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No Man's Sky Review Thread: The Scores Have Arrived (read OP)
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
VeryGooster
Banned
more review scores than inventory space
ZeroMaverick
Member
The fact that I've already put in over twelve hours (with a single play session clocking in at 8 hours), I'm happy with it. I would have given it an 8. Maybe. I go through long stints of play until I'm absolutely bored and feel like I never want to play again, but then it's all I can think about doing when I'm at work.
acheron_xl
Member
At least hype generated sales + price should give Hello some cushion to continue working on the game. Unless they owe Sony for a marketing advance or something.
Roddslayer
Member
In a year, with mod and developer support this could turn into something close to the original vision. But for now the state it's in is a reality of 80% effort and work put into the engine and making it run and 20% effort for making it a game that's fun.
That said I still look forward to playing each night but I can foresee that expiring sooner than I hoped for. Such a shame since this was a game I had been greatly anticipating since it's announcement.
That said I still look forward to playing each night but I can foresee that expiring sooner than I hoped for. Such a shame since this was a game I had been greatly anticipating since it's announcement.
mixmixmixmix
Neo Member
My god, it's full of scores
dynamitejim
Member
What? The main question asked about this game even up to release was always, "What do you actually do?" Promising way too much and being too vague about what you do are kind of mutually exclusive concepts.
Complicated
Banned
Even the high score reviews seem down on the game while trying to extoll its virtues. A lot of, "this is neat, but...". That Playstation Lifestyle review is embarrassing dedicating sections to telling off consumers for not being satisfied with what the game ended up shipping with.
MassiveNights
Banned
I would say this is true. A lot of shit is being thrown at it from the audience watching streams but those really don't convey the sense of wonder/exploration/scale that the player can experience.
March of the Crabs
Member
I've had no issues massively expanding my suit inventory so far only 3 systems in, but maybe I'm just lucky.
arts&crafts
Member
Looks good, 71 isnt bad and the reasons some people hate it are not a huge turn off for me. Guess I will find out tonight if i like it.
Bloodporne
Member
I had given my impressions enough already in the previous thread, but this review, sans it's initial loud antics, spot-on mirrors my experience with it.
Since the big question was what you do in this game, you do what was advertised, that much is true. The problem I have is that while everything they promised is indeed there (I think?), all the systems and interactions feel extremely stilted, shallow and amateurish. The flying and shooting mechanics especially feel extremely poor and paper-thin and no I wasn't expecting Killzone 2 gunplay or some shit obviously. I wasn't really expecting anything in specific and still felt surprised at how weak the systems were.
IAmAnAgnostic
Member
By the way. Just to look back to some of the earlier confusion throughout the years.
"What do you actually do in No Man's sky?" was the most asked question by people. And it never got properly answered. (Vague hints were given) It seems that the answer is "Not that much at all." You go from planet to planet and collect resources. That is basically it. You have simple combat and crafting on top of that.
"What do you actually do in No Man's sky?" was the most asked question by people. And it never got properly answered. (Vague hints were given) It seems that the answer is "Not that much at all." You go from planet to planet and collect resources. That is basically it. You have simple combat and crafting on top of that.
I truly don't see how anyone could have expected much more than what we got. The bottom line is this:
• Procedural generation isn't new. It creates some interesting assets but more often than not, things rarely feel unique after a while and you'll never have the considered touch of something that's hand crafted.
• A small team of developers can only do so much, no matter how talented they are. Wherever they don't focus on suffers and with a game as ambitious as this, it's always should have been clear that the individual mechanics would never impress as much as other games that focus on a smaller set.
• The game will continue to grow from here. As such, it will only continue to get more interesting, more features, and more polish. This should be considered in the reviews. Just like anyone would if they were reviewing Minecraft back in the day. Whether you think the $60 price tag is justified or not (I believe it is), you can expect a lot of free updates down the road.
Personally, I think the game is okay. There's some really unfortunate design decisions, and a lack of "sandbox fun" that I expect Hello Games will improve on.
• Procedural generation isn't new. It creates some interesting assets but more often than not, things rarely feel unique after a while and you'll never have the considered touch of something that's hand crafted.
• A small team of developers can only do so much, no matter how talented they are. Wherever they don't focus on suffers and with a game as ambitious as this, it's always should have been clear that the individual mechanics would never impress as much as other games that focus on a smaller set.
• The game will continue to grow from here. As such, it will only continue to get more interesting, more features, and more polish. This should be considered in the reviews. Just like anyone would if they were reviewing Minecraft back in the day. Whether you think the $60 price tag is justified or not (I believe it is), you can expect a lot of free updates down the road.
Personally, I think the game is okay. There's some really unfortunate design decisions, and a lack of "sandbox fun" that I expect Hello Games will improve on.
Divisive as expected. The good/great reviews are aligned with what I'm looking for and the lower reviews are complaining about a game I wasn't expecting it to be which is also fine as they don't concern me as a result.
