This article was originally published as an in-progress review without a score prior to the arrival of the 4.0 Waypoint update, which brought a raft of new features in the days after launch. It has now been updated with our impressions of Waypoint and awarded an overall score.
It's been a long old road for Hello Games' No Man's Sky. First revealed at the VGX Awards all the way back in 2013, the procedurally generated infinite space simulator finally released — riding an enormous wave of hype — in August of 2016. However, the PS4 and PC game we got our sweaty hands on was a far cry from what had been advertised and promised during a build-up to launch that could have made Peter Molyneux blush.
Yes, No Man's Sky was not the all-encompassing wonder we'd been led to believe it would be. It had the procedurally generated planets, the 'infinite' universe in which to play, but there was a real paucity of things to actually do in the months following its initial launch. It had some serious technical issues, too. It didn't run well on consoles at the time, procedurally generated aliens and environments were a bit duff and, as a result, the fury of what seemed like the entire internet was laser-focused on Sean Murray and the small team at Hello Games. It got nasty.
Fast forward to 2022 though, and there's possibly never been a bigger or better comeback story in the history of gaming. The No Man's Sky of today is a testament to an indie studio that point-blank refused to give up, that took the blows, admitted its mistakes, put its head down, cut comms, and concentrated on delivering — and it really did deliver. It ultimately delivered on every promise that had been made pre-release and it continued, and still continues, to deliver much more on top of that. What we've got now is a wondrous space exploration experience that lives up to the crazy pre-release hype, so excuse us if we've been getting pretty psyched about this one finally arriving on Switch.
Over the course of six years, numerous big updates have improved every aspect of what's on offer here. That dodgy procedural generation has been transformed, tweaked, and enhanced to ensure that the level of variety in planets, weather, local lifeforms, and fauna makes for a genuinely compelling exploration experience. It now feels as though you're travelling in a universe that's stuffed full of possibilities with regards to what you'll confront when you set your ship down on a planet. From weather, atmospheric hazards, and volatile plant/animal life, to jaw-dropping vistas and twisted alien environments, you just never know what you're in for when you open your ship's cockpit, and planets are now laden with gear and long-lost artefacts to discover and sell as you work to upgrade and improve every aspect of yourself and your trusty spaceship. The boring old gameplay loops of old are now a very distant memory indeed.
The opening tutorial section has been bolstered and improved and now provides a genuinely useful introduction to the game's core systems whilst also keeping you invested through some neat storytelling. There's base building, a revamped economy systems, character customisation, space combat, farming, alien settlements, procedurally generated missions, underwater exploration, ground vehicles, portals...the list really is long and all-encompassing. In short, No Man's Sky has become the game we all hoped it would be back in 2016, but one lingering question remains: Can Hello Games take all of this and jam it onto the Nintendo Switch in a playable state? We didn't dare believe but, as it turns out, they've only gone and done just that.
There may be visual sacrifices — par for the course on Switch by now — and, yes, it takes a little longer to load into initially. Multiplayer has yet to make the jump too, and that's not an aspect of the game we're gonna hold our breath on getting in the end, but these slight grievances aside, this is a No Man's Sky port that serves up an absolutely rock-solid experience, an eminently playable version of a game that you could potentially sink hundreds of hours into enjoying.
Even in the areas we might have expected and even accepted some frame rate drops here — launching off from planets or cranking our ship to warp speed to blast our way to a far-flung location — the game holds an almost perfect 30FPS. It's remarkable really, and it makes for a Switch conversion that, for us, sits right up top with the likes of The Witcher 3, Alien Isolation, and DOOM as one of the very best ports we've seen on the console thus far, something that just shouldn't work but absolutely does.
Of course, it's not all perfect. As we've mentioned above, there's a blurriness to the visuals in handheld mode (you can see it clearly in our screenshots) and pop-in is much more noticeable as you bound around planet surfaces. However, the graphical style of No Man's Sky — that bold, colourful, chunky aesthetic — means that none of this really matters as much as it could with another game. That slight blurriness never holds you back, everything is perfectly readable in the environments, and you can settle in and explore and scavenge and build to your heart's content without needing to stress over technical issues. What an accomplishment.
No Man's Sky is also a game that absolutely sings as a portable title; we already feel like this is gonna be our default way to play it going forward, a perfect experience for long sessions on the couch or short blasts whilst travelling. None of the sacrifices that have been made by Hello Games to get this one running well encroach upon your enjoyment of the experience, and it all still looks pretty fantastic, even with the visuals dialled down to their most basic settings.
