Support NeoGAF

[Toparaman]

It takes forever to do anything in this game. Traversal is slow and plodding, discouraging me from straying too far from my ship. Inventory management, slow menu animations, and journey milestone notifications break the flow of gameplay. In fact it seems like Hello Games barely paid any attention to gameplay flow at all.

Also I barely ever hear new music, which is a shame because the soundtrack is so damn good. Honestly it's probably the best thing to come out of this game.

It seems like Hello Games spent years obsessively tweaking and fine tuning the procedural generation, to the detriment of everything else. The game just flat out does not feel good to play. And the procedural generation just isn't diverse or impressive enough to carry the game through.

The sad part is there are brief moments in this game that are sublime. But they're just too few and far in between. I can see an excellent game hidden in NMS, but we probably won't fully see it until a year from now.

7/10 not taking price into consideration, 6/10 with price in consideration.

 

[aliengmr]

My only major gripe was the price was too high.

Ultimately it depends on how much of a shelf life they want to give the game. I don't know where their "thinking" is at with that. Whether they are going to toss a patch or 2 and move on or stick with it and improve it.

Hope they stick with it, it has potential.

 

[Kacho]

I'm really curious about what IGN's score will be, since their review sounded pretty negative. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say a 4 or 5.

They gave it a 6/10

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

critically. relative to expectations, i think it's fair to say it bombed.

No, Suicide Squad is a "bombing critically".

This is a "mixed reaction" in terms of the degrees of reception

 

[BokehKing]

I sadly feel like I threw away $60 for this game, I know I'm only 3 hours in, maybe 5 and I'm just not feeling it. I don't know if I'll make it to ten hours to have more room in slots and all that other jazz. Idk, I guess I'll keep playing but I just feel like.....rent it first if you could.

6/10

 

[Sioen]

This game is terrible, I can forgive the graphics and the horrible fov. What I can't forgive is the horrible gameplay. Moving around feels terrible, when you can't "sprint" you're literally just walking. Have fun walking back to your ship. The mining feels fine, not great but just fine. But that is all ruined by the tedious inventory management, seriously who even approved this? The flying around is fine and actually feels decent albeit simple. The space stations are all the same looking, the creatures all look the same and the things you mine are almost all the same on different planets.
Then they lied about the online, this is the biggest waste of 60€ I've ever spent and my biggest disappointment in a long time as well.

 

[Memnoch]

This game is terrible, I can forgive the graphics and the horrible fov. What I can't forgive is the horrible gameplay. Moving around feels terrible, when you can't "sprint" you're literally just walking. Have fun walking back to your ship. The mining feels fine, not great but just fine. But that is all ruined by the tedious inventory management, seriously who even approved this? The flying around is fine and actually feels decent albeit simple. The space stations are all the same looking, the creatures all look the same and the things you mine are almost all the same on different planets.
Then they lied about the online, this is the biggest waste of 60€ I've ever spent and my biggest disappointment in a long time as well.

Yup sums it up well.

 

[dracula_x]

5 of those game aren't from Sony. Why are you even naming them?

No Man's Sky also, btw

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/no-mans-sky-ps4/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/275850/

 

[SnowFlakeCake]

Terrible reviews, got sucked into the hype a tiny but but deep down knew the studio behind Joe Danger were not going to pull this shit off. It's waiting at home but won't have my PS4 suffer by inserting this filth into it, going to send it straight back to Boomerang for something better.

 

[Krabboss]

Imagine thinking this game was ever going to live up to expectations.

 

[KJRS_1993]

won't have my PS4 suffer by inserting this filth into it

I genuinely can't believe that some people type sentences like this and don't stop for a second to think "Do I sound ridiculous?"

Edit: you haven't even played the thing ffs.

 

[Loudninja]

GamesBeat 8/10
http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/13/no-mans-sky-procedural-universe-cant-match-your-imagination/

Areajugones 8.5/10
http://areajugones.es/no-mans-sky/analisis/

 

[Rhaknar]

I genuinely can't believe that some people type sentences like this and don't stop for a second to think "Do I sound ridiculous?"

Edit: you haven't even played the thing ffs.

I assume its a joke.

Spoiler

Please be a joke

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I mean the game does make your PS4 suffer.

When I play the game, I get a jet engine fan sound unlike other games and it constantly crashes. Pretty terrible.

 

[semiconscious]

Imagine thinking this game was ever going to live up to expectations.

actually, the game has managed to live up to my own expectations. i'm just pretty sure my expectations weren't quite as hyper-inflated as those of others ...

 

[Wil348]

They gave it a 6/10

Wow, talk about scores not lining up with the written reviews. I thought there was no way they would rate this more than 5 after reading their review. Very surprising.

