I have finally reached a point of satisfaction with the game. With the current saga of Hello Games being hacked to say that No Man's Sky was a mistake, I think it's time to finally give this game a final "score".

When it comes to No Man's Sky, this was a game I expected to be a Game of the Year contender. It was my most hyped game for 2016, and when I first played it, it matched and even exceeded my expectations. For a game that was rushed by both Sony and an impatient fanbase, it was remarkably well done, even if by normal standards, it is mediocre.

With that said, take this review with a grain of salt, because I am accounting for a rushed dev cycle with a small dev team. Under normal circumstances, the game would have taken a bit longer to release, and it would have been much more polished.

Although, I won't be pulling too many punches.

Graphics - 8

I have to both give credit and take some away. This game is absolutely beautiful, the atmosphere you explore in is perfect. The purple grasses on planets under red skies, the desolate wasteland moons, the acidic rain dripping down on your face as you struggle with cold creeping onto your UI, all of it is done in a way that really hits you.

There's a major problem, however. All the creatures begin to look the same. And many of them look a little... creepy. Not in the good way, either.

In a game where you can name your discoveries, having a bunch of phallic shaped species isn't really a great move.

Sound - 7

I was torn on whether to hit low or hit high, so I'll settle for playing it safe and taking the middle route. No Man's Sky, for me, represents a grand achievement with its musical score. It does not impede in the slightest, and often, I find myself wondering, "Where is the music?"

Then I realize, wait, "Where IS the music?"

It's not that the music is non-existent, but there are too many times where it just is not prevalent enough for me. The characters all speak a different language, so there's no hope of that saving the score any more.

Addictiveness - 5

If I was judging this game on the first hour, I'd probably give it a 10. It's super exciting, fresh, and gives you hope and optimism for the future. But... then there's no more hope after that.

The game becomes a chore for most, and for those of us, like me, who can overlook goals in the name of exploration, at best, it becomes your typical relaxation game. The type a stoner might play, while, well, stoned. It's a beautiful game, and there's tons to explore, but none of it really matters, and awaiting you at the end, is nothing worth mentioning.

The game is still fun, but it just fails to get you to the levels it was at the very onset of your journey. It's still fun to discover new planets, and there is always a little joy when I discover something I wasn't expecting. But there are only so many types of planets out there. What's after I exhaust them all?

Depth - 4

Another major failing of this game is just how little there is that matters, as mentioned above. Once you explore one purple planet you've explored almost all of them, there's not much mystery in what lays behind a giant tree on one world, and what lays behind it on another. Being procedurally generated, it has to follow some rules, and once those rules have past the limit, there's just no more adventure to be had.

Once you get to the center of the universe, you'll feel as if the mystery is gone. You get to do it all over again... yay.

It's fun to explore a planet, but it just isn't great for people unless they are me.

Story - 2

I can't in good conscience score the game high here, either. Unless you choose a very specific path at the beginning, there's no story whatsoever. I chose to explore. So my playthrough had zero story to speak of. It's hardly worth exploring though (having seen what little there is).

This is a game that is about the journey rather than the destination, and requires you to make your own story to really enjoy the game. With a game like Minecraft, it works really well. But with a game like No Man's Sky, that is this barebones, it's not a good strategy.

Difficulty - 6

This isn't quite a case of "Guide Dang It" or anything, but this is one game that really would benefit from having a more accessible manual. 90% of what I know I picked up in forums across the internet. This is great for making the community and discovery so important, but it is horrible for someone like me, who just wants to play a space exploration game, alone.

Did you know you can lock yourself out of being able to complete the game, by changing your pre-order ship out, early on, for a ship without a hyper drive? Because you totally can, with no warning. Or at least, when I played. Even if they eventually patched it out (haven't seen if they had), it's terrible for that to be part of your launch. The game should never be impossible to win because of user error early on.

GRADING FOR NO MAN'S SKY
Graphics - 10% (10% of 8 is .8)
Sound - 10% (10% of 7 is .7)
Addictiveness - 35% (35% of 5 is 1.75)
Depth - 20% (20% of 4 is .8)
Story - 25% (25% of 2 is .5)
Difficulty - 0% (0% of 6 is 0)
Total - 4.45

I'm going to give a few bonus points and round up, just because I'm taking pity on a game I actually did enjoy, even if it's not for everyone.

