No Man's Sky - NEXT Reviews
No Man's Sky Next is a fun laid-back exploration experience and it has the unique honour of featuring the largest open world in all of gaming.
No Man's Sky: Next can be impressive at times. It is dense with features and the sensation of lift off and breaking/entering a planet's atmosphere is genuinely magical. It is a mixed bag of mostly good things, but has some really low lows. Sean Murray's project brings the age old saying of "Art is never finished, it is simply abandoned." Good on him and the crew at Hello Games to continue to support what was a disaster at launch to what is a pretty good, if a bit simplistic space sim. "Art" may never be "finished," but when art is shown to an audience... that is going to be the first impression and the first impression is the most lasting. Next does have room for improvement; getting caught in invisible geometry and weird graphical anomalies does happen frequently and the scope of the setting still is not even half the level shown in pre-release gameplay footage. No Man's Sky: Next proves that space does not have to be a lonely town.
There's a story going on here, about existence, simulation, and all that. It's not a story that sits well with some folks, and I can't say it's all that well written. It's oddly jarring to see it in No Man's Sky to be honest and the delivery of the textual parts of Atlas Rises always slams me out of the immersion of the game due to its reliance on 'choose your own adventure' narrative elements.
Overall this game to this day is still throwing curve balls at my opinions, and I’ve only just scratched the surface of this update. The whole experience as a whole has been a blast and I cannot wait to get back onto No Man’s Sky and experience more of what this update has in store… Saying this, there are still many updates that will be needed to form No Man’s Sky into the game we were originally promised, but, for now, this is the perfect time to hop on back and start a new journey as a Wanderer, finding the center of the universe and all it’s mysteries.
NEXT is the step forward that No Man's Sky needed since it was made available two years ago, the online options as well as the third person perspective are both well received additions, however, completely redefining the procedural system of the game is a very difficult task that, in the end, makes it aim for a particular type of player.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
On "normal" mode, No Man's Sky describes itself as a chill experience, which is accurate. For the most part, when the planet or the plants or animals aren't trying to kill you, it's a relaxing away-team simulator for 1-4 players. Constantly having to replenish resources and manage your inventory can become tedious, but the wonder and fun experiences can make up for it.
As before No Man's Sky is a game that I enjoyed the most when I was moving under my own steam, plodding along as a leisurely place. The NEXT update brings a lot of great new features to the game and as a result it now feels more complete than it ever has. It is also the perfect time to release the game on Xbox to a new audience that may not have yet had the chance to play it.
No Man's Sky has received many noticeable improvements over the course of the past 2 years but the NEXT update is perhaps the most significant one. Sadly, it still has some dated design with the need for the constant grind and a lack of rational narrative that holds back an otherwise enjoyable exploration and survival game.
Two years after its initial release, No Man's Sky have developed into a whole different game. Tons of new contents, several updates and patches for the online section, more features for crafting system, new missions, and much, much more added features have made NMS a valuable title.
Review in Persian | Read full review
A solid set of enhancements brings NEXT ever closer to the game No Man's Sky wants to be but forgets to have fun in the process.
No Man's Sky NEXT is certainly a massive step-up from what it was two years ago. With the addition of online multiplayer, base-building and some graphical tweaks it offers quite a bit to keep players busy for hours on end. While it does have a few flaws, No Man's Sky is still a unique and enjoyable game.
"'No Man's Sky NEXT' is leaps and bounds better than where it was two years ago."
With Next, No Man's Sky grows exponentially and lays the foundation for what may be a future further growth in content.
Review in Italian | Read full review
No Man's Sky Next Xbox One/X is still a riveting yet flawed experience
If you're new to the game it's going to take a lot of time to get past the surface scratching, but once you've caught up there's plenty to love. And if you're coming back to No Man's Sky, things have changed quite a bit, but embrace it and explore with much more of a reason to.
A virtual space explorer's dream and an easy going player's inventory management nightmare, No Man's Sky is an ambitious intergalactic sandbox survival game with narrative that opens your eyes to a philosophical view as to why we exist and how we can choose how we walk our path on this journey.
With Next, No Man's Sky blossoms into the game that was promised.
No Man's Sky has reached a point where not only does it meet initial promises, it now exceeds them.
No Man's Sky is tough to recommend because it doesn't nearly have mass appeal. It's a grueling game for far too long and even after that its loop is still too freeform for most players. For the right kind of player, however, it can be an exciting adventure filled with memorable moments and a real sense of discovery.