 

[T.O.P]

Half of the FB comments to the IGN review screams "but this was made only by xx people, you should take that into consideration"

This shit is the worst thing to came out of this whole damn game launch

 

[March of the Crabs]

I mean the game does make your PS4 suffer.

When I play the game, I get a jet engine fan sound unlike other games and it constantly crashes. Pretty terrible.

I don't get that sound at all! Mine is super quiet. DOOM on the other hand...

 

[Wagram]

Half of the FB comments to the IGN review screams "but this was made only by xx people, you should take that into consideration"

This shit is the worst thing to came out of this whole damn game launch

Could have been made by 1 or 1000. When you charge $60 everyone is held to the same standards.

 

[Colbert]

I'm really curious about what IGN's score will be, since their review sounded pretty negative. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say a 4 or 5.

From what you can already read my guess is it ill be between 60 and 70 (IGN US)

 

[Moon_frogger]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

 

[roytheone]

Half of the FB comments to the IGN review screams "but this was made only by xx people, you should take that into consideration"

This shit is the worst thing to came out of this whole damn game launch

That's such nonsense. A reviewer should review a game from the perspective of a customer . And a customer probably doesn't care how many people worked on it. You could mention it in the text, but it should have 0 impact on the score.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

 

[AU Tiger]

I'm about 8 hours in and having an okay time I guess.

On the surface, it feels like what I was experiencing with early minecraft. Very little to do back in early alpha builds of minecraft (and obviously we were only paying like 10 bucks for it back then or 5 dollars or something) but I'm getting the same vibes with NMS.

I think that they've got an amazing foundation to work with, far FAR more impressive than anything minecraft has but it's up to the devs to fill these planets and outer space with more interesting things to do.

If they're going to demand busy work from us, it needs to have a good reason behind it instead of simply to try and sell stuff to make money to buy a ship that can simply hold more stuff to sell to get even more money.

A map/Beacon system alone would make a huge quality of life improvement and maybe a space stash that you can access from any space station along with stacking items like gek charms, gravi balls, etc. Everything should stack.

 

[Stealthcobra]

I'm glad I don't care about reviews. I'm glad i take the game before me and i play it, not thinking about i wish it was this or that. This is probably one of the best gaming experiences of my life. I'm having tons of fun. Each planet begs to be explored and when you land on a hostile planet... wow. Landed on a planet with tall 2 legged AT-AT looking robots and also 4 legged robot dog like things... just amazing.

people complain about walking... i dont walk more than 5 mins from my ship.. I'll just fly from icon to icon and explore around the immediate vicinity.

Do I have some complaints... yeah one or 2..but nothing thats stopping me from playing the game. This game has exceeded my expectations. my 2 complaints would be better on screen notification of places I've already been before on the planet. sometimes the icon isnt faded out and i hate going over there for nothing. my 2nd complaint is i wish it was easier to go back to planets I've been to before.. like a fast travel that auto calculate my hyperdrive usage..

I'm having a blast.. played like 9 hrs str8 last night.

 

[2blackcats]

To those saying the on foot traversal is slow, do you guys know the run, melee, jet pack trick (tap melee then immediately hold the jet pack button while running). I find it very enjoyable to move around that way. Glitch maybe, but fun.

To the person above asking how people can enjoy it, I find myself in an almost medative state while playing. Maybe that's no a good thing but I at least think I'm enjoying myself anyway. Ha.

 

[Cyriades]

I mean the game does make your PS4 suffer.

When I play the game, I get a jet engine fan sound unlike other games and it constantly crashes. Pretty terrible.

Would a SSD make this game run smoother with faster loading?

 

[Fredrik]

What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

Only 13 hours, 3 planets and a space station so far, but exploring new worlds, identifying (and renaming) the wildlife, improving my gear and ship, learning more about the story, that has been my hook so far.

 

[AzaK]

This is both funny and sad, but true.

https://youtu.be/z6HHU-j5Css

My god I almost pissed myself.

 

[SlickShoes]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

Why would someone that likes it want to waste their time convincing someone that doesn't like it to try and like the game?

I'm still playing, still enjoying it, no desire to market the game to anyone or explain in detail why I like it.

On a basic level I enjoy grindy games, they are relaxing, this is grindy and the locations change and the soundtrack is great. Its an enjoyable way for me to spend time and unwind.

 

[Moon_frogger]

Only 13 hours, 3 planets and a space station so far, but exploring new worlds, identifying (and renaming) the wildlife, improving my gear and ship, learning more about the story, that has been my hook so far.

