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No Man's Sky Review Thread: The Scores Have Arrived (read OP)

Fredrik

Member
Completely true.

I think what those other games allow for is some kind of meaningful freedom and creativity. NMS can talk a big game about exploration and 18 bajillion million planets, but that doesn't mean much when the gameplay loop feels like it's fundamentally hemming me into a rote set of chores that have to be done.

Like if I want to fart around and build some stupid looking castle in Minecraft, I can. If I want to build neat redstone contraptions instead, I can. If I want to ensure my health and waste all my time building some elaborate greenhouse, I can. If I want to set up a server with friends and establish factions or community builds, I can.

In No Man's Sky, I land on a planet, harvest the resources to move on, check a few POI, read some shitty dialogue/lore from some shitty unmoving NPC, get some crappy tech and leave for the next star system. There's nothing "free" about my experience except the freedom to go see that fairly uninteresting procedurally generated landmass/lifeform over the next hill.
Building castles in Minecraft without grinding for materials? Are you asking for a creation mode? I think that would make NMS far too easy and honestly boring, it would be like having access to the best car right away in Gran Turismo.

But going by my 3 visited planets I definitely wish that NMS had more survival mechanics, there are the radioactive and poisonous planets and sentinels that prevent you from feeling completely safe but it would be fun with more threats out in the wild. If you read this Hello Games, what about adding some super-evil creatures which comes out to hunt during the nights? Or what if the nights can be too cold or days too hot etc making your trips to gather materials more challenging?
 
Do you think that Hello Games chose to make a mechanically shallow game to pander to a specific audience? what was that meeting like?

Dev 1: "guys I have a lot of great ideas about how to make this game deep and interesting, and they won't be difficult to implement at all."

Dev 2-14: "nah mate, just cut that shit right out. we're making a randomly generated walking sim here for the console crowd."

The game as it is now is the most they were able to do. That's why more features are still coming (basebuilding, freighters, etc).


I remember early on he talked about the game not being easy and how space is this desolate harsh place and you'll struggle to survive. But in the released game you have an indestructo-super craft that can land anywhere and heals you when you sit inside. I could complete Dark Souls easily if I had a movable pod that carried all my resources and healed me when I entered and was indestructible to all enemies.
 

TheYanger

Member
Building castles in Minecraft without grinding for materials? Are you asking for a creation mode? I think that would make NMS far too easy and honestly boring, it would be like having access to the best car right away in Gran Turismo.

But going by my 3 visited planets I definitely wish that NMS had more survival mechanics, there are the radioactive and poisonous planets and sentinels that prevent you from feeling completely safe but it would be fun with more threats out in the wild. If you read this Hello Games, what about adding some super-evil creatures which comes out to hunt during the nights? Or what if the nights can be too cold or days too hot etc making your trips to gather materials more challenging?

Nothing was said about building without getting the materials, although Minecraft lets you do whatever you prefer. The point is that Minecraft offers something to do period. There's nothing for you to direct your efforts towards in NMS besides grinding more. Basebuilding might help, just depends on how it goes, it seems counter to the 'exploration' aspect of the game though (Shipbuilding seems more in line to me personally).

Minecraft wouldn't be a fraction as popular today as it is if it was literally just digging and occasionally fighting a creeper, with no building or crafting to speak of. That's basically NMS.
 

Gator86

Member
Well, if you've been following the game then nobody can blame you for thinking that.

4215f9247a.PNG

Man, even Molyneux himself would be impressed by some of the stuff Murray shat out during NMS' development. I'm amazed the review scores weren't dragged down even further by the expectations he set.

I've been waiting for gamefly to ship a copy since launch day, but I'm leaning toward just dropping it off my queue. Not worth the wait for what sounds like just a couple hours of interesting gameplay before redundancy sets in.
 

Fredrik

Member
Nothing was said about building without getting the materials, although Minecraft lets you do whatever you prefer. The point is that Minecraft offers something to do period. There's nothing for you to direct your efforts towards in NMS besides grinding more. Basebuilding might help, just depends on how it goes, it seems counter to the 'exploration' aspect of the game though (Shipbuilding seems more in line to me personally).

