No Man’s Sky: the game that was met with disappointment but is now celebrated for its persistence. Hello Games’ iconic title has crushed the hopes of many and revitalized their interest simultaneously. After years of constant updates, has the developers of this highly-ambitious game finally lived up to their promise?
In this article, we’ll revisit the infamous title that swept us all off our feet back in 2018. Is No Man’s Sky worth playing now or is it still the best example of an overpromising game? Read on as we find out.
What is No Man’s Sky?
No Man’s Sky is Hello Games’ most-recognizable title as of yet. It is a science fiction, action-adventure survival game released back in July 2018. At its core, No Man’s Sky is a game about exploration and survival. Players are tasked to gather resources to build settlements and tools to better explore its many unique planets. After that, they move on to the next found within the game’s ever-expansive deep space.
This game truly appeals to those that love the thrill of discovery among everything else. And by the buzz it generated back then, a huge chunk of gamers worldwide share the same sentiment. Players are free to traverse the entirety of a seemingly infinite procedurally generated universe. Part of the game’s marketing is the purportedly 18 quintillion planets players can get lost in. That is by far the most wide-ranging game area, marking the game’s place among the most-ambitious titles in history.
Here are No Man’s Sky’s platforms and required specs:
Platforms
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Nintendo Switch
- PC
- macOS
- iPad OS
Minimum PC Requirements
- OS: Windows 10/11 (64-bit versions)
- Processor: Intel Core i3
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 470 4GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630
- Storage: 15GB available space
The Poster Game for Overpromising But Actually Delivering…After a Few Years
No Man’s Sky is touted as one of those games that give players complete freedom. You go about your own thing, share your discoveries with other players, and get lost in a sea of planets on your own. Truly, what you can do in this game is seemingly near-limitless…or at least it was supposed to be. When the game finally launched, players quickly realized that No Man’s Sky overpromised but underdelivered.
Hello Games claimed that the game’s millions of planets will have their own vegetation and unique alien species. However, what we got are cheap, randomized copies of such that already existed on the previous planet. Furthermore, the initial release of the game doesn’t even have a working multiplayer component. You spend most of the game by your lonesome, talking to boring NPCs that give monotonous side quests.
Those are only a few examples of how disastrous No Man’s Sky’s initial release was. Back then, there was no other game that hyped up players to only leave them crashing down. No Man’s Sky quickly became the poster game for overpromises that were never actually fulfilled. This led to the game tanking in reviews. Both critics and gamers worldwide agreed that No Man’s Sky is disappointing at its best.
However, unlike most developers, Hello Games did not give up on its game. Over the past years, they worked on the game’s major flaws and addressed them one by one. True, its less-than-desirable launch will forever be etched in gamers’ minds. That said, No Man’s Sky now stands as one of the few examples of a truly revitalized game (Cyberpunk 2077, as another example). Today, it is among the most fun multiplayer exploration games you can play. And this is all thanks to the dedication of the team behind it.
Is it Worth Playing in 2023?
Yes, and it has been for a long while already. The originally advertised features that were absent from its initial release are now here, albeit not all. The planets and their habitats are now passably different from one another. The game’s many star systems are exciting and always fun to explore. Overall, the exhilarating gameplay loop that was originally promised is finally here. You can easily lose hours of your day playing it.
Indeed, No Man’s Sky was supposed to be just an afterthought after its disastrous opening months. Instead, it became the game that proved that hard work and dedication pay off. Other developers should look at this title as a remembrance not to immediately give up on their games. That said, it should also be seen as a testament to how overpromising almost always doesn’t work.