Yeah that all sounds good. I'm going to keep playing. The wildlife has been pretty disappointing so far. They don't seem to have much interesting ai and after I saw a few bird dogs and squirrel lizards I realized the random generation wasn't coming up with anything very interesting. It's all tiny tiny variation on the same shallow things. The wildlife in 'don't starve' for example has distinct properties and ai as well as unique methods of interaction. That other poster talking about giant walker like contraptions and robot dogs kind of had me interested though. I'm defIntely not ready to give up.

 

[Spades]

Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

Easier to justify your $60 spend this way I guess.

I personally really enjoyed my first 3-5 hours, but now it just feels like I'm starting over and over and over and over again. It's the exact same stuff on loop.

 

[Uthred]

Just because your experience is closer to the latter doesn't mean anyone who had a different one is necessarily blinding themselves.

By far the most obnoxious thing in this thread and it's predecessor is this idea that if people are enjoying themselves they're either brainwashed or in deep denial. Its hardly unique to this review thread but it does seem particularly prevalent here

I will say this, I am enjoying the exploration, I am not enjoying the constant need to sell items because my inventory is full, I never get bored of finding new planets though, it amazes me every single time I land on one, just the atmosphere of this game is perfect, I just wish the core gameplay had more.

If this had some form of multiplayer where you could randomly stumble upon someone, even if it is extremely rare it would be amazing, add some stuff like base building to it like in minecraft and this game would go from 6-7 to a 8-9 easy.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it after seeing your worries about it in various threads.

Half of the FB comments to the IGN review screams "but this was made only by xx people, you should take that into consideration"

This shit is the worst thing to came out of this whole damn game launch

It is a ridiculous argument, if you want people to temper their expectations because its made by a small amount of people then charge something similar to other games made by small studios. If they charged $60 for their game then they clearly think thats what its worth, so it will be compared to games with a similar price and as such the size of the creative team is immaterial

 

[blastprocessor]

Ouch.

No Man's Sky, The Order 1886, and Knack have all been critical flips for Sony. Killzone Shadowfall wasn't too hot either. I do think Microsoft has done better with its exclusives overall. But Sony has hit a couple out of the park (Bloodborne and Uncharted 4), more so than any Microsoft games.

FPS of this generation even with the flaws

 

[cr0w]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

In real life, I enjoy a good walk along a trail or in the woods. I enjoy walking the same path and seeing how things change from season to season. Occasionally I'll divert and see what's around the corner in a direction I've never gone before, and I'll come across something small that surprises me. A fallen tree, a small pond, an existing trail from people who have been out there before me. It's the most relaxing activity in the world to me.

That's the feeling this game gives me, and it's why I keep playing. I may see the same thing from planet to planet, but then I'll come across something that makes me atop and say, "whoa". Whether it's a nice vista, a storm, a cool creature, or just the way the music and visuals combine at a certain point that hits me just right. The simple ability to just go, with no story restrictions, time limits or anything pushing you in one direction is extraordinarily refreshing, especially aftet I've had a tough week at work like I did this week. It's damn near meditative.

The game is far from perfect, but it checks off almost everything I want from a chill game.

 

[thequickandthedead]

FPS of this generation even with the flaws

The Vita one was better.

 

[Irminsul]

FPS of this generation even with the flaws

That is DOOM.

 

[Principate]

No, Suicide Squad is a "bombing critically".

This is a "mixed reaction" in terms of the degrees of reception

Nah the two are entirely different, when was the last time you saw a mainstream game get a 4 or even a 2 on average? That almost never happens. 6 is the typically the bottom out point for major games. 5 if it's particularily bad. We're well in the Resident evil 6 range of consensus and I don'tthink there's anyone that thought that reviewed well or even mediocrely. Were definitely beyond the mixed range and into the bad.

Even on metacritic itself the cut off point for universal praise for games and pretty much everything else is different.

 

[killroy87]

If nothing else, I hope this serves to bring some people down from the hype clouds when The Last Guardian comes out and is inevitably mediocre as hell.

 

[Earthanoid]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

Maybe you can just read one of the positive reviews in the OP? All the positives in this game and the reasons to like it are in there. I really do think this is a game that either hooks you or it doesn't, and even if I could point to a single thing that makes me keep playing it isn't necessarily going to make other people come back to the game.

I see the trend going in both directions. Some people are saying it's great, beautiful and addictive and leaving it at that. Others are saying the systems are terrible and leaving it at that. The number of truly detailed posts that go beyond "inventory management is terrible" or "discovering new planets is amazing" are pretty few and far between. I think there are far too many people in this thread attacking people who actually like it, as if you can objectively prove that they don't actually like it are are lying for some bizarre reason.

I'm about 15-20 hours in and I find the game to be relaxing. I've reached a point where inventory management and survival isn't really an issue, although I'm not pushing to reach the center at the moment. I'm still enjoying exploring and I'm focusing on finding knowledge stones so I'm not guessing when interacting with the aliens because I like the way the game handles learning languages.