Minecraft wouldn't be a fraction as popular today as it is if it was literally just digging and occasionally fighting a creeper, with no building or crafting to speak of. That's basically NMS.
It has crafting but NMS never intended to be Minecraft so it's not a fair comparison imo, but personally I've never felt that it doesn't give me enough stuff to do, like I said earlier I'm just on my 3rd planet and have already put in more playtime than full playthroughs on many AAA games. I'm in no rush though, just trying to learn the language and identifying all creatures before taking off to another planet takes quite some time, collecting materials and trading some goods has turned into a secondary objective for me right now.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
Awesome! With just 3 planets and 1 spacestation visited I've already given it more playtime than full playthroughs of many AAA games. With basebuilding added too it feels like this game might never end.

I really don't know what purpose basebuilding in a game look this would have. It's not like it's necessary, or you have the ability to share it with others.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Weird how people had wrong expectations. The game is exactly as I expected it would be. The repeated question 'but what do you do in the game' started off as genuine, but then increasingly seemed to be posted by people in denial. When I understood the main gameplay loop was mining, upgrading, getting closer to the center I was immediately on the fence about how boring that would be. Well I caved and bought it anyway, and it actually exceeded my expectations.

Yes the main gameplay loop is still too grindy. I think it completely misinterprets what exploration gamers are looking for (the opposite of bar filling). But underneath it, or arising out of it, there's a tonne of mystery that you can chip away, and a lot of nice little personal story experiences.

I think it's at least interesting. And like it maybe more than competent but safe to the point of boring games like Ratchet and Clank.

I also suspect a lot of people slagging the game off here didn't actually play it.
 

Jobbs

Banned
I am honestly amused by how polarizing everyone's opinions of this game are. I can see why people don't like it, why others do - thankfully for those on PC there is a refund option via Steam. I plan on purchasing and know i'll enjoy the game for what it is, though I'm partially tempted to wait for some more features and patches.

anyone's allowed to like anything for any reason, but I'm not like you in that I can't honestly see why anyone likes this game. I could only see liking it if you've played for less than an hour or two and haven't yet realized that you've already done everything there is to do.
 

spekkeh

Banned
I remember early on he talked about the game not being easy and how space is this desolate harsh place and you'll struggle to survive. But in the released game you have an indestructo-super craft that can land anywhere and heals you when you sit inside. I could complete Dark Souls easily if I had a movable pod that carried all my resources and healed me when I entered and was indestructible to all enemies.
Won't do you any good when you get shot down by space pirates.
 

Hazanko

Banned
I really don't know what purpose basebuilding in a game look this would have. It's not like it's necessary, or you have the ability to share it with others.

Yeah, without multiplayer it could be dull. I loved showing others what I made in Minecraft. I think this game would've been better if you could customize your multi-tool and ship instead. I'd like a small ship but with large inventory space and change cockpit around for example.
 

Daouzin

Member
Been playing every day since it came out. Love it. Can't believe some of these reviews. Are we playing the same game? Shit is awesome.

Yeah, I think it mostly comes down to expectations.

I expected less than what I got, so I love it.

I think I feel like I pretty much played "most" of the game at this point with around 14-16 hours clocked in.

I'm okay with that. I don't think I'll be binge gaming it like I've been doing for the past 30 hours anymore, but I'm okay with that.

I've mostly been wandering aimlessly and checking out cool things while I resolve one in game objective or personal objective after the next. Sadly I'm out of all the obvious ones so the next time I play I'll be jumping as far ahead as I can with my current technology before exploring more planets like I've been doing.
 

Plum

Member
That's a review on what the game is not. It should be about what the game is. Bad review imho. You should read Eurogamers' review.

I didn't get that impression at all. Suggesting ways the game could have turned out better is not "reviewing what the game isn't. Going on to suggest one of the few really positive reviews about the game doesn't doesn't really help your argument either. People want different things out of video games, for gggmanlives clearly a procedurally generated world is not one of them.
 
anyone's allowed to like anything for any reason, but I'm not like you in that I can't honestly see why anyone likes this game. I could only see liking it if you've played for less than an hour or two and haven't yet realized that you've already done everything there is to do.
I play the game for hours upon hours with different groups of friends in chat and we all share pictures of the crazy things and places we find. We all talk about whats happening in and about the game and at times just wander around a planet just shooting the shit and mining. Its been a real unique experience. It almost feels MP for how much everyone like to share their discoveries and stuff.

