PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass free gem has hit a new peak

I was one of the many players who felt incredibly disappointed in 2016 when No Man’s Sky released and felt like an empty husk compared to the visions of the developer, Hello Games. We were sold an idea that wasn’t followed up on; the bustling worlds filled with weird and wonderful creatures were really just empty planets where we’d do little more than scanning random objects.

Hello Games seemed to have the floor pulled out from beneath them. However, they admitted the flaws, and got back up, and promised change. And change the game they did. What we have nowadays is unrecognisable from that launch title - one that could even be compared to the fumbling of Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red.

It has taken six years, countless updates and improvements, myriad new systems and features added, but now the game is at the best point it's ever been and everyone should give it a chance.

A friend of mine has been nagging at me for months to give No Man’s Sky another chance. I’d felt burned back at launch and while I’d tried to get back into the game a couple of times over the years, I bounced off. Perhaps still stinging somewhat, or maybe just not being in the mood for an expansive Sci-Fi survival game.

Our man Ewan spoke back in 2022 about how the game has improved, becoming one filled with wonderful distraction and jaw-dropping planets. The combination of my friend’s nagging, the game finally achieving a ‘Very Positive’ rating on Steam after years of sitting on a ‘Mixed’ reaction, and the return of the expeditions from the past year, I jumped in - I already owned the game, but it’s great to see it on PlayStation Plus as well.

Hello Games

I expected to be horrifically overwhelmed - so much has been added over the years, I didn’t want a situation like Destiny 2 where I logged in and found so many systems that I was blinded as to how to get going. I’d been advised to just select the expedition, as it starts you off on a new save file and gives you the same guidance into getting started as a normal playthrough would.

The first expedition to be revisited is ‘Omega’ which collects players from around the world and drops them into a structured path through the opening of the game. The goal is simple - move through phases of the expedition by achieving tasks before meeting at an arranged point in the galaxy. This will give me the chance to “unpick the threads of a mystery involving the past, the present, and what could be,” as the game’s website notes.

As I’d tried to play again several times over the years, and often found myself putting the game down again, this start feels like it should be the regular way to begin a journey through the stars. It feels more direct, I’m not aimlessly wandering. While I know that will come further down the line, as all good survival games allow, the opening hours should be somewhat guided to introduce the game’s mechanics.

Hello Games

Within a couple of hours I’d repaired my spaceship, visited a space station, met a few other players, traded for goods, built several machines and a new base, and become the leader of an outpost of aliens by mistake. It was, and I hate to understate this, a jolly good time. Whether it’s my brain feeling more open to this sci-fi adventure, or whether the game has really improved enough that I want to give myself over to it, the result is the same - I can’t stop thinking about No Man’s Sky.

Ewan was right, too. The game is teeming with life now and every distraction on each planet feels like it has purpose. I’m not endlessly scanning things for no reason, I can earn money, hand in the information for rewards, and build a database. Upgrades for the Exosuit, Multi-tool, and Ship are now fun to pursue. Base building, while still not a favourite pastime of mine, actually seems enjoyable and simple. Jetting off into space now feels like breaking past a frontier rather than checking off a task on a list (despite it literally being a task on my expedition list).

I wasn’t just enjoying myself, I didn’t want to stop playing. The ‘one more thing’ feedback loop is pitched perfectly in that no task feels too large and every time I found myself thinking I should stop playing, I found one more small task, or an extra place on the horizon to visit.

Hello Games

Being able to play through the expeditions, which I’d obviously missed out on, is a great way to pull people back in. The schedule means that each one lasts for two weeks, which should be plenty of time to achieve everything and reap the rewards.

The schedule of expeditions started on 27 November and will run through to 5 February 2025, taking players through hardcore challenges (Adrift), galactic bug hunts (Liquidators), quests into the depths of oceans (Aquarius), and battling the horrors of a boundary between realities (The Cursed).

It really is the best time to come back to No Man’s Sky if you ever lapsed your playthrough or bounced off it like I did. You can play it on Xbox Game Pass, too. Even now, I’m typing away at this article and in the back of my mind thinking about what I’ll achieve when I log in tonight. I’m eager to see new corners of the galaxy, find new aliens, venture out into the stars on co-op missions, traverse new planets and face dangers. The idea of exploration and survival now feels tangible and solid compared to six years ago, and I’m so glad I came back.