No Man's Sky - NEXT Reviews
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.
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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.
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.
While this is a substantially improved experience, it is still No Man's Sky. And while this is, more or less, No Man's Sky as we were always promised it would be, the core conceit, structure, and gameplay loop haven't changed. There's just more to them than before.
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.
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.
Despite its updates, No Man's Sky remains the same experience that it was at launch — just a better-realized version of it. The first five planets of your No Man's Sky experience will be glorious. The rest may leave you wanting more.
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.
For some, the grind is worth it so they can explore the infinite. For others, the grind itself is the infinite.
I envy anyone out there experiencing No Man's Sky for the first time this month.
I have no idea what it would be like to explore an alien planet with a toxic atmosphere in real life, but No Man's Sky sells itself with a sense of authenticity that I really have no choice but to believe that this is what it would feel like to take one small step for man.