No Man’s Sky (PS4): COMPLETED!

No Man’s Sky (PS4): COMPLETED!

One hundred and fifty hours. It might not sound a lot, but consider this: it’s around the time it takes to drive from Edinburgh to London and back 10 times. Or approximately 20 sleeps. Or perhaps most fittingly, how long it would take Savage Garden to realise their dream of travelling to the moon and back. It is also, of course, how long it took me to reach the centre of the Euclid Galaxy in No Man’s Sky. And what a time it was.

If I may, I’d like to start by addressing all those people who complained to Valve, Hello Games, Sony, and the ASA about how No Man’s Sky is not the game presented to them before release. I don’t know exactly what you were expecting, but the game I downloaded is pretty much the same as what I was shown. Sure, I didn’t get the exact same animals or planets – why would I unless I visited the exact same locations – and I agree that the HUD was rearranged somewhat in the interim, but all the main points were there. All sorts of animals? Tick. Varied planets? Tick. Space battles? Tick. Billions of solar systems and planets? Tick. Certainly I would have welcomed more to do, but I can’t honestly say I was hoodwinked into purchasing the game and nor did I feel anything was missing.

An Escheresque rock formation.
An Escheresque rock formation.

No Man’s Sky is a mostly passive, relaxing experience. Collecting resources, using them to patch up and improve your equipment, and discovering wacky creatures and following titbits of narratives as you zip around the galaxy. Honestly, I’d be happy if that’s all there was to it, but occasional boosts of excitement, like running into space pirates or finding a planet of high value, but heavily defended rare resources punctuate the gameplay with something a little different. Some may tire of wandering a mostly barren landscape looking for more zinc, but many times I happily ditched my ship and picked a random direction to wander off in until I reached a location from where I could summon my ship again, and offload or sell my scavenged treasures.

no man's sky
Look at the contents of my bag. All those lovely albumen pearls. MONEY.

Ferrying high value contraband to shops might not sound like a lot of fun, but it is strangely entrancing. Landing on a planet and immediately seeing hundreds of verboten gravatino balls or sac venom gives a strange sort of thrill, and what might be seen as tedious inventory management by some is relished as a challenge by me, and a merry couple of hours is spent running from sentinels clutching mountains of forbidden goodies. Of course you can shoot the sentinels to get them off your tail, but then your pockets fill up with titanium extracted from their robot corpses – and nobody wants titanium when you’re saving the space for albumen pearls.

no man's sky
In space, no one ca–OH MY GOD LOOK AT YOUR FACE WHAT THE HELL MAN

No Man’s Sky is very much a game of make-your-own entertainment. Picking a fight with a space freighter, for example. Those hung up on, the admittedly somewhat tedious, mining of rocks for essential materials like gold and heridium aren’t helping themselves. Grab some, and when bored, move on. Most things are abundant enough to not need a search either, so when you need a load of a certain isotope and the planet you’re on doesn’t immediately have massive stores of it, take off and try somewhere else. There’s hardly a shortage of places to look. Even the frustrating task of rebuilding parts of your warp engine after a Black Hole traversal damages them need not be if you stop playing the game as a race to the end and slow down, take your time, and drink it all in.

I know it’s trite to say that if you’re not enjoying something then you’re doing it wrong, but I genuinely believe it for this game. The onus is on you to make it fun, and it’s understandable that some folk are adverse to that because they want constant excitement and wonder on a plate. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, stop doing it and do something else. Try to track down all the animals on the planet. Blow stuff up. Hunt down every last Gek ship and destroy it. Locate crashed ships and repair them to replace yours. Get lost, find stuff, make fun.

no man's sky
You call that a knife?

With everything said, the game is not all happy and roses. There are flaws, although for me most are minor. Interaction with aliens is laughably limited, with everything done by text description rather than animation or action. Every outpost is virtually identical, or at least one of a small set of similar designs. The variety in flora and fauna isn’t quite as radical between planets as one would perhaps have hoped (although there have been a few truly bizarre and unique creations), with most places playing host to similar instances of Fan Tree Thing, Mushroom Thing, Horseshoe Crab Spider Thing, Bat Thing and Mound of Earth With Tufts Thing.

I suffered a few bugs of mostly the funny or benign variety (such as floating objects or animals stuck on or in stuff), although less funny was reaching the centre of the galaxy and having the game crash before I got to see what turned out to not be much of an ending. This happened twice, but thankfully my saved game remained intact and a third attempt allowed me to finish the game properly. At least, to one definition of finished anyway.

