Kotaku's No Man's Sky review is worth reading (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, August 17, 2016, 17:08 (3029 days ago)

Kotaku just posted their No Man's Sky review, written by Kirk Hamilton.

http://kotaku.com/no-mans-sky-the-kotaku-review-1785383774

With all the discussion about NMS going on here, I thought some of you might appreciate this.

More than simply describing the game's strengths and weaknesses (which are certainly covered), Kirk digs into the way the player's approach to the game can lead to wildly different experiences.

In short, NMS suffers when players take the "race to the center of the galaxy" approach. The repetitive nature of the game's tasks rise to the forefront, leading to an overall "shallow" experience.

During Kirk's second playthrough, he takes the opposite approach. He stays put. Makes an effort to really explore his starting planet, rather than just gather what he needs to leave and take off. He starts to notice tiny little details that help make this planet unique; details he would have missed if he were racing through as he did during the first playthrough.
He describes the process of slowly but surely traveling to the neighboring planets, taking the time to name every new discovery thoughtfully. He gets to know the solar system he is exploring, the way any of us get to know our neighborhoods. He develops farming routes, finds more tiny, unique details on each planet, becomes familiar with all of the life forms and takes time to name them all (I lost it when I saw the screenshot of "Senator Cruz" ;p).

After more than a dozen hours staying close to home, upgrading his ship, stocking up on supplies, his decision to finally travel to new, undiscovered solar systems is given weight and meaning. Only now does he have any sort of attachment to the planets he will be leaving behind. He might return some day, or he might never see this system again. That feeling right there is what makes NMS worth playing, IMO... if you can take your time with it and switch off the Min/Max side of your brain :)