"No Man's Sky" is procedural sci-fi exploration, and *purdy*. - by Shadowcat
Starker on 17/8/2016 at 19:24
That one at 5:20 is actually not a lie -- you can definitely see the aliens land and take off and offer to buy their ships in the game.
Also, despite that clickbait video title, the game is actually nothing like Aliens: Colonial Marines. For all its flaws, it actually is a coherent game that mostly works and approximately corresponds to what a small indie team would be capable of. It just falls short of expectations, some of which were inferred from vague statements or completely made up.
faetal on 18/8/2016 at 10:22
Maybe I've been unlucky with planets, but I think I may be done with the game.
It's just too grindy and the variation is so superficial that it stops feeling like variation after a while.
Also, the exact same drop crates and base structures on every single planet kind of removes any feeling of this being an undiscovered universe.
It simply feels like playing an a RNG with precisely zero soul. Add to this to really poor quality of life issues the game has and I just don't have the patience to sit through the loading screen to start it up again.
I've put in more than 2 hours to get to this stage, so I can't get a Steam refund by the normal route, but I've read I may be able to apply for one on the basis of owning it less than 2 weeks.
I can't believe this went on sale for €60.
[EDIT] Except now I read that Kotaku review and am wondering if I should wipe my save and try a different approach.
scumble on 18/8/2016 at 15:33
The review there is interesting, but I don't think I want to drop £40 on it. I'd have expected it to be around £20. I've not followed the hype at all but I couldn't understand the price. On the other hand I've probably paid more for simpler games 25 years ago. Perhaps there are just so many games these days the expectations are greater.
faetal on 18/8/2016 at 15:40
Well I've started again and this time I'm just walking the planet's surface playing Pokemon and trying to absorb the atmosphere a bit. Can't say I'm blown away, but it's certainly more interesting and involving to actually try to come up with names for things. I'm going at it like a scientist and just calling them things like "Tree-like bulbous trunk spines plus date and time", which is making me think more about the physical characteristics of stuff. I'm leaving the mineral names as they are though, because fuck that shit.
242 on 18/8/2016 at 16:51
Quote Posted by henke
Not usually a fan of these "E3 trailer vs actual gameplay footage" videos, but this one is too good not to share.
[video=youtube;RvAwB7ogkik]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvAwB7ogkik[/video]
Yesterday I lold at this for like half an hour.
nicked on 18/8/2016 at 20:46
I renamed a few phallic rocks to "hardonite" and suchlike at first, but beyond that, a rock is a rock.
faetal on 18/8/2016 at 21:41
It's definitely way better to avoid using the ship where possible as the increased time navigating the landscape reduces the frequency of how often you see the ubiquitous assets and gives you more time with the procedural ones. Still greatly disappointed by how shallow the game is, but it's fun enough to eke a few more hours out of at the moment.
Renault on 18/8/2016 at 22:02
It's been interesting following this game's release. Seems like a deeply flawed title that has turned some reviewers into apologists and left scrambling to justify the hype they've been giving it for some time now. Sorta sad when a game isn't just fun on it's own, but instead you're forced to say "well, maybe if I play it this way, it'll be worth 60 bucks (or at least 45 or maybe 30)."