With the arrival of the huge Waypoint Update, we've got near-total parity in terms of features — multiplayer aside, of course — with all other platforms too, and the 4.02 version of the game we tested brings a raft of fundamental changes that make for a much more streamlined and intuitive experience in terms of inventory management and mission tracking. OK, some of this may sound a little dry, but the changes really do make for a game that's much easier to comprehend and navigate. It's been a long road getting from there to here, and new players will never know any different, but NMS veterans who have been on that journey with the developers will be all the more impressed.
You've got a new level cap, improved autosaving, detailed entries for discoveries, breakdowns of available missions and what they entail, illustrated references for all flora and fauna, and skill trees where you can go get a handle on what tech you currently own and what's out there to work towards next. You can track accomplishments, which are now clearly detailed in the game's menus, and an inventory redesign and upgrading of storage capacities help make for a smoother time all around.
There's also a new "relaxed" mode for those who wish to explore and craft without the pressures of the default survival gameplay, and there are now a ton of tweakable elements in the game's settings for you to play with in order to create your own totally customised experience. Want to tweak how much fuel your ship needs? You can. Set enemy strength or crafting costs? Go for it. There's barely a single aspect of the core gameplay that can't now be set to your preferred level of difficulty, be that high or low.
In short, this is No Man's Sky in the best shape it's ever been, and it's all here on Switch in a port we genuinely didn't believe Hello Games could deliver in such solid form. If you're already playing this one on another console, this is a version that's still worth looking into as a delightful way to enjoy endless space exploration in a portable form factor. If you've yet to experience the joys of this infinite intergalactic survival sandbox, well, you're in for an almighty treat.
Conclusion
No Man's Sky on Switch is a fantastic port of a game we genuinely didn't really believe would make the transition to Nintendo's console without some serious technical issues. Hello Games has made the necessary cutbacks and downgrades to get this intergalactic survival sandbox playing at a super solid frame rate and the colourful, chunky graphical style here ensures that it all still looks pretty fantastic to boot. With all of the game's previous updates and content included — barring multiplayer at this point — and a plethora of customisation options courtesy of the massive Waypoint update, this is an easy recommendation for survival fans and one of the most impressive ports we've seen on Switch to date.
Comments 135
I know it's been said to death at this point but still: what a comeback story. Survival games like NMS don't interest me personally but I'm glad that this port is a rock-solid conversion all the same
It’s great I already played for 5 hours. Still a long way to go to get to my 530 hours on PlayStation 🙃 But why is the new update bot released yet. Nintendo hurry up!
Well let’s see what other reviewers say who didn’t get an exclusive first look. I’ll never understand how this site had the most time with Mario strikers yet managed to give it the best review. Surely the exclusive first look had nothing to do with it.
I’ll pick it up in a sale at some point in the future. 🚀
This is a game I have wanted to play since I first saw the trailer. It's nice to see Hello Games have their act together with the Switch release.
I’ve played it for a few hours. The frame rate is good and so are the visuals. There is a bit too much pop-in but overall I’m happy.
This is a fantastic port on Switch. As I said in the other NMS story, the graphics can be a bit all over the place (some textures look really good, while others can be muddy or flat looking), the bells and whistles graphical things like fog/lighting/shadows are all there (if paired back some), and the pop-in is there (but I'm such an old school gamer that unless its popping up right in my face, I don't even notice anymore), but the gameplay is just purely wonderful. I've put in 5-6 hours so far, still have yet to find the Anomaly, and its been a joy of a ride up till now. This game truly does feel like a universe in your pocket!
Could anyone tell me if this game is 'hard' with its difficulty and survival elements?
I usually play quite cosy games so I'm not sure if it's for me or not.
There's a relaxed mode incoming soon, but what that is exactly i don't know.
@Nanami_Ataraxi there are several modes to choose from including a creative mode, normal and survival so you can chill if you don't fancy being tested with survival stuff.
The price is making me apprehensive.
@PJOReilly okay then that's brilliant
I saw you said about the casual mode to come as well but I didn't know if it would lose the integrity of the game that way, so it's good to see there are lots of options
Having played the PC version from launch, I was already familiar with the basics, so I didn't have much of a learning curve to deal with. But I gotta say, besides the surprising quality of the port, the thing I am most happy with is how they mapped the controls. Controls feel intuitive to me, having an idea how the menus etc are laid out. I've only got a short time so far, just built my first base computer and shelter but I can't really see anything that would cause rage quit. Multiplayer is a non-factor for me, since I never played it anyways...
