No Man's Sky deserves mention as one of the few open world games I like. For the most part, I'm someone who prefers clear goals and story beats to progress towards. I tend to lose interest in large open worlds where you can do the same activities hundreds of times, as it quickly starts feeling pointless. But for some reason, No Man's Sky and its theme of pitting you against the vast open universe manages to overcome this, even though it really is a quintessential open world game. It has a story (with two different paths, even), but while it's suitable, it's a very sparse affair that mostly serves as a tutorial for game mechanics, and otherwise consists of a lot of "fly here, talk to this person, repeat" sequences. Completing the story is not really what the game is about, it's about making your own fun in an endless sprawling galaxy.

I was never aboard the hype train when this game was announced and I didn't experience the disappointing release myself, but the game's redemption arc is well-known by now, so I don't need to dwell on that. Many, many updates later (with no announcement in sight that they're done expanding, by the way), the game is now teeming with enough activities and events that it should have something for everyone, provided you like open world games. Because make no mistake, this is still a game where you'll be doing the same things over and over again with minor variations. For example, the first time you board a derelict freighter is cool -- the haunting atmosphere, the freezing cold of space, learning of the crew's fate through log messages. But the second time you do it, it's immediately obvious that it's the same event, just with the messages and the room layouts rearranged a bit and a new coat of paint on the enemies, which is not enough to keep things fresh. And, of course, in a galaxy with quintillions of planets, you're not getting any hand-crafted content beyond the basics. Every (regular) space station is the same, every partially buried ancient ruin is buried the same way, every crashed freighter has the same containers behind the same doors and only the loot differs. There is enough variety in flora, fauna and general atmosphere to give planets a bit of identity, but to some extent, if you've seen one deep-frozen iceball you've seen them all (if you can see anything at all through the storms), and if you're expecting a unique adventure every time you land somewhere you'll be disappointed.

The game has been accused of being miles wide and inches deep, and while that's not completely untrue, it's not completely fair either. Every so often you do come across some event, space anomaly or oddity on a planet surface that makes you sit up and take notice, and I think it's this, combined with the promise of exploring the great unknown however you please, that makes me accept the repetition in No Man's Sky where other games falter. The first time you take off from a planet's surface and launch yourself into space (which the game seamlessly handles, by the way) that realization that the whole universe is at your command and you could encounter anything is something magical. There are plenty of things to strive for if you like setting your own goals: perhaps you want to make the most pimped out base, colonize the most planets, bake the tastiest cake, catch the biggest fish, command the largest fleet of ships from your freighter, become a notorious pirate, build the largest fossil exhibit, or just make it to the center of the galaxy on your own power. The game forces you to do none of these things, but they're all things you can explore, and you can keep yourself plenty busy stacking goals and missions on top of each other. It's one of those games where you can zen out without having to devote your full attention to what's going on on screen (provided you're not in combat, of course), and whether that's a good or bad thing really depends on what you want from a game.

I was lucky enough to experience No Man's Sky on a free weekend, and I'd recommend "try before you buy" to anyone in this case. If the first few hours of the game can't command your attention long enough to keep playing, it's not likely you're going to find the experience as a whole satisfying. On the other hand, if you find yourself intrinsically motivated to push on and see what's next, the game will probably manage to throw enough variation your way that you're going to be playing a whole lot more. So my "recommended" is very much an "I enjoyed it, but make sure you know what you're getting".

At first, No Man's Sky was such a colossal mess that the memes about its failure were almost as infinite as the universe it promised. A launch so incomplete it was like buying a rocket and getting a rusty shopping cart instead. People tore it apart, then forgot about it. But, surprise! A couple of years and thousands of updates later, the universe has transformed into something surprisingly beautiful. Now you can soar over planets that are not only visually stunning but also full of life and activities. Sure, the “now it’s great” magic came a little too late, but at least now you can live the fantasy of being a space explorer without wondering what the hell went wrong in the first place. No doubt, what was once a cosmic disappointment is now an intergalactic masterpiece.

Juegazo total, desde que salió en 2016 me encanta, empecé jugándolo pirata y en una pc de muy bajos recursos, hoy en día con una buena pc y el juego comprado es una hermosa experiencia: explorar planetas, galaxias, construir casitas, decorarlas, adoptar mascotas, comprar y mejorar las naves, las multiherramientas...la música chill que tiene, los sonidos de ambientación, es hermoso, es un juego para sentarse y contemplar la belleza que tiene durante horas. Gracias Hello Games <3