 

[vpance]

In real life, I enjoy a good walk along a trail or in the woods. I enjoy walking the same path and seeing how things change from season to season. Occasionally I'll divert and see what's around the corner in a direction I've never gone before, and I'll come across something small that surprises me. A fallen tree, a small pond, an existing trail from people who have been out there before me. It's the most relaxing activity in the world to me.

That's the feeling this game gives me, and it's why I keep playing. I may see the same thing from planet to planet, but then I'll come across something that makes me atop and say, "whoa". Whether it's a nice vista, a storm, a cool creature, or just the way the music and visuals combine at a certain point that hits me just right. The simple ability to just go, with no story restrictions, time limits or anything pushing you in one direction is extraordinarily refreshing, especially aftet I've had a tough week at work like I did this week. It's damn near meditative.

The game is far from perfect, but it checks off almost everything I want from a chill game.

I feel ya. Wouldn't be surprised if the game resonates better with creative types. Or people with more capacity to be meditative..

 

[Kacho]

If nothing else, I hope this serves to bring some people down from the hype clouds when The Last Guardian comes out and is inevitably mediocre as hell.

To be fair, I wouldn't say TLG hype is anywhere close to that of NMS. Maybe I'm in a box.

 

[killroy87]

To be fair, I wouldn't say TLG hype is anywhere close to that of NMS. Maybe I'm in a box.

It's a different thing. If you condensed all the years of TLG hype into the same time frame as NMS, Guardian would come out on top. Everyone is so skittish about TLG at this point though, we're all just politely walking around it so we don't disturb it and send it running away for another 5 years.

 

[.Anema]

Deserved, the game is really boring after 2 hours. Shooting rocks is not funny.

 

[Uthred]

If nothing else, I hope this serves to bring some people down from the hype clouds when The Last Guardian comes out and is inevitably mediocre as hell.

Tell us more oh wise prophet

 

[Ollie Pooch]

I find an interesting trend. Those who are disappointed with the game are giving clear and detailed summaries of their experience. Those who seem to be enjoying it are just shrugging and saying 'game is devisive'.

I mean, we've heard how the game hasn't lived up to quite a few of the developers promises, how the procedural generation is kind of uninteresting, how it gets extremely Grindy, repetitive and how the micromanagement is tedious.

Does anybody care to offer some compelling reasons to keep playing after repetion and lack of a real game play hook starts to wear on people? How does this game stand out from the myriad other more varied and feature rich survival crafting games that are pretty much all a quarter the price of no mans sky? I'm honestly wondering. I'm still playing because the game is there and I'm expecting some interesting story twist, some dramatic upgrade to get me fired up and excited to keep playing. What is it that's keeping you all interested 20 or 30 hours in?

There isn't anything like that. The 'game' side is particularly shallow, frustratingly so because I can easily imagine the potential of a really compelling gaming loop, and not one that feels so basic, and I'm not even a game designer.

It's why I'm so torn on it - if I'm in the mood, the exploration (and I really think that's a valid hook for most) can be quite spectacular, evocative, relaxing, and meditative. Moments like this are pretty damn special even if you see many of the game's tricks quite early on. I'm interested to see what they add - i think the loop of grind/resources is honestly just there to get you to keep moving forward.

 

[Irminsul]

I feel ya. Wouldn't be surprised if the game resonates better with creative types. Or people with more capacity to be meditative..

There are far too many nagging survival mechanics in that game to make it relaxing. And I have 170 hours on Euro Truck Simulator, I like relaxing games.

 

[Crossing Eden]

FPS of this generation even with the flaws

Not even remotely close and that's without counting DOOM, Overwatch, and Halo 5. It was a tech demo that got progressively more linear overtime.

 

[mike6467]

Deserved, the game is really boring after 2 hours. Shooting rocks is not funny.

Damn straight, shooting rocks is serious business.

Also of note, lol at the justifying that happens when people have to start admitting that all opinions are valid (both sides).

"Game is not for people who need their hand held"
".... for people who aren't creative"
"for CoD/Madden types"
"for people who aren't chill enough."
"for people who hate freedom and kick puppies in their spare time"

 

[mxgt]

I submitted a refund request on Steam even though I played 4 hours and got approved.

I enjoyed it to start, but even by 3 hours or so and visiting about 10 planets I could see how absolutely shallow the game is.

It has some great views, and I enjoyed flying around space, but that's about it.

The content on the planets was pretty much identical the entire time, there is almost nothing to do once you have been into all the building types and seen what appears to be a maximum of 3 different ruin formations.

Biggest disappointment for me this gen, overtaking Fallout 4.

I really wanted to like it, and I feel bad for Hello Games really, but this game is completely soulless.