I have played almost 20 hours of No Man’s Sky so far and I have to say, I’m still on the fence about it. When the game was announced, it seems that I missed the memo about all the cool stuff that is supposed to be in the game and as such my expectations were not as high as someone who saw the trailers and jizzed in their pants.
Let me get my major gripe out of the way – this game cost $60 USD (roughly $75 Australian) and for that price, I expected a lot more. Had this game been released for less, perhaps $20-$30 and under Steam’s Early Access game program, then yes, I would say that No Man’s Sky would be an okay investment.
Steam Early Access games can be a mixed bag of hit or miss, but have a look at a similar game, like Empyrion – Galactic Survival. The developers of this game released it under Early Access and have been better off for it. While the developers are under some pressure to finish the game, they aren’t under the same pressure that I feel the developers of No Man’s Sky were to have it ready for release, and the game has suffered for it.
Having said all of that though, there are some good aspects to the game. The focus on exploration is fun if you don’t mind that sort of ‘stroll in the garden’ atmosphere. Learning the alien languages by uncovering words is fun, if a little bit of a grind.
I don’t expect that I will be lost in this game for long.