PC gamer here.
- EVGA 750w
- MSI Gaming M5
- i7-6700k
- 16GB DDR4-2400
- 2xSSD Raid 0
- Gigabyte G1 GTX 980 Ti Windforce OC
* I have decent hardware, so I cranked all settings to max and have it vsync'd at 60, zero problems there. No crashes, no instability, no real bugs to report so far.
* Glad there's an FOV slider, changed that to 90.
* I also use an Xbox One controller, as I find it far less fatiguing for lengthy adventure games or extended RPG play sessions.
* Have been having connectivity issues, but I'm gonna assume that's just because of the massive influx of new players putting a decent strain on the servers. Expected this.
* Storage space is a premium during gameplay, it is the sole reason for most of the feelings of anxiety while exploring. This needs to be addressed. Most adventure titles restrict your storage space at first. You quickly learn what things you need and which things you don't. Learn your crafting recipes and soon you'll know what you're looking for.
* Crafting is pretty simple once you get the hang of the recipe system.
* Trade can net you lots of units, so always sell things you don't plan on using within the next couple hours.
* Combat is decently balanced, I'd say it's about medium difficulty. I've died twice and won about 6 conflicts.
* Navigation is pleasant and easy.
* World variety is pretty incredible. Terrain, flora, fauna, resources, atmosphere...all the random mixtures create environments that you have to traverse with slightly different tactics.
* The more I play, the more of the lore I'm revealing, and this is some really fantastical stuff. Kinda freaky, but also very much a source of inspiration to continue planet-hopping. It's like staring down the rabbit hole, if the rabbit hole was a black hole with amazing and fearful wonders on the other side.
* Learning languages and interacting with aliens is cool. It's nice that you don't just magically know how to speak to every alien race that's out there. I feel like this is something that would naturally make sense in a lot of space adventure titles. This isn't Star Trek, not everyone has a universal translator.
* Lots of neat ship variety. Wacky, industrial, combat, tiny, huge. It's cool to be flying around and then BOOM ten massive ships warp in. It's also fun to kinda hang around in the space stations, waiting for new pilots to arrive, asking them to trade or just to check out the ships.
* The sense of scale is perfect. Planets and moons are absolutely massive. Flying down through an atmosphere and landing on a planet, and then looking up and seeing other planets over the horizon never gets old. Awe-inspiring. Just knowing that every little thing you see in the sky is a place you could go is daunting, but is also like a call into the wild.
Not sure about the rest of you, but I know what this game sets out to be, and it nailed it. Many of the expectations that are lofted upon Hello Games' shoulders are entirely unfair. It's a solo *exploration* title developed by a few guys that had some lovely algorithms to work with. With the amount of effort and love put into this game, and the amount of improvements likely coming over the months and years, 60 dollars will seem like nothing in the long run. I promise you that.
I'll leave you with these words:
Exploration is purely transitory and like time, inexorable. It demands that you continue marching forward because once you stop moving, you're no longer in a state of exploration; you simply just exist.
This is very much a philosophical experience, and many gamers either don't care, choose not to care, or can't understand. Sure, it has some merits and it may fall short in technical ways when comparing it to other adventure titles, but that's not the point of No Man's Sky. So, what is the point?
Look up.