@Nanami_Ataraxi if you play it on normal mode, it's quite chill. I prefer exploration, so if I run into the rare hostiles, I just run away.
@agrazioli
That's wonderful, this might be right up my street then.
I mean I do play MH and Japanese ARPG's but I tend to stay away from anything that would woop my butt to hard.
But the crafting/exploration/farming and player progression that PJ described seemed right up my street but getting powned by enemies and losing all my stuff every five minutes doesn't gel with me. But this seems like a nice balance.
Another to add to the payday list it seems.
With this, NL's hands-on, and SwitchUp's review, looks like the "problems" (if we can call them that) aren't serious ones.
Some pop-in, the occasional stutter, long initial load times, and downgraded visuals? I've been playing games on potato PCs for years. Compared to what I've been through back then, this version of NMS is perfection.
Here's hoping the upcoming update improves the game further so I can finally decide to grab a physical copy.
@calbeau It's genuinely really impressive. I haven't even had any noticeable stutter yet in almost 13hrs of play. Amazing port.
Lots of impossible ports lately.
Is multiplayer actually planned for the Switch version of this game, though? I got the impression it just wasn't going to feature in this particular port.
This is a weird situation for me. I love that it's on switch and doing well. I love playing whatever I can on the switch, but. . .
I'm not sure I could enjoy this the same outside of vr. The universe is so all encompassing in vr. This is literally my go to experience for the wonders of vr, and going away from that for this game seems like a downgrade I can't personally get behind.
I’ve had my eye on this since launch, hoping it would be a modern “Elite”. I’m so in the mood for this type of game right now, settle into the autumn and winter with an epic exploration title.
This write up is so reassuring. The issues presented don’t bother me, and sounds like an amazing game to pick up before an upcoming vacation.
This game is a game I come back to every know and then whenever ai don’t have much to play, it’s just sheer fun!
Man, how this game grew, crazy.
cant believe its on switch never mind how good the port is amazing job. will get it next month as flying to new york tomorrow
Awesome to hear PJ’s positive pre-review for this game! It’ll be gratifying when my pre-order finally arrives.
Pop-in can be a distraction but usually not a game breaker for me.
Can anyone tell me how the pop-in in NMS compares to that in Subnautica? That’s probably the most similar game experience I’ve had on Switch.
Good to see it runs so well. Was torn between this and NieR and it won with it's $40 price point. Future sale pickup for me though.
Is there cross-save compatibility between Xbox and NSW?
@SteamEngenius going get both next month as cant choose between
It arrived this morning and blimey it's impressive. It put me on an ice planet during late evening. The planet's ring system filled the starry sky, with the occassional shooting star streaking accross it. Honestly, it' was a beautiful first impression of the game. Glad I;'m not in my college years lol. 'Reckon there's any intelligent life out there?' 'Who cares.'
The Switch is the only console where you can downgrade an experience and then charge more money for it.
Went to bed last night and dreamed I could not find copper. 10/10.
@IronMan30 the price is actually quite good for the quantity and quality you are getting
@Nanami_Ataraxi this game has 4 modes and one is a creative mode where you would not need to put a lot of effort in “surviving”.
I’ve played this on PS4/PS5 and PC. Had the game since the original release. I think this review it pretty fair except the multiplayer part. Not every game needs multiplayer and I personally haven’t ever used the multiplayer aspect of this game. Aside from that, this game runs well and does not feel compromised on quality. The only real “con” I could say for this is just the initial load time. Other than that, it’s great!
I wouldn't say the lack of multiplayer is a con, I for one will probably not use it and won't miss it
@SteamEngenius Me too. I took the plunge and bought NMS. Nier will have to wait until next pay day 😊
@NinjaNicky
Many first party Nintendo games look better than No Man's Sky on Switch.
I agree about Game Freaks efforts though. Funnily enough the Let's Go games were their first on the system and are still easily the best looking Pokemon games on Switch.
It runs really well what i'm quite shocked by and yeah playing this handheld is a dream come true. That said anyone coming from the other versions can see how much they had to cut or downgrade, i get why they had to do it but its one of the biggest downgrade ports i've seen on the Switch, even TW3 had less cutback. Overall though the magic is intact and while the PS5 will always be my main version it is great being able to spends hours having Its Always Sunny on in the background while i'm making bases and exploring planets on my Switch.
Shame the Waypoint Update has yet to drop for Switch versions though.
