it's soooo fun. So fun. It's the best part of the game at this point. Look at my neat house:

At least it is for me, and ya' know, I'm very picky and demanding. I'm not just saying that. I've only woken up at 2pm and haven't showered yet, and I'm picky and demanding. 

There's a huge select of parts in different styles and colors, and the system for navigating it all works pretty well. A lot of map editors and building menu systems are kind of a pain in the ass to work with on a console, like in Far Cry 3 and Mod Nation Racers for example. The one in this game strikes a good balance between complexity and creativity, and for that, I am grateful. 

I do wish there were more parts and size flexibility and less overall lag from building, but I've also poured over a 100 hours into this specific area of gameplay. It's so funny how I went from "ugh, another grassy planet with storms every 10 minutes" to "I need more ferrite dust to build 15 walls, time to go exploring. Oh, look, a big-o murder penguin! I shall ride it Attack on Titan Style. Oh look at that, 60 hours have passed."

Thanks, I Hate It

I think No Man's Sky must put that same creativity towards the core areas of the game. If all of the other updates had the same impact on the core gameplay as base building, this game would be phenomenal. Alas, they do not. The repetitive cookie cutter missions just ain't cutting it. I understand that mech walkers were added specifically to make exploration more fun, but they move around like toddlers learning how to walk. Thanks, but no thanks. 

The addition of land rovers was cool, too, until we discovered they turned like shopping carts and were resource hungry. It's so crazy how they're adding decently significant content but it all feels as unfinished as the main game. Why would anyone choose to go through the trouble of mech-walking or driving around when the act itself is gimped as hell?! Ugh.

Each update is the same story: things are initially pretty exciting but then there's just something that either nullifies the usefulness of the update or it simply feels 40% incomplete. Even riding creatures, a past time of mine, is gimped because as soon as leave the area your new friend will de-spawn. Why can't tamed creatures become my pet and do things for me and follow me around?

Next to suffer the same incomplete fate are those ridiculous multiplayer missions. Right now, they are all a variety of "Go git me some rare loot!" along with a bit of basic, generated lore like, "Kill sum pirates lol."

You'll go out and the pirates will just spawn. You won't see the traders or have neat dialogue, cutscenes, or any reason to care at all. There's zero story here grounding the game's reality and you won't care one bit. How can a galaxy with so much text-based lore feel so empty and dead?

Speaking of which, why is this game telling it's story through anime-based video game style of text and character cut-outs? Why?! WHHHHHY?!

But I digress.

Look, the game itself is better than it once was, but the fluff is not enough to distract that the core experience can easily devolve into endless, boring planet hopping. The remedy to this is not the addition of more fluff across same-y worlds, same-y stories, and same-y missions. Instead, those worlds, stories, and missions must transform into something irresistible. Give players reasons to care about those three things intrinsically and we'll find the fun. 

Like, ya' know, GTAV but times infinity. They somehow turned tennis, yoga, and racing games into something that people who wouldn't dare touch a tennis, yoga, or racing game, love. That's all they gotta do. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy.

Shoot, I almost forgot to mention there's a few game breaking bugs that include dirt and grass generating over your base builds, warping into your freighter and getting stuck, missions not tracking completion properly, and whatever the hell this is:

Geez, this negatives section is getting too long, but I've already spent the calories getting angry. Tell ya' what, I'll go full Karen in a separate post to spare ya'll from my legal right to shamelessly demand things, loudly. For now, let's move on.

I'm Not Upset, You're Upset

Okay I'm upset, but it's only because No Man's Sky is the closest to my idea of a perfect space adventure game. It's easy to criticize when my only job here is to play the game and that's not only optional, its hardly a job. I think Hello Game's biggest challenge remains the same: No Man's Sky's ginormous game-world is a large undertaking for the small studio. 

I know how frustrating it can be bursting with creative ideas but only having so much energy and love to make it real. That's why I adore their constant attention to squashing bugs when they can, adding more content, and communicating with their fans. It's awe-inspiring, frankly, and it makes me happy that they care if we're having still fun 4 years later. Moreover, their suggestion of a Big Daddy sized update later this year in 2020 is enough to make any gamer proud of owning a copy of No Man's Sky.

In other words, the game is roughly $20 bucks and you should buy it and play with me on my cool, decked out space freighter. 

Fun Facts

• While you can only own one at a time, all freighters in game have the same default interior. However, you can truly go all out and add tons of rooms, floors, and the like. It'll require some imagination just like building a "house" as a base, but you do have access to different parts to do so. This, of course, is bloody awesome mate. Oi.

• The subreddit for this game is one of the few online gaming communities where players are helpful to nubs and actually like each other. A greater resource for new players doesn't exist.

• Hello Games is a real sausage party of 17 guys. I say this not to malign groups of men working on a creative project, but I do say this because I've no talent and jealous that I cannot work there. I should start a studio and name it 17 Guys. That's the right amount of guys: 17.