Another would be following the Atlas Path, which is Hello Games’ attempt at providing some sort of story mode for those who don’t have the imagination to just play – think of it as the instructions in a box of Lego – is ultimately unrewarding. You travel from system to system finding anomalies, each of which provides you with an Atlas Stone, and discovering some of the backstory to the universe you’ve found yourself in. Once you reach the end of the path, providing you have all ten Atlas Stones on hand (and you’ve not sold any, like I stupidly did – luckily some traders stock them for over 2 million units each) perhaps the most unsatisfying end to anything ever occurs. For me, it was just part of the whole experience and I was only mildly disappointed, but I expect many players exclaimed “Is that it?!” and smashed their PS4.

no man's sky
Spaceship Twins

Ultimately, No Man’s Sky is not a game that will suit everyone no matter how hard they try to play it to the title’s greatest strengths, but for those of us who want something low impact, expansive, beautiful and relaxing – with the bonus of offering OCD-levels of resource interaction if that appeals – there’s nothing better out there. The closest other game I can match it to isn’t Elite, which is probably the reason so many people think the game is underwhelming. They’re superficially similar in same way, say, Bioshock and Serious Sam are, but to expect Elite style gameplay in No Man’s Sky just backs up my argument that you are indeed “doing it wrong”. No, this fits more into the same category as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, just in first person and in space. If that sounds appealing, No Man’s Sky is for you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2 Comments

  1. In 2016, I completed a whopping 110 games. My previous record, because of course I’ve been keeping count, was 84 in 2015. You’d think with a number like that, I’d finally be on top of my backlog, right? Ahahahahano.
    I didn’t anticipate completing that many. Like in previous years, I did strive to finish the RetroCollect 52 Game Challenge (which I managed before the end of June) and then expanded that to 104 games just for a laugh (and I sorted that by mid-December), but of course I had to go and beat that too, didn’t I?
    There may be some arguments over what constitutes a “game”, and what counts as “completed”. There’s no hard and fast rule, whatever feels right for a title, usually. However, normally a game is “something you play” and “completed” is “reached the final goal”, “got all the achievements” or “watched the end credits” as appropriate.
    DLC and addons are usually classed as separate games even if technically they’re not – like Life is Strange episodes, or the Lego Dimensions level packs.
    Anyway, here’s the full list of 110:

