There’s been a lot of talk about No Man’s Sky, a game that promised so much and managed to disappoint people so much there were demands for refunds, online abuse and now multiple court cases for false advertising.
It’s an example of expectations running wild and possibly over excited marketing vs a deliverable title. Although the game wasn’t exactly what I expected, I still got a lot out of it. But enough has been said on this by more qualified people than me. What I want to talk about is how this game made me feel, so that’s what I’ll do.
Standing next to my spaceship on top of a hill looking at a sun casting out over a nearby planet I felt alone and isolated on an almost deserted planet in an unexplored part of the universe. An explorer hoping from planet to planet just surviving on what I can scavenge. Feeling the excitement of discovering an ancient monolith and learning about this planets previous inhabitants, picking up words here and there of other fellow travellers and gaining a good reputation with them whilst on my journey which I sometimes wonder if it will ever end but in someways I don’t want it too.
In a game filled with so much repetition and grinding it’s the subtle things that add value and emotion. If you take a moment every now and again, stare up into the vast expanse above and remember you’re one little spec on one of 18,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets.
I’m not concerned with the lack of multiplayer, I think this game is better experienced as a lone wanderer, slowly discovering his or her purpose. Finding the beauty in exploration and discovery. Really feeling like you’re alone and being totally comfortable with it. Not knowing what will happen next and being ok with that.
I get that people felt let down by this game, but it comes back to expectations and if you’re not prepared to play the game the way the developers intended then you will miss the point.
Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? The answers to those questions are not what’s important, what’s important is being able to ask them.
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