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[Liamc723]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

 

[Seiniyta]

Without spoiling, what makes the game more fun after 10 or 20 hours? From what I understand, the game is very grindy in the beginning but then it gets better somehow.

I think it's less the grind people have issues with and more that the inventory prevents from the grind, interrupting the flow of the game. But as you get more inventory slots and upgrades it becomes and less and less of an issue.

 

[PBY]

But does anything actually change game play wise, or is it mainly the fact that everything is so upgraded and you have a decent amount of inventory slots that you aren't just grinding?

I am loving the game so far (about 5 hours in, found a new ship, done a bunch of exploring), just not sure how after a certain amount of time something is going change significantly that's going to boost my enjoyment even more.

Nothing changes

Hours 2-10 were goat, but you'll still be doing the same stuff. I still really like it for what it is.

 

[Trace]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

When you build tech first and then mold gameplay around that, the end result usually isn't that good.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

So played a good few hours last night and most of this morning. I've upgraded my Ship, Exo Suit, got 3 new weapons and started learning an alien language from Monoliths and NPC aliens, I also got off the first planet, found a Space Station, got 2 quests to follow (Atlus or Find 2 people) and I've just landed on a moon.

I have to say I'm enjoying it a lot, its basically Elite: Dangerous light. Its mechanics aren't as deep as Elite but it makes it very easy to pick up and play. The resource gathering / crafting is easy, there is a lot of item management at the start but it gets less of a problem when you get more slots in your suit and ship though.

Its not perfect and its not going to be for everyone but there are worse games out there, also future updates will probably improve the game even more. I'd give it a solid 7/10 right now.

 

[[KoRp]Jazzman]

Nothing changes

Hours 2-10 were goat, but you'll still be doing the same stuff. I still really like it for what it is.

Ok that is what i figured, and still wont change how much i like the game.

 

[johnnydrama]

This is what I thought to myself after six hours of playing this game.

I think Sean and team are great people, but this is a misfire. Simply no fun to play, at least for me.

 

[Otakumegane]

And yet people had the gall to gang up on the reasonable ones in the spoilers thread.

 

[Velkyn]

I kid you not I feel that seeing how far games have come is a big part of why I love it so much. When you grow up playing the games like the ones you mentioned along with other games set in space such as commander keen and crystal caves and then this comes along it just speaks to the kid in me.

If you told 5 year old me that in 23 years time a game like this would exist and people would hate on it I'd tell you you're lying. Because firstly I wouldn't think it would be possible, and secondly because I wouldn't think that people would play down what an achievement a game like this actually is despite all of its flaws.

OldGAF reporting in. I'm 31 and grew up on stuff like Wing Commander, Star Flight, Star Control, Elite, and later, Freelancer.

I'll see if I like it after work tomorrow.

 

[Skyzard]

random guy from gs forum

After plunking down20 hours into this game I have come to the realization that while this game maybe a universe big.... it is as shallow as a puddle of water in my back yard.

Outside of the art direction ( which I really do like)nearly every aspect of the game is half baked and un inspired. Everything from AI to exploration to crafting to dog fighting is so repetitious and bare bones that it almost become painful at about the 10 hour mark.

Like the wild life for example. They have two real A.I behaviors passively ignore you or agro and run at you until they or you are dead. the combat mechanics are clunky with no nuance you either stand and shoot or flee.

There are other alien races.... but your interactions with them are meaningless.

And the longer you play the more apparent the technical limitations become. Pop-in texture clipping terrain clipping weird bugs.

I am a huge space nerd 200+ hours in kerbal space program, space engine ,universe sandbox2, elite dangerous I am no stranger to game people would typically find boring.But no mans sky for as much as I wanted to love it is proving to be a very hollow and un compelling universe to explore that feels more like a dumping ground for half baked and broken mechanics lame AI and just over all a very dull space sim.

This is what I was mainly worried about with the game's appeal being adventure - seeing very similar things in multiple planets after exploring for a while.
I've still got my eye on it but I feel like a better time to jump in would be after a big patch that adds more diversity and polish.

 

[eXistor]

So, Lazy Game Reviews seems fairly positive (though not without criticism either!)

He's also probably one of my favourite reviewers out there as well.

Does a lot of Sims, simulation games and retro PC stuff. Really cool channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/phreakindee/videos

What does "after 20 hours it opened up into something awesome" mean? Does the game suddenly change into something else completely? Cause after about 15 hours of playing I can't wait for it to be over. I want to at least get to the center, but after that I'm done. The overall shallowness and frustrating repetition is killing me tbh. Is something gonna happen that'll change things or is it just Stockholm Syndrome he's talking about?