The gameplay loop is also addictive. Getting new upgrades and weapons and ships and suit upgrades is satifying. The gliding around planets is fun. Its a great game to relax to.

The space battles get more interesting when you upgrade your pulse drive and it allows good handling while boosting. Taking on and defending frieghters can be a blast once you master the roll with a good pulse drive upgrade.

Im 40+ hours in just few days after release. Its doing something right.
 

Daouzin

Member
The gameplay loop is also addictive. Getting new upgrades and weapons and ships and suit upgrades is satifying.
.

100% Agree. Probably hit 15 hours of game time in the last 30 hours from when I picked it up.

Sadly I upgraded my ship\s warp drive to the best that it can be right now and now I don't really know what my objective should be, however I haven't actually paid attention to any of my newly available upgrades aside from the warp drive. So I think once I map out what I want next it should be easy to get in on that loop again.

Thankfully the loop wrapped up for me because I have some work I've been meaning to get done this weekend. I'll probably give the game a break until Monday or Tuesday. It's way too addicting.
 

Sanctuary

Member
So glad that I didn't get swept up into the massive hype this game had going for it. From the start, it just seemed like another one of those high on promises type of games that would inevitably fail to deliver where it counts.
 

Kaversmed

Member
Instead of base building on planets, they should have space station building. This way you'd be able to dock there with your spaceship and actually bring it with you when you warp out of a system.

Also, how cool would it be if you could have multiple spaceships in the hangar of your space station! :D I'm just thinking out loud right now.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
They didn't need such a massive universe. A smaller universe, the ability to meet each other and building might have done the trick.
 

diaspora

Member
Instead of base building on planets, they should have space station building. This way you'd be able to dock there with your spaceship and actually bring it with you when you warp out of a system.

Also, how cool would it be if you could have multiple spaceships in the hangar of your space station! :D I'm just thinking out loud right now.
Yeah, station/freighter building seems like the best compromise between the exploration design of the game and the need for building/construction mechanics.
They didn't need such a massive universe. A smaller universe, the ability to meet each other and building might have done the trick.
no.
 

nOoblet16

Member
They didn't need such a massive universe. A smaller universe, the ability to meet each other and building might have done the trick.
This is why Star Citizen will be a better game when it comes out. The system in that game is partially hand crafted and as such will be denser. The gameplay components will also be much more in depth so you will have various genres within the game itself.

I believe that's why the game is taking so long to develop.
 

Moreche

Member
Now that the patch has ensured that no one is getting to the centre soon, if you have any doubts about this game then you should watch the YouTube video to see what happens when you do.
No wonder Sean tweeted players to not play until the first patch hit.
 

diaspora

Member
This is why Star Citizen will be a better game when it comes out. The system in that game is partially hand crafted and as such will be denser. The gameplay components will also be much more in depth so you will have various genres within the game itself.

I believe that's why the game is taking so long to develop.
I mean, it has like 100 million in funding though right? And I've waited for this damn game for ages.
 
Instead of base building on planets, they should have space station building. This way you'd be able to dock there with your spaceship and actually bring it with you when you warp out of a system.

Also, how cool would it be if you could have multiple spaceships in the hangar of your space station! :D I'm just thinking out loud right now.


Thinking out loud. They should have a player warp (without ship) to planet function from the space station, along with sending down a static storage facility that stores up to double your current spacecraft. Then you could do a proper expedition to gather huge amounts of resources.
 

Moreche

Member
I think the base-building will just be a user friendly version of what they use to build the colony buildings already there.
 

Tomeru

Member
I didn't get that impression at all. Suggesting ways the game could have turned out better is not "reviewing what the game isn't. Going on to suggest one of the few really positive reviews about the game doesn't doesn't really help your argument either. People want different things out of video games, for gggmanlives clearly a procedurally generated world is not one of them.

It's suggesting what the game should be, and his general tone of his speech reall tells. Eurogamer is more positive on a whole, but it still criticize what is wrong with the game. No hate in there too. It's important not to hate when you try to explain to someone what works and what not.

