Would i enjoy this game if i like Subnautica?

[Vepar]

I'm kinda looking for a game to scratch that itch, but haven't found it yet.
And yeah, i know, it's not the same, not expecting horror elements and leviathans stalking in the deep ocean, but as far as story, progression, base building - what are people's thoughts on that?

I know No Man's Sky got a ton of updates, and i haven't bee following the additions for quite some time now, so i have no idea how the game is now.

Any insight would be appreciated!

[Felis_Exploria]

Potentially. Like subnautica, there is a lot of resources gathering and base building. There is less of a storyline or end goal. I like subnautica, but found the frequent need for air or suit change distracting enough that I lose interest more quickly. There is less danger in NMS, except for the first few starts as you are learning the mechanics while dealing with mild survival challenges. NMS can become repetitious after 20 hours or so. At that point, personality and play style dictates whether it becomes annoying or ignored.

[maestro]

Subnautica was an awesome experience, and gameplay wise it is top-notch but where it fails is replayability.

It had a cool story, but once you know the story, once you know where everything is, the fact it's a hand-crafted world goes against it in the replayability factor.

Once you know where everything is, you can beeline straight to objectives, you can optimize where you go and when, there's no exploring to do and thus no reason to play after the first time you clear the game unless you're just looking to build a huge base or something.

NMS has proc-gen worlds, and has you going to many different worlds over the course of play. You also happen upon things early-game randomly that might change how you approach early-game and assuming you're not beelining for the best equipment ASAP, this can effect even Mid-game too.

Storywise, however, NMS suffers a bit. Story is there, but it's told in snippets that you have to be paying attention, and most lifeforms in the game speak using alien languages that you have to learn word-by-word so a huge chunk of the story is lost in a language barrier and you have to open up your journal to read through it periodically as you discover more of the alien language. Some players like this, others don't. I really wish NMS would let you do a New Game+ that lets you start with all the unlocked language anytime you start a new file, but eh. That's just me. /shrug

[Ozwald]

2 hour/2 week refund window. Find out for yourself.

[Vepar]

Originally posted by Felis_Exploria:

Potentially. Like subnautica, there is a lot of resources gathering and base building. There is less of a storyline or end goal. I like subnautica, but found the frequent need for air or suit change distracting enough that I lose interest more quickly. There is less danger in NMS, except for the first few starts as you are learning the mechanics while dealing with mild survival challenges. NMS can become repetitious after 20 hours or so. At that point, personality and play style dictates whether it becomes annoying or ignored.

Thanks! I mean, subnautica becomes a bit repetitive after a while too, but i liked the exploration, resource gathering and base building enough thati finished it twice lol.

Is there an end goal in NMS? Like a story you can complete?

Originally posted by Hykril Tynyx:

If you haven't seen this already:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2353250/Astrometica/

I did see that, thank you. :) I'm hyped for it, but i'm waiting for it to exit early access. I want to experience games fully, and i'm not sure how far into early access this game is already.
Base building art style is heavily inspired by subnatica lol.
It's on my wishlist.

Originally posted by maestro:

Subnautica was an awesome experience, and gameplay wise it is top-notch but where it fails is replayability.

It had a cool story, but once you know the story, once you know where everything is, the fact it's a hand-crafted world goes against it in the replayability factor.

Once you know where everything is, you can beeline straight to objectives, you can optimize where you go and when, there's no exploring to do and thus no reason to play after the first time you clear the game unless you're just looking to build a huge base or something.

NMS has proc-gen worlds, and has you going to many different worlds over the course of play. You also happen upon things early-game randomly that might change how you approach early-game and assuming you're not beelining for the best equipment ASAP, this can effect even Mid-game too.