I'm seriously asking btw, I can't imagine the game drastically changing its tune after 20 hours.

 

[jacksepticeye]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

The thing is I think they always knew how repetitive the game was and that's why they constantly reminded people of what the game actually IS and not to get too hyped. Even Sean's message in the press kit sort of reflected that.
Even then it was pretty clear from any footage or media previews how repetitive the actual gameplay was.

It's baffling to me to see how many people thought it was going to be more than it is.

 

[Velkyn]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

I mean, it's not like the gameplay loop being boring is some sort of basic law of the universe. They probably focus tested and thought that at least some segment would like the core loop.

 

[Dunlop]

I think Sean and team are great people, but this is a misfire. Simply no fun to play, at least for me.

Sucks to hear, I was very into getting this and ironically Rebel Galaxy (free PS+ right now) started occupying my time and thirst for a "space" game.

My co-worker did buy the game, but told me he is already back to playing Rebel Galaxy. He's hoping future updates will add some purpose and excitement

 

[PantherLotus]

Without spoiling, what makes the game more fun after 10 or 20 hours? I've seen the 10-20 hours thing from a few different reviews and impressions now. From what I understand, the game is very grindy in the beginning but then it gets better somehow.

There's no moment or particular hour mark, honestly. It's just a thing that washes over you once the inventory thing gets easier to manage. And that itself isn't exactly fixed, you just start to realize you can drop stuff and you'll find more stuff.

Shorter: nothing, really. If you don't want to play it that far because you hate it, you're not going to change your mind after X amount of hours. But if you're on the fence and you're intrigued and you overlook some kinda glaring issues for the sake of exploration or zen or whatever, it really does start to build on itself into quite the experience.

 

[Toki767]

I think he's probably referring to how once you get a nice ship and upgrade your stuff, you treat it less like a grinding game and more like an actual exploration game.

It could certainly use more random elements and encounters, but constantly being forced to mine materials especially early on hurts the game more than it helps in my opinion.

That's why a lot of people are grinding those high value resources now before it probably gets nerfed.

 

[Otakumegane]

Go check out GAF's most anticipated list for the years of 2014 and 2015.

Not many people actually thought that the realities of developing a game of this magnitude with such a small team could possibly go wrong. Control the hype.

 

[gamechanger87]

What does "after 20 hours it opened up into something awesome" mean? Does the game suddenly change into something else completely? Cause after about 15 hours of playing I can't wait for it to be over. I want to at least get to the center, but after that I'm done. The overall shallowness and frustrating repetition is killing me tbh. Is something gonna happen that'll change things or is it just Stockholm Syndrome he's talking about?

I'm seriously asking btw, I can't imagine the game drastically changing its tune after 20 hours.

He's been complaining about the inventory a lot, and I think he upgraded his ship and suit enough so he doesn't have to mess with it as much. This is part of his draft review.

The core gameplay doesn't change much.

 

[Liamc723]

The thing is I think they always knew how repetitive the game was and that's why they constantly reminded people of what the game actually IS and not to get too hyped. Even Sean's message in the press kit sort of reflected that.
Even then it was pretty clear from any footage or media previews how repetitive the actual gameplay was.

It's baffling to me to see how many people thought it was going to be more than it is.

I've seen the majority of the footage released, and I didn't know it would focus on collecting resources so much.

 

[PantherLotus]

Honestly they just need to get to work on expansion packs -- stories, co-op / team building / territorial control, etc.

There's a solid foundation and world here. Just needs that universal appeal beyond getting a bigger ship or getting to the center of the galaxy.

 

[Galactic Specter]

s p o r e 2 b o y s

 

[Velkyn]

The thing is I think they always knew how repetitive the game was and that's why they constantly reminded people of what the game actually IS and not to get too hyped. Even Sean's message in the press kit sort of reflected that.
Even then it was pretty clear from any footage or media previews how repetitive the actual gameplay was.

It's baffling to me to see how many people thought it was going to be more than it is.

Same here. Is it an age thing again? I don't understand. I knew 100% going in that this game would be primarily about exploring, discovering new territory and species, and moving on. The hype around such a simple concept honestly confused me. From moment one, if you listened to what Sean was saying, you knew that this was an exploration game with very little MP focus. I'm not sure where all the lofty ideas about the game came from.

 

[Leatherface]

Thank you! Starting planet definitely seems to matter to some. I've read in the OT of people starting on really harsh planets where the toxicity or hot or cold was so much that they couldn't venture too far away from their ship or they'd die. I could see how that'd be frustrating, but I'd probably just roll with it.

