Banished is a great game if you have, at least, a little bit of patience. This city-builder game has a difficult early-game that provides a high challenge not seen in most games. YouTube has plenty of tutorials on the early-game. Most people want to expand too rapidly, thus causing starvation. :) All in all, Banished is a great slow-burner game. I have been playing it since 2014 and have put tons of hours in it. If you like city0builders and are looking for a challenge, get Banished. Then go to Black Liquid Software and install the MegaMod. It greatly expands gameplay and gives a new lease on the life of this game. One of my favorites, would buy again!
I started playing No Man' Sky on Jan 1st, 2019, and I now have over 1400 hours in this game. I have no intention of ever not playing this game. I started playing video games back in the 1970's on my Commodore Pet, and I must say that after all the games I have enjoyed, this is my favorite of all time. The universe contains over 18 Quintillion planets divided into 255 galaxies. These planets are proceduraly generated, and that means that even the developers don't know what all is out there. nd even after 4 years 99% of the universe has yet to be discovered! The game is a 4-pillar game: Survival, Exploration, Combat, Trade. You are mostly free to choose for yourself how you will play. The open-ended nature of this game relies largely on you charting your own course through the heavens. But what good would it be for someone else to do that for you? It would always be disappointing. The game is far more interesting because it relies on you to make your own adventures. Play solo or with friends. Build large bases or tiny shacks. Command a fleet of frigates or let it be just you. Or do all of that. This is a long-term game that rewards long-term thinking, tenacity, and a bit of patience. That being said, there are about 30 hours of story in the beginning. Completing the various storylines will give you lots of blueprints and upgrades, as well as teach you how the controls and inventory/discovery management works. As I like to say, your game of No Man's Sky doesn't really start until after 30 hours. Despite the botched launch in 2016, Hello Games has stuck by their product and continues to add more and more great stuff, for free, to this game. They have become a model for other game companies to look to. In my eyes they have redeemed themselves for whatever problems they have caused. Anybody wanting to bash Hello Games at this late date just wants to hold a grudge. Enjoy, and see you in the stars!