@Fizza Just to point out the Waypoint Update dropping anytime soon for Switch will allow you to tailor every aspect of the game to your needs, you can completely switch off the survival stuff if you want or have it on but low enough where its no issue but still adds a small amount of challenge now and then. You can play the game now anyway you want.
@Nanami_Ataraxi The new Waypoint Update already out on the other versions due on the Switch anytime soon adds some modes what will suit you perfectly. You have Relaxed Mode, its basically easy mode where everything from Normal Mode is there but stripped back, its designed to make everything far easier and less grindy but not be full on God mode that Creative Mode is. Finally there's Custom Mode, that allows you alter and change every aspect of the game to suit your needs, its pretty in depth and gives you full control over how you want the game to be for you.
@antisumo true, it seems like there is a lot to do in this game. It's just less than ideal since it's cheaper on other systems.
Edit: turns out they raised the price for new buyers on XSX.
As soon as I finish Automata, this is next. Sounds like a grand game.
Definitely interested to get this for relax mode….
It's almost like the narrative that these games were not capable of running on the Switch was a load of BS. It's almost like all that was needed was developers good at their jobs. It's almost like these ports were never impossible. 😳
not on my priority list maybe way down in the future..
@WallyWest
What about asteroid fields how do they look ?
@NinjaNicky because the fans keep supporting it. Why bother putting in the time and resources?
@aresius Haven't really come across them yet and have only like a few floating around, i get the impression the update what added 100's and 100's of them at once to space doesn't apply here and i have a feeling its even more stripped back from what we had prior to that update.
@WallyWest
What a pity, they were important for mining i guess, well we can’t have anything
@eaglebob345 the Switch is capable of a lot more than people thought (Doom 2016 and Witcher 3 showed that very early on). Also shows that the Wii U was probably also cable of similar feats if the success was there (the Wii U and Switch are very comparable power wise). But, I'm so happy for the Switch that the support has been there and makes me extremely giddy at what the Switch 2 will be able to do!! Optimization has always and will always be king for dedicated hardware!
Another banger port on Switch, you love to see it. Definitely buying this later down the road.
Of course, there have been sacrifices — it's not perfect. There's a blurriness to the visuals in handheld mode — you can see it clearly in our screenshots — and pop-in is much more noticeable as you bound around planet surfaces.
This right here is why we need a Super Switch in 2023 for that very reason. And why people would complain it doesn't doesn't need not to look any further reasons why.
@WallyWest
Thanks so much for your comment
This and the other ones I've read have really solidified me getting this game now!
Definitely didn't want to go all creative because I'm not a creative person at all XD
But this mode looks like it makes it more accessible whilst still Keeping what makes the game great ^-^
@aresius Its worth noting i've barely been in space. Once i left the starting planet i quickly found a Paradise Planet in the next system and have since stayed there exploring and building an underwater base. It could be the astroid stuff isn't as cutback as i thought.
@Nanami_Ataraxi Yeah as i said the custom mode makes it so anyone can play it the way they want. For instance want the danger of pirate ships and dangerous planets but no grind? Simple you set the danger levels of those things to medium or max and then set the cost of buying and crafting to low or just straight up free, that's just a small example but its pretty cool. Hopefully the new update just drops soon as its tailored made for new players.
I know it's not perfect, but here it is, on the Switch. I can still remember people vehemently stating it would either never come to Switch or, it wasn't possible to be on Switch. I have a passion for all things space related, but damn if I have the time to play this. Never say never, I may just find a way.
@WallyWest
It could be
I hope this gets cross play and cross save/progression support. I have this game on PC and would love to transfer progress back and forth. Many developers have implemented these features into Switch games.
@Wexter I too am excited for what Nintendo does next. Hopefully it receives support from the start, rather than Nintendo having to go it alone with a few key friends again.
I tired to play on PC with friends. The opening is very stressful and I gave up after about 10 minutes.