I repaired my scanner first, because it's vital to be able to pinpoint where resources are at that may be a little far out of reach. Then I upgraded my analyzer so I could make some money scanning animals and plants. Those are big. Also, there's an atlas bubble near your crashed ship, and that's pretty important for having at least some kind of guidance during those early stages. As for a good video to watch, there's a bunch, but most of the streams got deleted because they were pre-release. There's a pretty good Sean Murray stream from this past Monday on the patched release build, where he's battling on an extreme cold planet that is just decimating his suit, and it has super hostile Sentinels. Watching him play and go over the basic mechanics was pretty helpful as well, and that was on an extreme environment planet, so using his tips on a standard planet is helpful.

Here's the link: https://www.twitch.tv/hellogamesofficial/v/82473234

At the very least, it gives you some of the ebb and flow of the game. It's an hour long. He visits two planets on it.

Like I mentioned in my write up, it's a flawed gem, and rough around the edges, but the foundation is really solid. I'm currently engrossed, and there will be a time when the gameplay loop loses me, but I'll just stop playing and play something else. I can see myself coming back to this game quite a bit, because that urge to explore for me is so great.

Thanks for the reply and info! Much appreciated. I'm so excited to finally play this.

cheers!

 

[MegaSackman]

Honestly they just need to get to work on expansion packs -- stories, co-op / team building / territorial control, etc.

There's a solid foundation and world here. Just needs that universal appeal beyond getting a bigger ship or getting to the center of the galaxy.

I wish GTA be a game I could enjoy.

 

[PantherLotus]

I've seen the majority of the footage released, and I didn't know it would focus on collecting resources so much.

I think you could put this a bit more directly: there is literally no part of the game that doesn't involve inventory management and resource collecting.

[x] surviving --> inventory management & resources
[x] exploring --> inventory management & resources
[x] collecting --> inventory management & resources
[x] flying --> inventory management & resources
[x] meeting aliens --> inventory management & resources
[x] trading up / upgrading parts --> inventory management & resources

Mix that in with a wonky inventory management system and so few slots, you can imagine why people are freaking out. There really aren't multiple ways to play until you get so far into the game because inventory management won't let you just explore. Won't let you just trade resources. Won't let you just focus on combat. (though that last one is because sentinels actively prevent you from doing so).

 

[Hupsel]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

Hello Games is just an average developer that made one game (well, and one sequel). People thought they could make a 9.5/10 game, people hyped them so much as if they were some kind of gods.

 

[watership]

OldGAF reporting in. I'm 31 and grew up on stuff like Wing Commander, Star Flight, Star Control, Elite, and later, Freelancer.

I'll see if I like it after work tomorrow.

Looking forward to this perspective. Reading this thread has me worried that I just expected this game to be more than it apparently is.

 

[Loudninja]

Time 4.5/5
http://time.com/4444324/no-mans-sky-review/

 

[Stealthcobra]

Sucks to hear, I was very into getting this and ironically Rebel Galaxy (free PS+ right now) started occupying my time and thirst for a "space" game.

My co-worker did buy the game, but told me he is already back to playing Rebel Galaxy. He's hoping future updates will add some purpose and excitement

rebel galaxy? boring as hell... a space flight game where you can't move up and down. smh

 

[K.Sabot]

Honestly I feel like the gameplay loop is incomplete, or at least it's weak in the crucial part of the loop.

I feel like Survive > Gather > Build > Travel > Repeat fails at the Build section.

It never feels like you're building anything substantial ever, all those resources you spent staring at a wall gathering for an hour equal to an icon in your inventory you'll combine with 4 other icons in your inventory to create a single icon in your inventory. Or you'll just sell them and that's it. In Minecraft, 1 block = 1 block to build whatever the fuck you feel like + a bunch of cool recipes for practical items that you can put down in the world. I've gathered 0 satisfaction from the crafting in NMS so far, which should be the reward for the incredibly dull grinding for resources. The promise of being able to go to another planet and do it all again is not doing it for me.

The game's objective is to keep moving, so even if they add base building, the Travel section of the gameplay loop will force you to move on eventually.

 

[xinek]

I've mined (wouldn't really call it exploring) through a dozen worlds trying to upgrade my shit, and somehow it feels as if I've been going through Old Russia, Venus and Mars gathering spinmetal, spirit bloom and relic iron to upgrade my shit.

I've had the same feeling as you've described here. And putting NMS with Destiny's gunplay, AI enemies, and instanced lobbies with other players would be AMAZING.

I'm really enjoying NMS so far, but I totally understand the quick burnout. I'm guessing it will happen to me soon, too. I expect further patches will keep on improving things and making the game interesting again.