Just need to get some solid PC context and I'm good to go.
Shame HG got caught up in the strange transition of NMS from smbitious indie/early access centric title to AAA Spotlight and struggled to cope as a result.
Price is also a factor as the game feels like it's going to grow over time and likely change which would have ruffled less feathers at a lower price point. If be interested to know if HG and Sony always felt it should be a top price title or made than decision based on hype and interest?
Just need to get some solid PC context and I'm good to go.
Shame HG got caught up in the strange transition of NMS from smbitious indie/early access centric title to AAA Spotlight and struggled to cope as a result.
Price is also a factor as the game feels like it's going to grow over time and likely change which would have ruffled less feathers at a lower price point. If be interested to know if HG and Sony always felt it should be a top price title or made than decision based on hype and interest?
Acquiescence
Member
The game was too ambitious for its own good. If they halved the amount of planets you can explore, I think it would've reflected better on the overall product.
vasametropolis
Member
Lol it's all over the place. That's what you get for charging full price. It's a 20-30 dollar title.
Obliterator
Member
Seems to be a very divisive game both with critics and people I've talked to.
I still for sure want to play it but not until several patches / new features are added.
I still for sure want to play it but not until several patches / new features are added.
Unknown?
Member
Just goes to show that you like it or you don't! Makes me laugh at the people saying its trash as if it's a fact!
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
I think the 7 / 70% range is appropriate for this game. Will work for some, not for others. Everyone, everyone acknowledges the flaws. It only comes down to whether you like the experience despite those flaws.
NinjaCoachZ
Member
I have a rough translation of Jeux Videos' review conclusion here. I'm an English Canadian with French knowledge, though I'm rusty. So if anyone from France or even Quebec want to go over it, be my guest.
They were mostly positive but lamented mainly that the PS4 version was a bit underwhelming, and that the number of interesting places in the world and multiplayer capabilities didn't live up to what they expected from the trailers.
They were mostly positive but lamented mainly that the PS4 version was a bit underwhelming, and that the number of interesting places in the world and multiplayer capabilities didn't live up to what they expected from the trailers.
You'll love it. It nails exploration better than any game I've ever played.
Exactly. That and your experience can differ widely based on all of the procedural aspects.
I'm enjoying it so far, not in love with it yet but I'm happy with it nonetheless.
arts&crafts
Member
Well I hate Dota and LOL and they get 9's, reviews are really just opinions.
Best review
herbchamberz
Member
I'm enjoying the game a ton, but I think scores are exactly where they should be. It's definitely not a game for everyone. Not saying anyone is wrong or right, but it does cater to a certain crowd.
bananafactory
Banned
knew this was spore 2.0 from day one. they promised way too much from the beginning, people were bound to be disappointed.
As someone who played both, it's a very different situation. Both are shallow in areas but No Man's Sky mostly delivers on its main promise - which is exploring a massive procedural universe. The main issues are that the supporting systems are not incredibly deep or diverse. By and large the game arrived exactly as it was presented, the problem is that people expected/wanted more.
Spore failed on pretty much everything it promised, and even some stuff it didn't.
This should be in the OT
Spot on.
Glad I took the time to try the game with a friends PS4 copy before the Steam version came out . She has decided to sell hers and I cancelled my pre-order, where I assumed I could simply try the two hours prior to come to a decision on sticking or refunding. However, 2 hours wouldn't have been enough as I found. After 7 hours, despite adoring exploration games, it was clear that this game was devoid of inspiration, joy of discovery through variety / nuance, knowledge / lore depth / meaningfulness, emotive worlds creatures and alike. And then there is the abysmal sheer grind of the gameplay and flat survival mechanics of crafting. It's joyless; and for someone who adores exploration games, extremely saddening.
I'm sure they could develop it further and add content to make it so much more, but right now it isn't worth £39.99 or even £15.
Moon_frogger
Member
Yup after thousands of hours of play in procedural Survival games, rogue likes and milsims like arma I don't think you could describe me as someone who needs a guided experience.
It's just a number once you have assets made. They didn't spend time getting 18 quintillion planets, is just a mathematical result.
How would that have changed anything?
Yeah, but you need to put up $60 to experience it which is a lot of money for most people. I think the significant barrier to entry for a game with fewer game mechanics than your regular DayZ/Minecraft Early Access game on Steam is way too high.
Unknown?
Member
It's their opinion that it's a 9. If you're using that logic I guess The Last of Us and GTAV should have been rated a 6 because not everyone likes them?
Evil Monkey DTT
Banned
Dunkey didn't give a score, well I mean he did but it was for an entirely different game.
With a 70 average? Never change internet, never change
IAmAnAgnostic
Member
It oversimplifies the situation. For example, many people can "see trough the code" and think the variety is far too limited between planets. In other words they don't feel that exploring has any meaning.
maabus1999
Member
This game would've been a perfect candidate for Early Access style development to get player feedback. In the end it may have helped iron out a portion of the flaws, especially with such a small team.