Storywise, however, NMS suffers a bit. Story is there, but it's told in snippets that you have to be paying attention, and most lifeforms in the game speak using alien languages that you have to learn word-by-word so a huge chunk of the story is lost in a language barrier and you have to open up your journal to read through it periodically as you discover more of the alien language. Some players like this, others don't. I really wish NMS would let you do a New Game+ that lets you start with all the unlocked language anytime you start a new file, but eh. That's just me. /shrug

Yeah, subnautica's replayability is somewhoat lacking. I finished it a couple of times, but last playthrough i had to use mods cause of some QoL stuff and just adding things.

I know NMS is way bigger and random in comparison, that's a plus in my book.

As for story, as long as there is one i'm cool with it being told sparingly. Though, until i experience it first hand i guess i won't know for sure lol. I just need some end goal to work towards. Subnautica had curing yourself and leaving the planet, here i suspect there is something right?

Originally posted by Ozwald:

2 hour/2 week refund window. Find out for yourself.

Will i get a good idea in those 2 hours? That seems like not a lot for a game of this scope.

[wahl35]

Originally posted by Vepar:

Originally posted by Ozwald:

2 hour/2 week refund window. Find out for yourself.

Will i get a good idea in those 2 hours? That seems like not a lot for a game of this scope.

No you won't get a feell for it in two hours unless you abjectly hate it. That was an uneccessarily snarky post.

There is no "end goal". Once you finish the 2 main storylines and the new "quest" for purple stars, you are on your own. You free to explore and do whatever catches your fancy. It's an open ended sandbox

[CatPerson]

There's a main quest, although it's largely simple and in some ways a really long tutorial. It's a way to get some upgrades and stuff in a mission way vs. just buying them from one special/certain place. There's lore in the story but eh, does nothing for me.

There are group/guild missions, but most of those are of the simple fetch or do this task types. It's just a method to get certain things/supplies/currency etc. with less wandering unknown self exploration.

The MQ itself isn't something I enjoy/want to do over and over. In restarts you used to be able to ignore it if you wished, but with Worlds 2/purple systems, you can't really anymore. Edit: well technically you can, but not if you want access to all systems/planet types etc

For myself, this game scratches two itches: having one or two "main saves" that eventually have mostly everything, where I simply like checking out new planets or experimenting a bit. And also, restarting/new save, the early "struggle" and/or any self-challenges for early game I may think of - where after I reach a certain point I just delete the save to do it again.

I like the exploration and sandbox. I don't care about space combat, combat in general, or the missions.

[Vepar]

Originally posted by wahl35:

Originally posted by Vepar:

Will i get a good idea in those 2 hours? That seems like not a lot for a game of this scope.

No you won't get a feell for it in two hours unless you abjectly hate it. That was an uneccessarily snarky post.

There is no "end goal". Once you finish the 2 main storylines and the new "quest" for purple stars, you are on your own. You free to explore and do whatever catches your fancy. It's an open ended sandbox

Yeah, thought so, lol. :D There's no way to experience such a large game in such a short time.

But anyway, there IS a story to pursue, that's cool. In the meantime and after, i definitely like the casual "whatever catches your fancy" approach. :)

Originally posted by CatPerson:

There's a main quest, although it's largely simple and in some ways a really long tutorial. It's a way to get some upgrades and stuff in a mission way vs. just buying them from one special/certain place. There's lore in the story but eh, does nothing for me.

There are group/guild missions, but most of those are of the simple fetch or do this task types. It's just a method to get certain things/supplies/currency etc. with less wandering unknown self exploration.

The MQ itself isn't something I enjoy/want to do over and over. In restarts you used to be able to ignore it if you wished, but with Worlds 2/purple systems, you can't really anymore. Edit: well technically you can, but not if you want access to all systems/planet types etc

For myself, this game scratches two itches: having one or two "main saves" that eventually have mostly everything, where I simply like checking out new planets or experimenting a bit. And also, restarting/new save, the early "struggle" and/or any self-challenges for early game I may think of - where after I reach a certain point I just delete the save to do it again.

I like the exploration and sandbox. I don't care about space combat, combat in general, or the missions.

Cool! I'll look up a few more gameplay vids, but this does seem like something i might enjoy. Thanks for your input!