 

[Servbot24]

This is easily my most disappointing game of the year so far. I can't quite believe how boring and basic the core gameplay loop is. Surely Hello Games could see that?

This is what I've been predicting since it first was announced and I've been consistently mocked for it.

That said I still think it has some interesting aspects and I'm looking forward to trying it after a price cut.

 

[Lady Gaia]

I've only put a few hours in so far and the game is pretty much what I expected, both in terms of what I hoped for and what I was resigned to expect.

The tiny team that put the game together were never going to create a polished galaxy-spanning story or a convincing set of living, breathing worlds. That was pretty much a given. They should be extremely proud of the fact that someone with a sense of wonder regarding the vastness of space can really lose themselves here and fill in the gaps with a little imagination. The game is a space exploration play set, not a role playing saga set in space. In what it sets out to accomplish so far it seems pretty successful.

People are talking about this as the next The Order. If we're lucky this will be the next Drive Club instead. If the passionate team tweaks, tunes, and adds content to live up to the potential of their title this could be really special. I do think it might have gone over better as a $40 title at launch. Personally I'm fine with the extra as a donation to their ambition, and I hope they're not discouraged by the reception the game is receiving.

One "out there" possibility: convert early purchases into "season pass" holders and sell the current core title at $40 with future improvements as DLC. Early adopters would get the new content for free and maybe people would better understand the value proposition.

 

[danowat]

OldGAF reporting in. I'm 31 and grew up on stuff like Wing Commander, Star Flight, Star Control, Elite, and later, Freelancer.

I'll see if I like it after work tomorrow.

31 ain't old son!!!

 

[ldcommando]

with all this talk about inventory issues, I wonder how long will take to people to "fix" it on the pc version.

 

[Skux]

It was over hyped to death and came with a $60 price tag, I can see why a lot of people are disappointed. $30 would have been the sweet spot for what's on offer and wouldn't have left such a bad taste in people's mouths.

 

[Liamc723]

I think you could put this a bit more directly: there is literally no part of the game that doesn't involve inventory management and resource collecting.

[x] surviving --> inventory management & resources
[x] exploring --> inventory management & resources
[x] collecting --> inventory management & resources
[x] flying --> inventory management & resources
[x] meeting aliens --> inventory management & resources
[x] trading up / upgrading parts --> inventory management & resources

Mix that in with a wonky inventory management system and so few slots, you can imagine why people are freaking out. There really aren't multiple ways to play until you get so far into the game because inventory management won't let you just explore. Won't let you just trade resources. Won't let you just focus on combat. (though that last one is because sentinels actively prevent you from doing so).

You're exactly right.

I wasn't exactly hyped for No Man's Sky, but the terrible inventory management and huge focus on collecting resources has left me very disappointed. It's a bad and rather pointless game in my opinion.

 

[Elandyll]

Time 4.5/5
http://time.com/4444324/no-mans-sky-review/

Your title change doesn't show LN.

4.5/5 for those wondering.

Edit: lol, and now it does of course. Mobile ...

 

[jacksepticeye]

I think he's probably referring to how once you get a nice ship and upgrade your stuff, you treat it less like a grinding game and more like an actual exploration game.

It could certainly use more random elements and encounters, but constantly being forced to mine materials especially early on hurts the game more than it helps in my opinion.

That's why a lot of people are grinding those high value resources now before it probably gets nerfed.

My issue is there's almost no reason to stay on specific planets. You go out, explore, find a planet and after you collect some resources or find a monolith or two you just leave and can find all the same type of stuff somewhere else.

It would be nice if there was more incentive to stay in certain places.

 

[Loudninja]

Your title change doesn't show LN.

4.5/5 for those wondering.

Edit: lol, and now it does of course. Mobile ...

Yeah I change it

 

[mike6467]

The thing is I think they always knew how repetitive the game was and that's why they constantly reminded people of what the game actually IS and not to get too hyped. Even Sean's message in the press kit sort of reflected that.
Even then it was pretty clear from any footage or media previews how repetitive the actual gameplay was.

It's baffling to me to see how many people thought it was going to be more than it is.

I think people saying this were tracking every piece of media, every tweet and every interview. I came into the picture like a month ago when I was like "Hey, that's right, this is coming out soon," and all I remembered were a few of these trailers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h5vwfEaONg

There's no multitool and no gathering in those, and there's an ammo count in the upper right. So it wasn't clear back then. The average person is looking at Sony's E3 coverage, the massive hype surrounding it, and the $60 price tag.