I am very grateful to Hello Games who pulled this off, but after playing around 300 switch games, I am not sure if I am willing to tolerate this much of visual downgrade due to Switch hardware. I think I am at the point of being fine with playing some games on pc only, especially open world games which in my opinion should be visually pleasing. Whats the point in spending hours running around a world thats ugly version of something that could literally look ten times better elsewhere. I know this could be said about every other game thats available on other hardware, but it really hurts when its this genre which is about exploration.
i havn't played it but these screenshots and a couple performance reviews really don't look nice at all. it looks too muddy to be immersed in the world
@Justaguest totally agree. i felt the same about The Outer Worlds switch port. it's just too muddy. it breaks immersion when pop-in occurs everytime you turn around and the graphics are just barely maintaining legibility. i don't understand how these reviewers keep saying things like "it's far from unplayable", like sure it's playable, but is it Enjoyable? i guess they're not actually playing most of these games to completion. or the fact they got to interview the devs softened their critical thinking skills
Insane that they managed to get this running so well on the Switch ...Very impressive. I've played it on PS5 myself and was blown away that it runs so well on there, and now it's on Switch. Quite the achievement. What a journey this game has been on, truly a legendary redemption story IMO.
@KIRO That's exactly the vibe right now. I've put a good many hours into the game but shied away from its base-building, combat and more hardcore survival systems. I'm quite eager to start from scratch in relaxed mode because it sounds like exactly the experience I've been trying to have without needing to dodge the bits that don't interest me.
@Felixfromdownunder What the screenshots don't show is how solid an experience the game is otherwise. I'd play an 8-bit version if I had to. Visuals have never been NMS's strong suit, but it's nice to see how good they've gotten over on the PS5. A mildly compromised Switch version I'd reckon is well worth the price of entry, especially if you get to take the whole experience on the go.
I was afraid of this. Was hoping we’d read a little about the game and how it works and what you do in it. Instead it’s just about how it’s been updated and how it runs.
Has anyone ever made a thorough review of the game post all these updates that talks about it from a fresh perspective?
@nofriendo Good to know! Thanks. I don't mind a bit of FPS stuff but life is kicking my butt enough, I need to chillllllll.......
@PJOReilly Nice! What I hear from this port just keeps getting better and better.
@nofriendo alright fair enough, if the core gameplay loop really is just that good then yea power to the players and all that. To me all the marketing makes it out to be an experience about exploration, but if the world looks like an oil painting to me that's just not worth exploring
What is up with October? Bayonetta 3 and three decent ports (Persona 5, No Mans Sky, Nier) that I absolutely wanted to play but simply didn’t want new hardware. To clarify, not trying to fanboy. The kids love the Switch and I find it fantastic to take to another TV in the bedroom or play some portable when I get the chance. I realize at some point Elden Ring and Spider-Man will sway a upgrade, but happy for these “impossible “ports.
@Seacor Don't think cross save will ever be possible with Switch versions. The Switch version lacks Settlements and with that it lacks all the items and mission rewards from it, a PC save with that stuff could break the game if it was transfered to Switch. Also to my understanding the Switch version has its own universe while PS, Xbox and PC all share the same one so again cross save with Switch would be very hard or impossible to do.
@WallyWest Hopefully, if and when they bring multiplayer and settlements to the Switch version they can do this. Unfortunately, I am holding out purchasing the Switch version as I don’t want to deal with separate progression on the Switch and PC.
Noticeable blurriness in handheld mode - No buy.
Been having a blast with the game on OLED handheld today. Stable and looks as good as you would expect for a Switch port.
Shame there is no talk of a Samus ship and suit for Switch. Missed opportunity.
@Moistnado I do hope Metroid Prime 4 has some element of No Man's Sky. Samus tracking down bounties accross a galaxy would make for some ace side quests.
I’m so excited for this!
Some of you are the reason we can't have nice things. Instead of being happy that the dev ported the game well to the Switch, which is an achievement in its own right, you complain and refuse to buy. Then you'll wonder why other developers don't bother or simply do cloud versions. I agree that some games like The Outter Worlds didn't deserve a buy, at first. But they got it together and the game was better for it. This game looks amazing on the Switch.
@Nanami_Ataraxi Once you reach a certain point and upgrade your suit it's less of a problem. If you don't explore planets enough you may have to just buy the materials you need for crafting and building.
It's quite blurry in handheld mode, with lot's of pop in, sometimes the visuals verge on broken, with 5-10 second gaps for items to spawn in around my base. To be honest, it didn't run that great on my PS4, so I'm OK with the downgrade to play portable and the colours look nice on the OLED. I'm sure I'm going to play the game more when I can just pick it up on my Switch. I think they've done the best they can with it, don't regret my purchase (I had the game at launch on PS4 back in the day).
@Arawn93 And it's just a really nice and chilled game to play in portable innit. I can see myself spending a lot more time with NMS because of this port.
@SonOfDracula Its £40 on Switch though, its not full price.
@5th313ment Most of the comments have been positive though.