Overall - 5

I am actually shocked I've ever given a game this low of a score. Especially a game I liked. But that's where we are, with No Man's Sky. It's a fun game, but it is not a good one.

legacyme3 : I somewhat agree with your review of this game.

However, I myself don't like the fact that the game was over hyped by the developers saying that there would be multiplayer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0nuW-mQ8A

The fact about multiplayer is that it may be coming soon in a new patch, but paying over $50 for a game with barely $10 worth of content blows my mind.

Also this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZLSffRsdfw

I wouldn't blame you for somewhat liking the game, but there are some people out there that just hate it. The game was also supposed to come on more ports than PlayStation 4 or PC. The game upsets me of what it COULD have been, what more the developers could have added, why everybody is alone in a universe full of 8 quadrillion planets.

So i'm not criticizing your review, as it is a good review of the game, but I am criticizing the game as it could have been so much better sadly, if only the developers stopped hyping their game and actually develop it, instead of just saying flat out lies. 

DragonSlayer22 :

That ties into the thing I said in the beginning:

"For a game that was rushed by both Sony and an impatient fanbase, it was remarkably well done, even if by normal standards, it is mediocre."

Multiplayer was very much in the works, but it was rushed out the door by Hello Games because of two factors (at least). One, which was Sony, which wanted the game to come out ASAP to help fuel their bottom line for the quarter (which was struggling), and the other was the fan base, some of which sent death threats to Hello Games for wanting extra time to polish the game.

Here's an example.

It's still possible it will be patched in. Since release Hello Games (the small studio it is) is still working on the game. The problem is, that instead of taking a few extra months, it could take a year, because they also have to focus on bug reports, polishing things that are typical in a post-release patch (not limited to indie devs, AAA studios do this too).

Ultimately, a lot of people who seem to harbor the intense hatred for the game that it has gotten suffer from one fatal crux. They expected a AAA game from an indie studio, and not just that, but they expected that AAA game in a rushed dev cycle.

Oh, and they had to deal with "acts of god" like getting flooded.

Hello Games has (according to Wikipedia, who sources to the About Us section on the Hello Games site) 16 employees. 16. And they expect the same results as you get out of say, EA Montreal (which has 849 employees).

No, this game has flaws, like you pointed out, but it is all rooted in three basic facts:

1. The game was rushed, thanks to Sony needing a bottom line.
2. The game was rushed because the community was impatient.
3. The studio had less than 2% of the employees that a AAA studio tends to have. And yet, everyone expected a AAA game.

So what I'm seeing here is that this is a game that's good if all you want to do is fly around and explore pointlessly?

Because that's exactly what I want to do. By your estimation then, should I go ahead and get this? Frankly I didn't want multiplayer to begin with, nor did I want a goal or a story. I just wanted to...well, explore and wander aimlessly for a few hundred hours. If that's what I'm getting then I definitely want to try this out.


Nice review. It felt like you were trying to be honest, even though it kind of stung to be, being (apparently) a fan of the game. Regardless, it was well written, man.

Eirinn :

Yeah, basically. You can buy it used on Amazon for like 15 bucks, and at that price, it's definitely worth it, especially if all you want to do is explore.

It's important to note, the exploration is flawed. It is not perfect. I honestly recommend Starbound above this game, because you can travel to a wide amount of planets, play multiplayer if you so choose, and get the same general experience.

This is a game that is very relaxing, but it can be very boring, too.

If buying on Steam, just get Starbound. If buying on PS4, buy it used, and just enjoy it for what it is. It's a good exploration game, but not a good game.

The game looks remarkable when you first play, but then it gets too repetitive after a while. Finding random rare stuff like gold and Emeril, but even then, when you think you hit the jackpot, you either find so much that it doesn't really matter anymore, or you find no more at all and makes looking for it a pain.

I feel if there were more obstacles out in space, flying would be a bit more fun instead of waiting so long to go from one place to another.

If I can get it at that price, I'll definitely pick up a copy, even if I get bored after a few hours, it would still be roughly the same appeal as Minecraft to me.