Recent reviews by RaygunGoth

A splendid experience, surprisingly flexible towards solo- and 2-player play. It combines the breadth and mechanics of an MMO world with rich, fully-voiced quests and crafting systems very reminiscent of the single-player "Elder Scrolls" games. Its UI may sometimes present some challenges — some features like inventory management feel noticeably better-suited to keyboard play, rather than the game's 'joypad mode'. However that is balanced by a staggering amount of customisation, and excellent in-game hints which really help the game feel more accessible. I must also really commend the visual design and audio, which never fail to impress and immerse.

"No Man's Sky" has thus far kept me enthralled through entire evenings and weekends, based on its sweet and simple focus upon exploration, and existing in space. It's a game which is relatively free of quests, and encourages its players to actually encounter game mechanics rather than have them signposted or constructed into some sort of predetermined plot. Which is not to say it's entirely sandboxed: underneath its exploratory mechanics lay rich threads of xenocultural exposition and meta-level narrative.

The game's makers set out to instil the same feelings as are found in classic science fiction, and this has been borne out in the kinds of environments generated (looking every bit the Chris Foss painting or "Perry Rhodan" cover illustration) and the alien races we encounter. There's no imminent threat to the universe, no call for the one true saviour.. this is a game about stumbling around and cataloguing the universe as an outsider, and engaging with/learning from/being tolerated by the far more advanced alien species around you.

I for one adore that premise - every bit the game I'd seen promised when it was first announced. No doubt there are improvements to be made - not least to its UI and framerate stability - but as a space-faring experience in which you can't hoard valuable material, and practicality demands that you can't collect a garage full of spaceships, this has been an engaging experience for me.

Never before have I met a game which as fulfilling for 15-minute bursts as it is hours-long marathons. "Mini Metro" is a gloriously simple, fluid and hypnotic expression of orderly chaos. It sickens me that I didn't think of making this first.