Yeah, I am that guy (apparently not the only one by any measure) that thought NMS was "better" at launch - but only because it was more honest. I think Hello Games were beaten into submission by a general audience that wouldn't have ever played the sort of game NMS would be if it was advertised correctly, and even then, I'm not sure if it even would have worked out.
I at least want to acknowledge that it's a great thing when developers can recover from failure without collapsing under the infinitely-hostile weight of the internet. Hello Games buckled down despite nigh-constant vitriol and managed to probably save their careers in the process. It's an admirable thing, but it doesn't excuse the game on its own.
See, I only marginally enjoy resource-grinder base-builders the likes of which NMS now rests alongside. I find that they survive off of the "promise" you make to yourself right at the start, that you totally could make something badass and enormous given enough commitment- and very rarely ever do, as the systems become cumbersome and you realize that there isn't much point in building an epic gigabase in a game you hate playing. NMS offers the appeal of having Your Own Planet to build on, with endless possibilities for surrounding terrain and architectural context, but that doesn't change much - especially with how limiting the systems themselves are. Resource gathering is grindy and unrewarding in much the same way it is in other, similar games.
When NMS adopted this ethos, it was doubly baffling because the core appeal of the game (to me!) was disjointed wandering. I don't want to be bolted down, I don't want to seek resources to continue, I want to fly through a bazillion retro sci-fi book covers, shoot at some stuff and listen to breezy electronic post-rock. It should be evident that the scrutiny of settling down will kinda murder the illusion of an endless cosmos once you start to see the patterns for what they are.
That's the real issue, then - it was always a bit too optimistic to think this terrain engine could produce infinitely-many unique and involving locations. The idea that I conjured up for what NMS ought to be when I was watching the earlier trailers was a foggy, impossible game that even I didn't understand why I'd like beyond audiovisual satisfaction. I've had moments with this game that felt fun, exploratory, and evoked the right kind of starry-eyed excitement, but that always comes with a timer - how long until you've seen it all? For launch NMS, it was a short and middling experience, with some highs that were quickly stomped out by awkward mechanics. Visual updates have moved that finish line a bit further down, and mechanical updates have subsequently mired it in a lump of mostly-dull dead-ends that do little to motivate.
I at least want to acknowledge that it's a great thing when developers can recover from failure without collapsing under the infinitely-hostile weight of the internet. Hello Games buckled down despite nigh-constant vitriol and managed to probably save their careers in the process. It's an admirable thing, but it doesn't excuse the game on its own.
See, I only marginally enjoy resource-grinder base-builders the likes of which NMS now rests alongside. I find that they survive off of the "promise" you make to yourself right at the start, that you totally could make something badass and enormous given enough commitment- and very rarely ever do, as the systems become cumbersome and you realize that there isn't much point in building an epic gigabase in a game you hate playing. NMS offers the appeal of having Your Own Planet to build on, with endless possibilities for surrounding terrain and architectural context, but that doesn't change much - especially with how limiting the systems themselves are. Resource gathering is grindy and unrewarding in much the same way it is in other, similar games.
When NMS adopted this ethos, it was doubly baffling because the core appeal of the game (to me!) was disjointed wandering. I don't want to be bolted down, I don't want to seek resources to continue, I want to fly through a bazillion retro sci-fi book covers, shoot at some stuff and listen to breezy electronic post-rock. It should be evident that the scrutiny of settling down will kinda murder the illusion of an endless cosmos once you start to see the patterns for what they are.
That's the real issue, then - it was always a bit too optimistic to think this terrain engine could produce infinitely-many unique and involving locations. The idea that I conjured up for what NMS ought to be when I was watching the earlier trailers was a foggy, impossible game that even I didn't understand why I'd like beyond audiovisual satisfaction. I've had moments with this game that felt fun, exploratory, and evoked the right kind of starry-eyed excitement, but that always comes with a timer - how long until you've seen it all? For launch NMS, it was a short and middling experience, with some highs that were quickly stomped out by awkward mechanics. Visual updates have moved that finish line a bit further down, and mechanical updates have subsequently mired it in a lump of mostly-dull dead-ends that do little to motivate.