ORIGINAL POST - 6:50pm EST:
No Man's Sky is in the Xbox for PC Game Pass, for anyone that is looking to give this a shot.
Just spent a little over 2 hours with this.
And...I don't know what to make of it. The game had me in space to start, showing me all kinds of planets/stars as I was going by, to open the game. I was left floored with: "Damn, how huge is the scale of this game?" Yet, a part of me was like, for the few minutes, "So, am I gonna wind-up on a planet...or what?"
I was also annoyed by performance, in space, in this opening. Bouncing wildly b/t 15fps to 60fps, I was like "I hope it ain't gonna perform like this on a planet, once stuff gets going." And thankfully, at 1080p and mostly high settings - yeah, runs at a smooth 60fps, once on a planet. Though, ain't seen any players or anyone out here on the planet here that I'm on either.
This feels like a grind-fest. Gather things, craft stuff, do stuff - repeat cycle endlessly. I've had to build a scanner, rebuild a whole part of pieces to ship. Still not done w/ the ship. Had to refine some stuff I found on the planet. Died once. Went back to my death spot and got my lost inventory back.
But, my Gosh - this game looks great. I love the care to detail everywhere. The plants, the animals, the caves, the details, the world - everything is on an epic scope and scale, with details everywhere. Scanning stuff, once you build the scanner, is cool; reminding me of when in ME: Andromeda you scanned something and got XP for it. There's something to this game, as the amount of details just on this one planet is staggering. And it feels like anything here, I can interact with - ships, plants, whatever. I just don't feel like...well, there's not many players online or NPC's to interact with here. It feels lonely out here - and I would guess, that this is also the point of the game, too: to make you feel like a lonely soul out there in space.
It all, at least right now, feels very laid back and cool. But, man - I do wish there was some real assemblance of a campaign, story, character, or something...to keep me wanting to go around in this sandbox, while not doing a typical campaign. B/c after 2 hours, I wonder if there's more to this game than that loop of gameplay, exploring, crafting, and grinding.
But, I'm still curious - and going to try to kick this around on and off, here and there...b/c this feels like an interesting title to just sandbox around for a little while.
EDIT - 8:30pm EST:
So, another 40 minutes or so spent with this one.
I repaired the ship and got it off the ground, out into space. The seamless transitions & travel from the ground to the sky; then just flying out in space; and to then just landing your ship down on the ground is so awesome. On this planet I'm on now, I now have monsters flat-out attacking me. I'm shooting them w/ my mining tool/gun, zipping around in my jetpack to avoid them, moving around, and whatnot. I still have to grind to find plants, items, craft stuff, as now I'm rebuilding a computer for a mission - but, this feels a bit more entertaining than earlier. Feels like there's a little bit more going on here, which this title feels like it needs.
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