This is the best exploration game ever made.

[76561197979566298]

I dare anyone to try and name a game that even comes close. I have spent now 40hrs of game time just casually traveling to different systems and planets. It never gets old! I'm always finding interesting planets and finding goods to sell for nice profit.

Some of these places look like out of your dreams. I just found this lush green planet with a rainbow stretching across the horizon. Its just beautiful.

PS and ngl, some of these planets with ancient burial sites really get me to rp my inner anthropologist and consider the history of 3000yr old bones I've just uncovered.

[Dirak2012]

It all depends on how tolerant to repetition you are, or how good you are spotting small details. In size, certainly NMS can't be beaten.

[Pagafyr]

I get similar excitation as a wanna be archaeologist while playing. I like the way the Multi-tool terrain tool works. When I found the first ruins to dig into to find a big chest I completely went nuts and exposed all the ruins underground. It was so much fun!

It would really be great if that terrain tool was real. We could clear the dirt, rocks, and debris of an ancient city walls down to the floors without missing a speck of ancient artifacts or breaking a thing.

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

I'd only say it's the biggest....

Tho it might very well be the best exploration game YOU ever played.... but that doesnt tell much depending on how many exploration focused games you played before, and it all is still very subjective.

And you're only 40 hours "old" in that game world yet....

[Mr. Bufferlow]

I agree with you. Still playing after 4400 hours so it must be doing something right. The regular free updates have probably been the big factor in those hours.

I really have enjoyed Orbital update. I have clocked another 60 hours since it dropped. It has definitely added a lot of interesting features if you are playing early game. Have not gone back to my regular save because I am pretty sure it will lose a lot on a very mature save.

It is a game that sort of trails off at about 40 to 60 hours unless you just like exploring planets. You end up with boatloads of credits and somewhere along the line you just start grinding for new words and finalizing your status with the various guilds.

Realistically, it is rare for me to find many games that I even put in 60 hours on. I think I have less than a handful that ever passed the 1000 hour mark. Most of those had some editor or base building function that was almost more fun than the regular game play. (Operation Flashpoint, Skyrim, Fallout 4)

I will say this is probably the most unique game I have ever played. I like that they avoid the standard empire building/save the galaxy motif that most space games go for.

[UNBREAKABLE]

For me the repetition with planets hit hard at the hundreds-of-hours mark and I use mods now to expand them... still, that's still a pretty good time span especially if exploration isn't your only activity.

Half my beef is the terrain. There is little variety in the landscapes and those "prime" planets with the crazy mountains start showing the same patterns after a while too. The other half is colors. The variety of color pallets on planets are still neutered compared to what it used to be in the past and it drags down variety greatly.

But bare in mind - I have 600 hours so most players before that point likely aren't as jaded.

[A-mak]

As above without mods the planets feel very same-y. I am playing on permadeath so finding that nice safe lush planet is cool.

However the game feels more like a collectable card game over proper exploration. Less about finding drastically different cool looking planets and flora/fauna and more RNG 'is this weapon/tech/ship S/X class? Is this new x-class tech better stats than my other class? Will that frigate upgrade to be better than current? Does that ship have the part I want?".

I have to be pushed towards planets through space station missions as there just isn't enough variation in vanilla. 32gb of ram in my system and the game only uses 4-5gb, about time you beef up that procgen HelloGames.

In the past they would change biomes and creature parts so the people who played and then came back felt as if the game had more depth than it actually does.

Still enjoyable, I am personally hunting for a nice lush moon to hopefully find a settlement on and build it up. 50hrs into this permadeath save and am yet to find one lol.

[76561197979566298]

I'm using BPG, Terra Firma and Duds sky colors mods. The planets have enough variety to be interesting. I'm taking my time just going through all the planets on a system and enjoying the sights.

[Antaiir]

Yet another steam point farming thread?

[Raven]

"This is the best exploration game ever made."

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.bbc.cbeebiesgoexplore&hl=en_US&pli=1

[UNBREAKABLE]

Originally posted by BATHE N FOE'S BLOOD:

I'm using BPG, Terra Firma and Duds sky colors mods. The planets have enough variety to be interesting. I'm taking my time just going through all the planets on a system and enjoying the sights.

That's been my goto combination as well, except I use all of DUD's colors.

LASAGNA is also up there with BPG in terms of variety.

[76561197979566298]

Originally posted by Antaiir:

Yet another steam point farming thread?

So I can't just enjoy the game? lol

[Idaho]

Originally posted by Antaiir:

Yet another steam point farming thread?

You don't get 'steam points' by making threads.

[UNBREAKABLE]

Originally posted by Idaho:

Originally posted by Antaiir:

Yet another steam point farming thread?

You don't get 'steam points' by making threads.

You get points from any awards given to your posts though.

Useful and important posts that provoke discussion usually don't get awards though - you have to troll intentionally to game the system because drama causes the most engagement.

[momopovich]

Originally posted by BATHE N FOE'S BLOOD:

I have spent now 40hrs of game time just casually traveling to different systems and planets. It never gets old!

Yeah because you have only played 40 hours...

You will reach a point where you will know all biomes by heart (9 main biome types, about 25 if you include the rare weird exotic and chromatic anomaly variants)

Not even mentioning the 20 POIs.

That being said, the game is fun and replayable long term, I just suspect that you will find exploration a bit less exciting in a few hours.

[Jaggid Edje]

I have more hours of play in No Man's Sky than all but one other game, so I'm going to say this as someone who does like the game, a lot.

It's far from the 'best exploration' game ever made. Exploration is actually one of it's weak points, imo, because there isn't any real variety after the 100 hours of play or so mark. Every planet has the same POI's, there's nothing unique to find on any given planet.

The best games for exploration would be those that have hand crafted content and which regularly get new hand-crafted content added and which have unique and interesting things in each new area you explore. NMS simply doesn't compare when it comes to any of that.

I like the game, a lot, but the wonders and joys of exploration and discovery most certainly isn't the reason. You'll understand once you have played it for a lot more than just 40 hours.