    Fallout 4(PS4 15/01/2016)
    Batman Returns(Lynx 24/01/2016)
    Grim Fandango Remastered(PS4/Vita 30/01/2016)
    Thomas Was Alone: Benjamin’s Flight(Vita 30/01/2016)
    Hatoful Boyfriend(Vita 31/01/2016)
    Nova-111(PS4 15/02/2016)
    Bayonetta(Wii U 15/02/2016)
    Sonic the Hedgehog(MS 28/02/2016)
    Street Fighter Alpha(GBC 28/02/2016)
    Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush(Wii U 05/03/2016)
    Disney Infinity 3.0(PS4 06/03/2016)
    ToeJam and Earl(MD 10/03/2016)
    Midnight Resistance(MD 12/03/2016)
    Mega-lo-Mania(MD 12/03/2016)
    Castle of Illusion(MS 12/03/2016)
    Midnight Resistance(Spec 15/03/2016)
    Land of Illusion(MS 16/03/2016)
    Midnight Resistance(C64 17/03/2016)
    Strider(MD 17/03/2016)
    Legend of Illusion(MS 19/03/2016)
    Batman(MD 19/03/2016)
    Castlevania: The New Generation(MD 20/03/2016)
    Hyrule Warriors Legends(3DS 28/03/2016)
    Puggsy(MCD 02/04/2016)
    Time Gal(MCD 02/04/2016)
    The Legend of Galahad(MD 03/04/2016)
    Lego Lord of the Rings(360 04/04/2016)
    Broforce(PS4 05/04/2016)
    My Nintendo Picross – The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess(3DS 09/04/2016)
    Psycho Fox(MS 10/04/2016)
    The Witness(PS4 24/04/2016)
    Firewatch(PS4 27/04/2016)
    The Beginner’s Guide(Mac 01/05/2016)
    Freedom Planet(Wii U 02/05/2016)
    Affordable Space Adventures(Wii U 06/05/2016)
    Hudson Hawk(GB 07/05/2016)
    Streets of Rage 3(MD 07/05/2016)
    Sonic 3 & Knuckles(MD 08/05/2016)
    LocoRoco Cocoreccho(PS3 13/05/2016)
    Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure(MD 14/05/2016)
    Rainbow Islands(MS 14/05/2016)
    Gauntlet 4(MD 18/05/2016)
    Star Fox Guard(Wii U 22/05/2016)
    Emily is Away(Mac 22/05/2016)
    Quiet, Please!(Wii U 26/05/2016)
    Quiet Christmas(Wii U 28/05/2016)
    Vacation Vexation(Wii U 28/05/2016)
    Candy, Please!(Wii U 29/05/2016)
    Star Fox Zero(Wii U 03/06/2016)
    Teddy Boy(MS 04/06/2016)
    James Pond II: Codename Robocod(MD 04/06/2016)
    Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars(MS 04/06/2016)
    Asterix(MS 11/06/2016)
    The Lucky Dime Caper(MS 12/06/2016)
    Assassin’s Creed Unity(PS4 13/06/2016)
    Kirby: Planet Robobot(3DS 21/06/2016)
    The Temple of No(Mac 28/06/2016)
    Battlefield 4(PS4 29/06/2016)
    Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse(3DS 02/07/2016)
    There’s Poop In My Soup(Mac 02/07/2016)
    Gunpoint(Mac 29/07/2016)
    Missing: An Interactive Thriller – Episode One(Mac 30/07/2016)
    McPixel(Mac 03/08/2016)
    Beware Planet Earth(PC 15/08/2016)
    Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE(Wii U 16/08/2016)
    Sakura Spirit(Mac 17/08/2016)
    StreetPass Trader(3DS 15/09/2016)
    StreetPass Slot Racer(3DS 16/09/2016)
    Running Battle(MS 18/09/2016)
    Ranma 1/2(SNES 18/09/2016)
    StreetPass Explorers(3DS 19/09/2016)
    StreetPass Ninja(3DS 21/09/2016)
    No Man’s Sky(PS4 10/10/2016)
    StreetPass Chef(3DS 11/10/2016)
    Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~(3DS 16/10/2016)
    Catherine(PS3 17/10/2016)
    Pokémon Y(3DS 25/10/2016)
    Year Walk(Wii U 28/10/2016)
    Gargoyle’s Quest(3DS 30/10/2016)
    Actual Sunlight(Vita 02/11/2016)
    3D Fantasy Zone(3DS 05/11/2016)
    3D Puyo Puyo 2(3DS 06/11/2016)
    3D Thunderblade(3DS 06/11/2016)
    3D Altered Beast(3DS 06/11/2016)
    One Night Stand(Mac 11/11/2016)
    3D Power Drift(3DS 12/11/2016)
    3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa(3DS 12/11/2016)
    3D Galaxy Force II(3DS 13/11/2016)
    PaRappa the Rapper 2(PS4 13/11/2016)
    Virginia(PS4 15/11/2016)
    3D Maze Walker(3DS 17/11/2016)
    3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (MS Ver.)(3DS 17/11/2016)
    3D Sonic the Hedgehog(3DS 19/11/2016)
    Lego Marvel Avengers(PS4 21/11/2016)
    Retro City Rampage DX(3DS 21/11/2016)
    Apartment 666(Mac 26/11/2016)
    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter(PS4 26/11/2016)
    Super Fantasy Zone(MD 26/11/2016)
    Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure(NGPC 27/11/2016)
    SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium(NGPC 27/11/2016)
    Sonic Triple Trouble(3DS 07/12/2016)
    Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered(PS4 10/12/2016)
    Sonic Blast(3DS 11/12/2016)
    Lego Dimensions(PS4 15/12/2016)
    Box Box Boy!(3DS 23/12/2016)
    Ultratron(Wii U 24/12/2016)
    Lego Dimensions: Back to the Future(PS4 26/12/2016)
    Lego Dimensions: Adventure Time(PS4 28/12/2016)
    Lego Dimensions: The Simpsons(PS4 30/12/2016)
    Lego Dimensions: Midway Arcade(PS4 31/12/2016)
    Now, will I repeat that in 2017? I doubt it. I’m not even going to try.
    Oh, and I’ll write some more about some of my favourites in another post another time!
    Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)MoreClick to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)

    Related

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.