No Man's Sky

First off, I got this game on Steam during the sale accompanying the NEXT update and have since requested a refund. Disclaimer: I didn't follow the drama surrounding the game very closely, because I don't care about the hype or the shitstorms. The following is my own experience, nothing more, nothing less. I did have an interest in this game ever since it was first announced, but quickly feared that with all the freedom and possibilities that were pitched, the actual 'game' beneath it would be shallow and lacking. However, after waiting for a long time and seeing this game getting another huge update while being on sale, I decided to give a try. Long story short, the game is in a horrible state. I spent roughly two minutes staring at a loading screen, it crashed during the third minute of play time (!), plus the game's optimization is horrible and - worst of all for me - the controls are not fully rebindable. Not even close to it! Needless to say, I requested a refund. Before anyone says I should make use of autohotkey or other tools, I will say this: I buy games because I plan to enjoy them, not jump through hoops for hours in order to make a game work the way the developers should have ensured. If you plan on using only a gamepad and can live with all the other issues this game has, you may actually enjoy it. But I'm too old for this kind of crap.

I could not give this less stars. The version of No Man's Sky sold by GOG is not a complete copy of the game such as other retailers and as such is the worst possible experience of this game you can possibly purchase. Avoid buying the game here at all costs if you intend to enjoy multiplayer. It was a shame the game was sold to customers under false pretenses by GOG and Hello Games until after multiplayer was expected. The game is also poorly optimized and contains horrendously unpalatable game breaking bugs and issues. Near constant crashing. The developers have claimed this will all be fixed one day(Believe that at your own risk). The only redeeming quality of GoG's version of No Man's Sky(Fraud) is that it has no DRM here for single players. PRO's: More content than at launch. Con's: Lacks Multiplayer like everyone other version you can buy online from other retailers.

This a large demo of No Man's Sky as it does not offer all the features that even the PS4 or Xbox version do. I'd consider purchasing from a different merchant to get a full NMS experience.

No Man's Sky is a visually stunning game that puts the player in the shoes (spacesuit) of an unknown humanoid whose starship has crash-landed on a foreign, possibly dangerous world. From there the player is tasked with the simple job of repairing their vessel and taking to the stars - either to follow the guidance of the mysterious god-like being known only as the "Atlas", or to follow their own path and discover what unknown mysteries await them. On their journey, the player will discover and explore many worlds; each rich with unique flora, fauna and natural formations. They will meet and interact with a number of advanced species (both AI and organic) whose languages the player must learn through interactions and the examination of historical artifacts that those species have left on many planets. The player can gain the favour of these species and engage in commerce and other practices with them. The game falls short in one respect for me -performance issues that many people are currently having aside- and that is that, despite the care put in to the generation of unique plant and animal life and the diversity of each world, there is a stark lack of variety in the "man made" constructions such as space-stations and outposts and the environments within those spaces feel incredibly sterile. Spotless offices, bars and waiting rooms remain completely empty save for, at most, a single NPC who stays in a single position in the environment going through a very limited cycle of unengaging animations while you go about your business; other starships will even pull up and land inside of spacestations and on the surface of planets outside of outposts and other constructions, but from there will remain completely inactive for several minutes, with nobody even getting out of their vessels, before flying off again for seemingly no reason. This lack of a "lived-in" experience for the game's universe is a much needed factor and I hope it is fixed in future patches.

Game is fun and immersive, but at the same time kinda lacking in really basic functions: 1. Interface can be "sticky" and unresponsive to input at random times even though being played on overpowered PC with tons of spare fps. 2. The game is LOUD. Everything around You humms, hisses, or makes static noise that will give You a headache after an hour of gameplay and there's no way to turn down the ambient noise other than tirning the master volume of the whole game down.