I am particularly hard on video games. I don't like "directed story line" oriented games. But I also get bored with "sandbox mode" fairly quick. For me, this makes most games okay for a while. I was hesitant to buy No Man's Sky when it first came out because I thought it was going to be mostly a "story line" game. Last week, on the recommendation of a few friends, I purchased this game.

I will admit the game is not what I expected it to be. The graphics are great, and the game plays rather smoothly. While there is a story line to the game, it is low pressure and doesn't require me to rush into tasks. It's what a good game should be - it offers a chance for individual playing styles with a story line mode that does give you something else to do when you're tired of exploring planetary surfaces.

While some of the animals and plants are the same, (remember, I only have 30+ hours in the game), each planet visited has been unique. Each offers different minerals, geological features, hazards, and other unique features to keep playing the game interesting. When not playing the story line, you can spend hours collecting artifacts, discovering buried data pod-like containers, and wreckage of other vessels. There are also settlements, outposts, and other things you'll come across as you explore planetary surfaces.

The game offers "normal" mode and "sand box" mode. The main difference being all technologies for building are given up front in sand box mode and normal mode has a basic, hard, and extremely harsh settings for those who want to become overly stressed during game play.

The only drawback to this game is there's not a lot of information given to the user in the beginning. I've had to look up YouTube videos and reach out to friends to understand some of the basics about the game. The in-game aids need some improvement. A list of elements and minerals discovered plus what they can be crafted/refined into would be most helpful.

My system specifications are: Windows 10, Dell i3-7100 (7th gen), 3.91 GHz, with 16 GB RAM. I do not use the on-board video adapter, but have an AMD Radeon HD 7700 video card with 2 GB RAM.

I am particularly hard on video games. I don't like "directed story line" oriented games. But I also get bored with "sandbox mode" fairly quick. For me, this makes most games okay for a while. I was hesitant to buy No Man's Sky when it first came out because I thought it was going to be mostly a "story line" game. Last week, on the recommendation of a few friends, I purchased this game. I will admit the game is not what I expected it to be. The graphics are great, and the game plays rather smoothly. While there is a story line to the game, it is low pressure and doesn't require me to rush into tasks. It's what a good game should be - it offers a chance for individual playing styles with a story line mode that does give you something else to do when you're tired of exploring planetary surfaces. While some of the animals and plants are the same, (remember, I only have 30+ hours in the game), each planet visited has been unique. Each offers different minerals, geological features, hazards, and other unique features to keep playing the game interesting. When not playing the story line, you can spend hours collecting artifacts, discovering buried data pod-like containers, and wreckage of other vessels. There are also settlements, outposts, and other things you'll come across as you explore planetary surfaces. The game offers "normal" mode and "sand box" mode. The main difference being all technologies for building are given up front in sand box mode and normal mode has a basic, hard, and extremely harsh settings for those who want to become overly stressed during game play. The only drawback to this game is there's not a lot of information given to the user in the beginning. I've had to look up YouTube videos and reach out to friends to understand some of the basics about the game. The in-game aids need some improvement. A list of elements and minerals discovered plus what they can be crafted/refined into would be most helpful. My system specifications are: Windows 10, Dell i3-7100 (7th gen), 3.91 GHz, with 16 GB RAM. I do not use the on-board video adapter, but have an AMD Radeon HD 7700 video card with 2 GB RAM.