See, I'd be more inclined to listen to a review that doesn't have the words suck and rubbish in it.

And I do agree with the scores the game got.
 
This is why Star Citizen will be a better game when it comes out. The system in that game is partially hand crafted and as such will be denser. The gameplay components will also be much more in depth so you will have various genres within the game itself.

I believe that's why the game is taking so long to develop.

I believe that the same mentality has lead to people projecting their own ideas into NMS and buying into every word that came out of the Sean's mouth.

Star Citizen, the way you imagine it, is a pipe dream. Chris Roberts is the same category as Sean or Peter. Play alpha during the free weekend and you will discover just why you shouldn't be hyped for Star Citizen, at least for another year.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
The thing that kills the game for me is that I find it glaringly obvious that it's just all randomly generated. There's no sense of discovery when every planet has the same dull elements. There's nothing special about a planet once you've seen the series of things they can contain.
 

Jobbs

Banned
I'd take 18 planets with things to do over 18 quadrillion that are all the same

Youve seen everything in NMS long before visiting 18 planets
 

Moreche

Member
The thing that kills the game for me is that I find it glaringly obvious that it's just all randomly generated. There's no sense of discovery when every planet has the same dull elements. There's nothing special about a planet once you've seen the series of things they can contain.
Being randomly generated isn't ruining it for me, it's the fact that everything is using the same assets. The buildings, monuments all look the same, there's only three alien species in this huge Galaxy and all space stations have the same interiors.
What's the point in mining and pushing on towards the centre when you see everything it has to offer in the first 3-4 systems?
My hype started on that E3 2014 trailer because it really made you feel like Robinson Crusoe embarking on this huge voyage of discovery, coming out of a cave and seeing all these creatures co-existing like they'd been there for so many years but Sean Murray latched onto that feeling and made it seem like he was building on that.
The guy lied and over the past three years has had the glory of hype and the limelight all of this time while making millions in the past week knowing only to well that here we are all playing nothing like he promised.
 
That's a review on what the game is not. It should be about what the game is. Bad review imho. You should read Eurogamers' review.

Yeah right! That review was honest and pointed out the many flaws of the game from that person's perspective. It is no less valid than the Eurogamer review.
 

Tomeru

Member
Yeah right! That review was honest and pointed out the many flaws of the game from that person's perspective. It is no less valid than the Eurogamer review.

Not saying it's not valid. I'm saying it's not how a review should be. If I wanted a condescending and snarky review of the game, I just need to read the comments in this thread.
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
That's a review on what the game is not. It should be about what the game is. Bad review imho. You should read Eurogamers' review.

What do you mean by that? I watched the review and it seemed to be highlighting real criticisms of the game.
 

nOoblet16

Member
I believe that the same mentality has lead to people projecting their own ideas into NMS and buying into every word that came out of the Sean's mouth.

Star Citizen, the way you imagine it, is a pipe dream. Chris Roberts is the same category as Sean or Peter. Play alpha during the free weekend and you will discover just why you shouldn't be hyped for Star Citizen, at least for another year.
Yes and no.
It's what we see vs what we hear. With Star Citizen we can see what it will be and also play some of the components right now (no matter how unfinished). The very fact that the systems are hand crafted mean it will be denser and have stuff like cities, the existence of various components like multiplayer, commerce, cities, FPS, shipbuilding, running a ship with crew etc means it will also be more varied. Any disappointment in Star Citizen can only come from sub par implementation of those features...not lack of features themselves.

With NMS we had no idea about anything. It's the entire reason why in every single showcase you had the press asking Sean "But what do you actually do in NMS ?" Now that the game is out we know the answer to that and it's...not a whole lot. You don't find such lingering questions in case of Star Citizen because people know what the game wants to offer, now whether it will manage to offer them well that remains to be seen.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Not saying it's not valid. I'm saying it's not how a review should be. If I wanted a condescending and snarky review of the game, I just need to read the comments in this thread.

This doesn't make sense at all. If that was his experience and he backs up his criticisms well enough (which he does), who cares if it's 'snarky'? It's a product like any other, you don't need to approach this wearing velvet gloves.
 
Chris Roberts is the same category as Sean or Peter.

