No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky is an adventure simulator with a first-person view set in a futuristic environment. You will embark on the exploration of outer space and planets, some of which may feature interaction with various forms of extraterrestrial life. You will be able to gather resources, fight in space in diverse, randomly generated areas of the galaxy, upgrade and improve your own ship, and complete missions for "bounty hunters".

No Man's Sky is an open-world sandbox with elements of an action-adventure game. Players must explore the vast game world while piloting a spaceship, but there are a couple of other gameplay opportunities. That's about it.

The events of No Man's Sky unfold in an alternative universe, consisting of 256 galaxies nested within each other like matryoshka dolls. To reach the next galaxy, you must get to the center of the current one.

There are 20 billion star systems and over 80 billion planets in the galaxy, and it takes hours of real time to travel from the edge (where the player appears) to the center. Movement within a system is done using a hyperdrive, and between systems — by means of a warp jump.

Because of this, No Man's Sky is the largest game created at the time of its release. Thanks to procedural generation, even the combined actions of all players will not allow for the complete exploration of the game world. The creators were inspired by the latest astronomical discoveries when generating stars and planets.

The story of No Man's Sky is completely independent of the world. The player finds themselves on an unexplored planet, after which the basics are taught — using technology to create items, searching for resources, interacting with the world, trading, and piloting a spaceship.

Some players start their journey on toxic planets and must survive for the first hours, clinging to life and gathering resources piece by piece, while others find themselves in a paradise surrounded by peaceful animals and rich resource deposits.

The story of No Man's Sky has been refined with each new expansion, and if you played after the release, it’s worth trying the game again — much has changed. For example, the character has learned to think (in the Next update of 2018), engage in dialogues, and insert their own thoughts, as well as attempt to interpret what an alien is saying if their language has not yet been learned.

The character has no backstory, and there is no significant influence of decisions made on the plot, like in Mass Effect. On the contrary, the story of No Man's Sky is about feelings and meanings, rather than decisions and epic pathos.

For about 30 hours, the writers lead the player to the thought that our universe is merely a computer simulation. In the game, the hero encounters characters who prompt them to consider the unreality of the No Man's Sky universe, which is actually created by some superintelligence (which the developers imply refers to themselves).

There are also side quests that may prove more challenging than the main quest and require an upgraded ship and character. Developers are constantly adding new missions and activities, and in 2018, it takes more than 50 hours to complete them.

At the time of release, No Man's Sky's gameplay was simple and focused on space flights and planet exploration, discovering and cataloging new species of plants and animals (like in Spore), completing basic quests, hunting, resource gathering, crafting items, and trading with NPCs.

With updates, new points of interest appeared in star systems — black holes, space anomalies, trading stations, as well as other players' bases. A number of gameplay activities became associated with mini-games and puzzles, for solving which players could receive valuable items or technology.

Friendly natives began to appear, capable of gifting missing technology or resources, as well as hostile ones, who preferred to eat the hero for breakfast. To fight them, players can use weapons of four types. Players can also dig through the ruins of destroyed civilizations, build up habitable worlds, or develop their fleet of ships.

The economy in No Man's Sky is simple — for example, searching for new forms of life brings in a small income, while a full exploration of a planet will yield a solid bonus. Alternatively, players can sell excess resources, organize expeditions, grow rare plants on a space farm, and so on.

All credits earned from quests can be spent on purchasing new technologies, rare resources, items, or ships. Each trader has their own assortment, so players need to think carefully — whether to buy now or fly across the galaxy if they need something later.

At the time of release, No Man's Sky offered an unusual network interaction — all names of planets and species discovered by players spread through the community, so players could encounter planets named "Butt" or "Front," and extremely "original" species names.

In subsequent updates, the game introduced a full cooperative multiplayer for four players. When synchronizing the world, players with their characters and starships appear in the same Universe and can explore the world together, complete specific types of quests, and trade resources.

In network mode, many game systems began to work rather than "pretend." For example, it became meaningful to develop bases and defend them, earn credits and gather resources, hunt each other (direct PvP between Travelers is allowed, but players can also just fly around and raid caravans), as well as visit each other via teleport across half the galaxy.