@5th313ment did outer worlds get patched again?
@GrailUK ahh yes, I agree. I would love for Prime 4 to have a usable ship.
Serious Nintendo you suck big time. Still no 4.0 release. Nintendo gamers are the last as usual.
Been curious about this game for some time, but not curious enough to buy it for PS4 and be tethered to my TV. The idea of playing it handheld is compelling and I may just go ahead and bite the bullet this time...
Bought this at launch on PS4 and sold it within a week, as did everyone else I know who bought it at launch. I really admire the way they've stuck with it and completely turned it around and if I'd never played it before I would play it again, I just don't want to risk not liking it again, even with everything they've fixed and changed. It felt like a £15.00 indie game at best at launch.
Come on, still no 4.0 update on Switch? Seriously, Nintendo WTF??
Spent 20 hours in this game over the weekend. I've not been so engrossed in a game since Animal Crossing came out!
I wish it had multiplayer tho. Me and my friend are playing alongside each other talking and exploring the crafting system and game mechanics together. It would really lift the game to the next level if we could travel together as well.
But for real, this is probably my Game of the Year and I did not expect that.
@Gardhul Wow, I didn't know Nintendo made this game?
@WiltonRoots Nintendo has to approve the update, and is its fault if we were waiting endlessly. Anyway, is online now in Europe.
@Gardhul Ahhh gotcha. Only 3 days later.
Well, this seems like a sure-buy now.
So what’s still missing now, multiplayer and?
Are Alien settlements there now or still MIA for example
I got this on pc years ago. However I only play my switch these days and strictly got this to play while I’m stoned laying in bed. Started last night. Stopped when I got my base set up with my doors exiting to a wonderful vista of the planet I’m ons rings. Playing on relaxed mode is a nice experience, got swarmed by some drones too didn’t know what they were at first till I popped one 😂 definitely recommend if that’s your thing. Pop in is real but who cares the visuals are still impressive in handheld. I do have an oled though.
@Draxa to add on to my comment. For those worries about the visuals. They are not that bad to be quite fair, especially in handheld mode with the smaller screen. I’d imagine though playing docked on a bigger screen might mud them out a bit more but I haven’t tested that yet. Looks a lot better than some other ports/titles. For example makes MK11 look like an absolute pile of ***** (yes I know it’s a completely different genre but that’s a massive developer in comparison). And the visuals are a lot clearer than that of that other space game the one with the toys and the star Fox content. Can’t remember the name but I couldn’t get through it due to the blur all over it 👍
@Draxa one more opinion to leave you with. My starting planet was a toxic planet with floating crab and lobster/nautilus creatures floating around swimming in the air that you could zap to get materials. What more do you need? Especially when partaking in the devils lettuce, you answered correctly. Absolutely nothing 😂
Warms my cold heart seeing NMS get a 9/10.
@Draxa final thoughts. If you, like myself, are practitioners of the herbal remedy, and have been on the fence with this purchase such as I was. Just go buy it. Draxa graciously accepts your thanks in advance.
Own this on PlayStation but will buy again just so I can play at work on those long night shifts.
@Draxa your last comment just sold the game to me I’ve been on the fence but something chilled with some exploration sounds great 👍🏻
Picked this up after initially not "getting" the game on Xbox in 2018, and this version is such a pleasure to play. It finally makes sense and holds your hand enough to make it enjoyable rather than frustrating. Graphically, yes, it isn't going to be PS5 levels of clarity, but on my Switch Lite (and even OLED) it looks great. I'm so impressed that they've managed to cram this into 3.5GB on the Switch. Absolute magic.
It plays like Starlink: Battle for Atlas and is graphically similar. If you like the premise, just go and buy it.
@Gs69 for sure, just pick the mode that suits you my friend. Relaxed mode is chill 👍
Re-read the review and happy to see the great score, but it’s just making the wait for my preorder that much longer! Had I the funds (or lack of conscience) I would just double-dip and get it digitally now, then GameStop can take their sweet time. It’s like they don’t even stock 1-2 store copies of new releases, and then they mess up my preorders half the time too! I’m still waiting for my copy of Pac-Man World! 😡
That company is putting itself out of business.
@Teksetter I’ve noticed that with new releases myself at the good old GameStop. I got the last physical copy of this at my store yesterday. Happened with fe three hopes too they were gone so I had to get that digital. Whack is what I say 🤷♂️
I literally ran out of fuel in the middle of space in my last playthrough 😅...really looking forward to the New Relaxed mode
I remember all the drama around the first release years ago. Hate to say it's tainted my perception of the game, but perhaps some day, on the cheap and when I have more time, I might give this a go.