Except Roberts has a track record of delivering though. Excepting Freelancer, which was pared down after Microsoft acquired his company and he left development, all his other projects up to Star Citizen were more or less what he promised. That is why old school PC flight sim enthusiasts immediately jumped on SC when he announced the Kickstarter and why funding has been so successful. PC gamers familiar with his work are confident that he will deliver.
 

Cmagus

Member
Instead of building a space base on a planet I would rather have the building element be a giant space airship that you can fully customize in space.


You could have it in space where ever you are, dock your ship on it, customize the interior and allow for additional storage that you could send more items to. It would be cool if this was a massive project that took a good amount of time and resources but the benefits would be worth it and you easily make a building station accessible from the main space docking stations already in game.

You could also dock on it and warp to new areas to bring it with you and if someone happened to be in the same area they could visit and see your customized interior and if it was ambitious you could setup a vendor to sell a few things on should someone find you.

I mean there are so many things you could add or so many little layers you could add to this to make it better. Right now it feels like a game that has a solid foundation but missing the meat and potatoes to it.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though and games like Minecraft took time to take off so hopefully they continue to support it and I'll certainly keep an eye on what they do with this and hopefully they take this support it and build on it for sometime. They also need to make things like turning off the hud a simple button not a menu thing that you need to constantly toggle and apply, you have a nice looking game let me take screenshots freely and quickly.
 

madmackem

Member
I really don't know what purpose basebuilding in a game look this would have. It's not like it's necessary, or you have the ability to share it with others.
If base building brings things like storage and ability to set a way point back to your base it could be glorious for dat hording of mats.
 

Hubble

Member
Good game but it's ambitious seems ruined by limited multiplayer. The game would be so much better with extensive multiplayer features. Literally by double the fun.
 
Not saying it's not valid. I'm saying it's not how a review should be. If I wanted a condescending and snarky review of the game, I just need to read the comments in this thread.

Indeed. Contrary to what some might think, there is in fact a method and structure to offering up a piece of published criticism. Schools actually teach the proper format for writing a review. There's an educated way to review things, and then there's exaggerating one's own personality or playing a "character", behaving in an asinine way in a "look at me" ploy to get attention while you scream your opinion at your viewers.

YouTube videos (save for RedLetterMedia's approach to critique) are generally the worst form of criticism on popular media.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Not saying it's not valid. I'm saying it's not how a review should be. If I wanted a condescending and snarky review of the game, I just need to read the comments in this thread.

Perhaps you misspoke earlier, but while the review isn't the most eloquent, the reviewer is fairly thorough with why he felt disillusioned with what the game has to offer. It's of course all well and good if you find the presentation disagreeable, however the notion that the review itself is predicated on what the game doesn't do rather than what it does poorly, and therefore lacks substance is, to be perfectly frank, patently false.

Edit: Changed quotes as upon further reflection, the post above may just be specifically in reference to your comments regarding presentation.
 

Plum

Member
It's suggesting what the game should be, and his general tone of his speech reall tells. Eurogamer is more positive on a whole, but it still criticize what is wrong with the game. No hate in there too. It's important not to hate when you try to explain to someone what works and what not.

See, I'd be more inclined to listen to a review that doesn't have the words suck and rubbish in it.

And I do agree with the scores the game got.

Then say it's about the manner in which he speaks in the first place. A review is inherently opinion-based, and if someone hates a game they're entitled to that opinion. If you've watched his other reviews he's your stereotypical snarky Brit even if he loves a game, that's just his style.

Also,

Not saying it's not valid. I'm saying it's not how a review should be.

A reviewer can't say what they wanted a game to be yet it's fine for you to say how they should create their content? You used the exact same words in both instances yet somehow one is fine and the other is an indicator of a bad review. I don't understand.
 
Having played Space Engine for 4 years I could see this coming several parsecs away. NMS is pretty much SE with some padding and makeup.

It may be good in some ways that the hype has brought this style of "game" or given the chance to feel the vastness of space to a wider audience but can't help feel lots have been duped even with or without the multiplayer. Somehow the hype meter went off the charts in what is a very niche type of exploration and space appreciation app. SE veers away from calling it a game.

I can only go back to when Hello games first started, 4 people making a space exploration game with a nice art style. Would've been nice to let that develop and release naturally.
 
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