No Man's Sky
I'm going to start off with - this game is almost exactly what I have been after.
Let's get the negatives underway (with a mention that this is NOT a global budget game but instead a typical Sandbox low budget from a simple idea).
No building - This game let's face it is a MineCraft idea, there have been plenty.
Solus
Ark
Engineers/Medieval Engineers
My steam is full of them, my wish list is even bigger and some have great potential but badly made.
Very little tutorial at least for the "Explorer" option which I cant seem to undo but it still gives some what a guideline.
Glitches and issues - although I've barely had any on PC, I've had to reload the game a few times after it crashing right after running it from Steam.
Minimal story but perhaps this isn't a negative. Some of the greatest stories we ever had gave us so very little, gave us hints, gave us that moment of calm about a "legend". My favourite programs did it - Star Wars gave us the Jedi and the Force, Babylon 5 gave us the shadows.
This game gives us huge hints about a previous civilisation.
So the positives and there are plenty of them.
So much to explore:
- Planets
- Space
- Endless
So on this one planet which has it's own life, orbit, problems to deal with, survival and mining.
Exploring
I honestly thought each world would be shrunk in some way - limited. Instead I managed to explore a very large area only to finally get in to my ship and realise.. it really was only a tiny area on this huge planet. Think MineCraft style where the world seems endless - Good luck in spending hours and hours walking around this globe. I once managed to get to a outpost which was a 4 hour walk (got there by ship in a matter of moments).
Space exploring
Again I honestly thought each system would be small.. tiny.. and rather pathetic. Instead it would again take you hours to get to a planet through normal speed. Space is vast and makes you feel like this is REAL space. And this is just the one system, when you get to another and see the galactic map...... you realise how big the universe is (kind of makes you think our planet is really pathetically small).
Mining
A big focus, its interesting the whiners about this part - any game build on gathering resources is always going to be a grind fest or a major focus. Just like MineCraft, just like the Ark.
This game however balances, you can get the majority of resources pretty quickly, you can fill up your inventory even quicker. I can't count how many times I went in to a cave looking for valuable ores only to get lost for about an hour but come out with my ship and my inventory fully stocked up full of the valuable ores not just average worth stuff.
Space mining
Oh yes, you can do this although I feel you can stock up much quicker it does offer (for me) more risk. You get chased down by a bunch of ships and because I have yet to kit out my ship with improvements - repair ores have kept me well and truly alive.
Earning Units (credits)
This is very simple and I find I can easily make 1 million in a short amount of time. The hardest part seems to be being near the trade market link and mining spots.
Action
Theres some action, not over the top but not exactly non existent. Space fights are fun, so far I've only encountered a few creatures that had to die but mainly these silly sentinels that attack. Although one time I did find a sentinel animal (only once).
NPCs/Outposts/Ancient areas (forgot the term for these)
There are plenty of these about, they help give valuable items, blueprints, improve your relationship standings with aliens and languages.
Animal Exploring
This one, I only figured out how to do last night (even after 25+ hours of game player......)
Another example why this game has plenty to do, plenty to offer and similar to minecraft you can just carry on as much as you want.
Multiplayer - this is probably a blessing in disguise. The main reason why I don't play Ark on the main servers is because some one can walk along and destroy not your five hours of work but destroy your months worth of constructions. Oh Hi "Kill" .. "Dead".
This game restores my value that games like this can work. I want to play my own little universe and not constantly watch my shoulder for people. It's actually why I played Ark on my own server for a long time. BUT I will admit, it would be nice to be able to team up easily enough to earn some dosh but then again... we are not exactly building are we?
So what's the aim? Well to enjoy it. It's either for you or it's not. If you purchased this game under a pretence that it wasn't effectively going to be a Space MineCraft without the building.. well that's your own fault. I had no high value of this game, I didn't watch endless amount of videos (just some screenshots, some bio and trailers) but this game isn't disappointing.
I really enjoy it.
Worth the cost? considering how much MineCraft cost and let's face it, you wasn't being linked up to a server. And are we also paying for future DLC?
I'm happy with the cost, I know some are not but considering the scale of this game? considering I've already played this more than the last COD/BF and a handful of games already?
Considering the only games that tend to offer value seems to be only the strategy games where it takes 30+ hours to finish a standard game anyway.
Then again if you don't enjoy this kind of game, why buy it straight up? Once upon a time before social media if you purchased a game you didn't enjoy, it was tough luck - you can trade it in if you wish. Likewise if you go to see a movie.
So the future?
In all honesty with games like this you always see huge potential. One thing I don't enjoy is the strong focus on staying alive, this game makes it simple. To survive you have two elements to regenerate your self and those resources are everywhere. You don't need to carry 5 stacks of food and hide in shelter every five minutes. Even travelling in a cave seems to cut down what you need to survive.
Likewise for ship fuel, there are plenty of resources available and the hardest one being warping - again once you unlock the blueprints you can make these easily.
So again the future -
Building/Home World
I'd like to see the ability to build an outpost perhaps even make a "Home World" which you can easily return to quickly and easily. Can you imagine building a facility? As a result of creating a "Home World" that one is instantly untouchable either the planet or your building location?
Although I've yet to see it, I'd like to see bigger combat engagements primarily with ships/fleets.
Control the PVP - frankly I'm not a fan of PVP, I think a game that focus's on that too much creates a game that's not good for new people. This is game I may spend a few weeks on or few months but for some one that lives on it? very little competition. Maybe even create a galaxy where competition is high?
Have the ability to invite friends to your location and have that friend's location shown on the galactic map with an arrow marker/selector.
This game has sold well, although it's getting mixed reviews - funny thing is half of those bad reviews are still playing it. Reminds me of Pokémon Go - mixed reviews yet I've seen endless amount of people down the town, beach and everywhere playing it. The company must be laughing for such a "mixed" review game and a low cost game.
The company have also been very active and quick to work on all fixes. How many companies force you to wait? only have to look at Division which had a huge budget with a big company behind it - taking forever for bug fixes, creating new bugs, not bothering to fix basics, nerfing, ruining the DZ to make it very difficult for low players/small groups.
Would I recommend it? YES but make sure this is the type of game you will enjoy. Don't give it an hour, give it 20. Try and explore every aspect of this game. Chase after the language, outposts, animals, explore space, don't get tied to one ship or tool, planet etc.
Enjoy it, be relaxed, don't rush it (probably why some people don't enjoy it, it's not really built to be rushed and get max "level" or cash over night).
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