Games like this have always interested me, but never quite enough that I wanted to jump in, so to speak. I'm glad the Switch port is solid.
Am I the only one finding that texture details rarely render at 100%?
It’s a great game so far. Actually, I would put this right up there with Animal Crossing for those who like “cozy games” if you played in creative mode or “very chilled” settings.
@graviton yea I’m not sure if they do. I have played on pc with max settings before and honestly I am still impressed with how well it does in handheld mode, so much so that I’m not even upset about it. Flying in space still looks dope as well. Honestly I feel like the overall aesthetic kind of reminds me of 60’s Star Trek vibes on my pops old table tv, so the rendering issues if I even notice them don’t really bother me that much 🤷♂️ Kirk out o7 😂
@Draxa The textures don’t bother me really. It just shocks me once in a while when I get to see the full textures pop up. Handheld has been a great experience. I do feel like I am playing Star Trek jumping from one system to another. I have quite a collection of exotic companions now. I wish there will be cross-saves at some point. These are the few times I really can see how a Switch 2/pro can further enhance a really good game.
Online multiplayer will probably come via an update similar to Doom. It's likely Hello Games is focusing on optimizing the main game to work on Switch first.
@graviton for sure! Enjoy my friend 👍
This is going to be my christmas present this year hehehe, looks awesome, and I always wanted to play a space exploration simulator done right!
I will be grabbing this when it hits a sale. Got so many games to get for Switch, in October alone!
The Waypoint update is great. I've kept most of the settings but let my ship not need refulling and toned down the amount of farming needed to recharge stuff (I haven't turned it off completely as I reckon it's a good incentive for staying on planets for a bit.)
I own this game on both NSW and PC. I bought them at the same time because of the nintendo switch release. On Stream, I placed it in my wanted list and the next day I could buy it for 50% off (€27). On switch, I traded in two games and added some cash.
The intro on NSW and PC is quite te same. Of course I got other starter planets, but the tutorial and all that is equal.
I must say that when I compare my NSW to my laptop ( with 4k screen), the visuals on NSW (lite, handheld) are quite the same. The pop in on NSW is higher, but it’s also there on my laptop. The controls on NSW are much better imo.
I am very pleased with the game so far. On both platforms the visuals are stunning and there is just so much to explore. I also like to play it on two platforms, so I can compare.
For all those who leave the game in the first hour: Dying at start is normal, as you almost have no equipment and you do not have a clue what to do. Read the tutorial advise carefully, die a few times and stick to the game. After a couple of hours, you get the hang of it and you will hardly ever die. Also, when at first you do not have the scanner, search for the yellow plants to survive, it’s easy to find them in the dark as the are bright yellow.
Good luck with the game, I hope you’ll have as much fun with the game as I do!
@NinjaNicky Because effort.
@Nanami_Ataraxi You can adapt it completely to suit you, and it has a Relaxed mode and a Creative mode.
@Ralizah IIRC the devs said that multiplayer will not come to the Switch. Do you know if the playerbase in general use multiplayer in this game?
Really looking forward to this after Nier, P5R, Splatoon 3 I will buy NMS. No more extra funds and time right now but I am pleased with all these great releases. I will never run out of games to play! 😂
I doubt anyone is reading this far down the comments but…..there is an issue in this game, for me at least. I fired it up in my OLED in handheld and….wow that text is tiny! It’s basically unreadable and I’m wearing my reading glasses. Kind of spoils it for me as I wanted to relax and get into the lore and descriptions. So this May by docked only for me….I had the same issue with The Witcher.
Anyone else finding it crashes? I’ve had 2 crashes in about 8 hours of play
@S83
Are you using an old save after the waypoint upgrade? Some have trouble with old save file
To add onto my previous comments after about a week with the game I have some updates! Still loving it but two minor inconveniences you should be aware of that might affect your gameplay. There are no Nexus missions as of yet which is the main source of quicksilver to make cosmetic purchases at the anomaly. For example I have about 11 1/2 hours of gameplay and only 300 quicksilver. If we had access to the Nexus missions I could be close to 2k. My son just started playing after myself on his Xbox and he has over 3k quicksilver. You can still get it by various means but the quantities are minimal which is unfortunate to say the least. Hopefully they patch it in later. Another minor grievance is where’s my third person ship view 😂 all good though. I saw my son flying in third person I was like that’s dope but hey what can you do. Hopefully patches incoming, still a great time though. Enjoy!
