Yeh this review is actually really well thought out.
I like what he said about survial vs exploration, I was only really interested in this game from a programming point of view but this gameplay element is very intriguing.
@Manx DO NOT buy this game. You will be disappointed. It gets old after the first hour. You’re literally doing the same exact thing on every planet. I’m just playing to finish. The only redeeming property is the secrecy behind the story. I finally got to an atlas station last night. Not sure what to do with the atlas sphere yet.
I think it’s a great representation of a fictional and infinite universe. This means both good and bad things for it gameplay-wise.
I like the variety of planets I’ve seen so far. I like the seamless transition between a planet’s stratosphere and the infinite stretches of space. The graphics are a touch outdated, but they still look good and fit the aesthetic style of the game. I’m fond of the crafting system, even though it can get tedious to mine for the specific things you need sometimes. It does become repetitive but at the same time I enjoy the survival aspect of it. Though, this is coming from someone who spent countless hours (and enjoyed every single one of those hours) sifting through text and menus to craft a litany of different things in the various Fallout games.
For as IMMENSELY vast of a game it is, I find the variety to be pretty exceptional. Not EVERY planet is some amazing example of uniqueness and beauty, but again, you really can’t expect that to be the case when you consider the very nature of the game. It’s hit or miss.
The combat was clearly an afterthought in this game, though. Space battles verge on tedious instead of “fun and exciting” more often than not, and when commencing ground combat it feels like you were given a weapon that was…well, never really meant to be used as a weapon. Aiming is quite often difficult (especially against flying mobs) and it often feels like the better option is to just run rather than actually fight like the game wants you to. Personally, I can overlook it because this game has never been about its combat to me. I already knew it wasn’t going to be 3 years ago.
The way I see it, the game is one big amalgamation of mysteries, and you as the player has to do their best to make sense of any of it at all, while simultaneously moving forward and surviving the dangers of the universe. It’s clear that it was intended to be a pretty abstract experience, both cryptic but with a recognizable end goal as well: to discover all you can and reach the center of the universe. People asking “Well, what happens after that?” are really missing the point of it in its entirety. I mean, I can understand wanting a more concrete goal or objective in your video games, but at the same time how you gonna’ knock the game for achieving exactly what it was trying to in that regard?
One thing is true either way: we’ve never really seen a game quite like this. (Inb4 Star Citizen or Elite Dangerous). There’s both good and bad to it, just like any other…anything, ever. In my personal opinion though, the good definitely outweighs the bad.
Makes me sad to see a lot of dudes here feel like they wasted $60 bucks, but at the same time you should’ve known exactly what you were getting long before August 8th.
Ok so I had an epiphany about this game. My ex gf loved to play zoo tycoon And while playing NMS yesterday I started thinking that she’d absolutely love this game due to the flora and fauna cataloging. I then read a few threads on Reddit about old men who find NMS to be a great experience and then it hit me. The game is perfect for grandpas and women.
Today I suffered a major FAIL. I somehow managed to get killed at the same time that the machine froze up on me. It was kinda late, so I said,“fuck it. handle it tomorrow.” well, tomorrow (Today) I get up and start back into it. Unfortunately, I was about six or seven solar systems away when I realized. I didn’t go back to my grave and pick up my stuff. About five atlas globes and a handful of albumen pearls are now sitting in a floating diamond somewhere in a system that I can’t remember. FUCK.
BTW, if you were wondering what the limit on the number of backpack slots is, it’s 48. Don’t know what the ship limit is because I need about 16 mil to get the ship that I have seen to have the most slots, which is 34.
Also, them space pirates are starting to wish I didn’t exist. Dem powered up lasers yo. ONE AND DUN!!!
FYI: [details=Spoiler] that same trick works with your backpack too. Just get down to the planet’s surface, save near a place that has a trading post, and do what she says in the video…just on a planet. P.S. I suggest you spam this shit all day Monday because I’m betting they’ll be patching it by Tuesday. Just sayin. [/details]
two: some fucker rode up on me in a ship with 36 slots.
God i kept trying and trying and trying to find somehhing redeeming in the game. But the fact is the ony randomly generated thing in the game is the god damn planets. Everything else is all the same. Why are there only 3 styles of buildings? Why do ALL ruins look identical? Like it totally kills any reason to explore. There are only like 10 types of farmable materials… They worked so hard on making sure there were 18 katrilion planets pr what ever that they forgot to add variety to the game. If buildings and shit could look unique or bizzar then i could see myself going exploring but honestly whats the fucking point? After 30 minutes you have seem litterally everything this game has to show you. Fuck evem the flowers always look exactly the same. I watched some dude who was playing on twitch with a 48 slot ship and 48 slot backpack and the only difference was that he was moving ever so slightly faster than my dude. This game needs some serious patching before its out of its alpha phase.