Maybe if you immersed yourself in everything that came out, then yeah, you knew all this. However they're advertising to the masses, and the majority of those people won't do that level of research. I've said it before, but historically such niche games don't get pushed this hard, and anything that does will have high expectations, most will assume it's going to have mass market appeal first off, and if it doesn't, it better do what it does really, really well.

 

[PantherLotus]

I wish GTA be a game I could enjoy.

huh?

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

This game is the definition of mixed reception. Can't wait to see more reviews.

 

[jacksepticeye]

I've seen the majority of the footage released, and I didn't know it would focus on collecting resources so much.

Really? To me it seemed clear, especially with the amount of "What do you actually DO in No Man's Sky" type threads and callouts.

Same here. Is it an age thing again? I don't understand. I knew 100% going in that this game would be primarily about exploring, discovering new territory and species, and moving on. The hype around such a simple concept honestly confused me. From moment one, if you listened to what Sean was saying, you knew that this was an exploration game with very little MP focus. I'm not sure where all the lofty ideas about the game came from.

The internet just ran away with it. To a point where Sean had to keep reiterating what the game was and not to get TOO hyped. All the delays and everything as well just left more time for stories to start and spread. Really when you go back and look at all the coverage, it seems fairly obvious now that it wasn't going to be more.

I think people saying this were tracking every piece of media, every tweet and every interview. I came into the picture like a month ago when I was like "Hey, that's right, this is coming out soon," and all I remembered were a few of these trailers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h5vwfEaONg

There's no multitool and no gathering in those, and there's an ammo count in the upper right. So it wasn't clear back then. The average person is looking at Sony's E3 coverage, the massive hype surrounding it, and the $60 price tag.

Maybe if you immersed yourself in everything that came out, then yeah, you knew all this. However they're advertising to the masses, and the majority of those people won't do that level of research. I've said it before, but historically such niche games don't get pushed this hard, and anything that does will have high expectations, most will assume it's going to have mass market appeal first off, and if it doesn't, it better do what it does really, really well.

I guess I could see it that way. As someone who was following it along every step of the way it was a very different vibe for me but if you were on blackout or saw very little I can see why it would be surprising/disappointing.

Not to say anyone is wrong or anything, I very much agree with people saying it's repetitive and boring after a while.

 

[Toki767]

My issue is there's almost no reason to stay on specific planets. You go out, explore, find a planet and after you collect some resources or find a monolith or two you just leave and can find all the same type of stuff somewhere else.

It would be nice if there was more incentive to stay in certain places.

That's definitely a valid complaint. Planets start to feel the same when every planet has the same materials, outposts, etc...

I feel like some plants should really be much more heavily occupied than they are.

There should be entire civilizations in some of these planets rather than barren land.

But it's not something a randomly generated algorithm can really create on its own I guess.

 

[Liamc723]

Really? To me it seemed clear, especially with the amount of "What do you actually DO in No Man's Sky" type threads and callouts.

To me, it seemed like a game that you could freely explore space and planets in.

At no point did it really come across to me that it was a survival game with a big focus on collecting resources.

 

[BadHand]

Amazon hasn't even shipped my order yet so I'm tempted to cancel and pick it up once it's been patched a few times and been discounted on PSN.

Especially since it costs $79.99 plus tax in Canada.

 

[Moreche]

I will be interesting to see if updates evolve the game into something much greater or if they will just patch bugs and call it a day.
I suppose at the moment we'll never know but it's a shame to see the dev team having to read all of the bad press it is getting. I don't blame the revs, I blame Sony as I think it's Sony who've pushed it to be greater than the sum of its parts.
I just hope that the devs work on it.

 

[Aaron D.]

People are talking about this as the next The Order. If we're lucky this will be the next Drive Club instead. If the passionate team tweaks, tunes, and adds content to live up to the potential of their title this could be really special.

Standing on the outside, this is the conclusion that I'm coming to at this point.

So many of the complaints and frustrations that I'm reading about seem like they could easily be resolved with simple balancing patches. Sentry aggressiveness, limited inventory space, critical resource depletion speeds.

I get the complaints about shallowness. But I also think that as an Exploration game (with a capitol E), you're going to encounter that anyway. Just like in Euro Truck Simulator. But people LOVE Euro Truck 'cause it's a Zen gameplay experience. I know I do.

If Hello Games can get in front of some of this negativity and drop some QoL balance patches, I think NMS might have a really bright future.

I know I've gone from interested to writing it off, all the way back around to interested again when considering how easy issues could be to address. My only hope is that PC is moddible in some fashion.

I look forward to giving this game a go sometime in the coming months after some issues have been addressed.

 

[me0wish]

s p o r e 2 b o y s

That's what I've been calling it. Spore was a great game for 10$.