[Foxglovez]

Maybe watch Jason Plays or Captain Steve, a Brit full of enthusiasm. I think from your posts that you'd like NMS. It's now a pretty big game so a bit overwhelming at the beginning. There should be a half off Spring Sale soon so wait for that and jump in. The water's fine.

[maestro]

It's only overwhelming if you're not paying attention and/or skipping the Tutorial.

The game literally explains everything you need to know, but you need to

READ
THE
TIPS
AT
THE
BOTTOM
RIGHT
CORNER
OF
THE
SCREEN

I can't stress this enough. We get countless questions in this discussion forum. Don't get me wrong, I myself and others love helping out newbies, but when they are questions that the game answers with little popup messages in the bottom-right corner, it gets old after awhile because they would know the answer already if they just read the little tips (or hit Escape and read the information in the LOG tab).

The game literally tells you how to do pretty much everything. Some nuances are left unsaid, but generally, pretty much everything you need to know is explained.

[Vepar]

Originally posted by Foxglovez:

Maybe watch Jason Plays or Captain Steve, a Brit full of enthusiasm. I think from your posts that you'd like NMS. It's now a pretty big game so a bit overwhelming at the beginning. There should be a half off Spring Sale soon so wait for that and jump in. The water's fine.

Thanks i'll look those up and watch! :)
Yeah, a lot has happened since the game release.
And it's on sale now 60% so, i'll probably get it.

[Vepar]

Originally posted by maestro:

It's only overwhelming if you're not paying attention and/or skipping the Tutorial.

The game literally explains everything you need to know, but you need to

READ
THE
TIPS
AT
THE
BOTTOM
RIGHT
CORNER
OF
THE
SCREEN

I can't stress this enough. We get countless questions in this discussion forum. Don't get me wrong, I myself and others love helping out newbies, but when they are questions that the game answers with little popup messages in the bottom-right corner, it gets old after awhile because they would know the answer already if they just read the little tips (or hit Escape and read the information in the LOG tab).

The game literally tells you how to do pretty much everything. Some nuances are left unsaid, but generally, pretty much everything you need to know is explained.

Nice, thanks for the heads up! :)

[maestro]

Originally posted by Vepar:

Originally posted by Foxglovez:

Maybe watch Jason Plays or Captain Steve, a Brit full of enthusiasm. I think from your posts that you'd like NMS. It's now a pretty big game so a bit overwhelming at the beginning. There should be a half off Spring Sale soon so wait for that and jump in. The water's fine.

Thanks i'll look those up and watch! :)
Yeah, a lot has happened since the game release.
And it's on sale now 60% so, i'll probably get it.

Highly recommended you do, esp for 60% off!

That's an insane price for a game that has given me hundreds of hours of play.

Being a newbie means that everything in the game is new and you can explore with open minded wonder, but do keep in mind that it is a sandbox and sandboxes are usually "what you make of them".

I myself, I like starting a new save file every time a major update occurs. That's just my "thing" though I do keep a save that has the main story done for updates that have new stuff unlocked after the main story (the last couple were like this).

EDIT: Also keep in mind that major updates can be a bit shaky. Though the game looks like a Triple A, it's run by an AA studio and so it takes them a week or two to iron out the bugs in these huge mega-patches.

These updates are easily the size of most games' DLCs, but yet they are free additions to the game. So please be patient. I know it stinks when a major bug makes it difficult to progress or something, but they WILL fix it, just give em some time.

[Lystent]

After playing both games, I'd say it is easier to sink more time into NMS than Sub, but only if you have the patience to stick with NMS and all its little nuances.

[Darth Cervantes]

two completely different games, the only similarity is base building. Subnautica is intense and this game is laid back and chill. I like both games but I wouldn't group them together.

[Grimmslayer73]

You definitely should watch the tips/notifications closely but be warned.... they are easy to miss. Sometimes they get overwritten by the next tip before you can read it or you miss it while you're in awe at the scenery!