@Octane_st1m I played this on pc years ago and never saw a soul I don’t mind not playing with randoms which doesn’t bother me. My son started getting into it on gamepass after he saw me playing on switch and there are so many people in his area it’s insane. The planet his base is on right now has like 12 other players bases on it. That was unheard of when it initially came out as far as I know 😂
@Draxa The third person ship view is there on the Switch version too, and it works fine. When flying the ship, you can change into third person from the same menu where you switch between first and third person while walking.
@Polvasti awesome thanks!
No one else mentioned it, but I just wanted to say that if you intended to make a Star Trek: Enterprise reference with "It's been a long road getting from there to here", I picked up what you put down. Cheers!
@IvoA1975 you should see what it looks like on my OLED… it’s better handheld than on my TV 😂LOL😂
I’m having trouble with my quicksilver missions though. They aren’t showing up at the kiosk in the anomaly. I only own No Man’s Sky on my switch, and The only reason I know No Man’s Sky is because I wondered what it was. Thankfully one of my friends had it on Xbox and here I am. So, am I doing anything wrong? Is there something I need to do before I get the quicksilver missions?
Sorry for the LOOOONG comment but I have to say this and get it off my chest.
Ever since I first heard about No Man’s Sky back in 2016, I always thought it was too ambitious for its claims.
A game so big, it can last forever? Really?
I never had a PlayStation 4, an Xbox One or a powerful enough PC, I still had my PlayStation 3 Slim so never had a chance to play it the first time around.
Six years later, it releases on Switch and due to me still being interested, I bought it and after putting in the game card, downloading the update and playing it for a few hours, I have got to admit I am mightily impressed.
(As a sidenote, I do not care about how it looks and plays compared to other consoles’ versions, as I’m happy with how it performs on the Switch.)
This game is exactly what I wanted The Outer Worlds, my current favourite Switch game, to be.
I remember looking up in the sky in The Outer Worlds, seeing planets and moons and wishing I could get there.
That wonderment never left when I was on Raxas, the planet you start on in No Man’s Sky because now, I can!
In The Outer Worlds, I wish the player could’ve actually travelled between planets instead of warp-speeding to them, which was really a loading screen.
In No Man’s Sky, you actually see destinations getting closer and closer as you approach them and land on them with no loading screens in sight.
Blasting around space, planet to planet finding new species of plants, animals and even intelligent alien creatures is very relaxing for me and what I love about the travelling is that it can take ages if you don’t hyperdrive boost. I’m aware it takes ages but I never hyperdrive to any place unless it is in another galaxy; Standard Boost all the way for me because I love the journey.
And before any of that, you need to make sure your spaceship has enough fuel.
Finding enough resource to charge up your suit after it has taken damage or the mad dash to shelter when there is harmful rainfall is always nerve-wracking.
I never started on permadeath difficulty but I can understand why others would. To make the adventure/journey as real as possible is appealing but to me, gameplay-wise, I’d hate to have to start all over again with the progress I’ve made and the hours I’ve put in.
The only negatives are that I wish there were more English-speaking characters. I had hoped for some Dr Who style automatic translator. Maybe there is one out there yet to be discovered. And yes, I know it’s space but learning one word per alien is going to take a very long time to master any of the various languages.
But then, that’s the point: to take my own time and explore at my own leisure. There’s no way I’ll truly complete this game.
This leads to my second negative, that is, I’ll never truly complete this game due to its size.
The Outer Worlds, while a good size, was manageable and of course had various endings. I completed it and its DLC but am still wanting for more.
With No Man’s Sky, I can feel overwhelmed and completely spoilt for choice.
I think I’d settle for a mix of both games; the action role-playing of The Outer Worlds but a slightly larger galaxy map size and the actual space travel, exploration and resource-gathering of No Man’s Sky.
@WaltherP99 I don't want to spoil anything for you but there is actually translator technology!
@Manxman64 Spolit but I'm not bothered at all.
I was hoping for something like this.
I might have to Google on where to find it...
@PJOReilly Has Multiplayer been added to the Switch version yet?
@FatWormBlowsASparky that's the way to do it. That's what I just did and I'm having a great time so far. I'm even playing it on a Switch Lite and it runs well and looks impressive. Ever since playing Xenoblade Chronicles on my 3ds I will never get tired of seeing games of such scale running on what is some pretty underpowered portable hardware.
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