A word on No Mans Sky. I left it a while, because no one plugged this game harder than me. So the verdict.
Unfortunately, an infinite universe, still needs to have stuff to do. For a game with infinite life forms to discover, there's very few with any personality. It's "done a Spore" to use Molyneux terms. Three alien races, all boring. Loads of ships, all boring. Infinite planets, all fucking boring. But none of this bothers me, it was either gonna be an ambitious failure, or the best game ever, and it was the former.
What bothers me is Sean Murray, a self painted beacon of what Indie developers can be, and achieve. But since his game flopped due to it being relentlessly boring, silence. After four years of nothing but self assured talk, or as it turns out, arrogance. Only it didn't really flop.. People went out and bought it in there droves, and it would appear he's taken the success and money it's achieved due to its unique ideas and marketing, and disappeared.
So far from a self assured beacon for indie developers. He's actually an arrogant, self absorbed thief. Who has taken the money his lies bought him, and done one without a second thought for the thousands of people who truly believed this game would redefine gaming.
Unlike Peter Molyneux, who truly tried to create, inspire and innovate, despite his games failings. And who always interacted and was humble in the face of limitations defeating his bigger ideas. Murray just doesn't care, his game it appears existed for two reason. To make him rich, and to bolster his ego.
The thing is though, his game isn't a revelation. An endless world isn't hard to make if there's fuck all in it. Elite was made on a BBC Micro and its world was, and is, infinitely more entertaining and personable that No Mans Sky. All the game is, is a canvas, painted by an artist who had no comprehension of how to make the colours compliment each other.
The game is a mess, Sean Murray is a fraud and a charlatan. End of review 
cleophus -All the way to the fucking bank!
I think you're being a little hard on the guy. He tried to make something unique, and he ended up focusing too much on the tech and not enough on the actual gameplay. In the end, he made a mediocre game.
It took a small team of developers 4 years to make this game. The idea it was just some half-assed cash grab is pretty dubious. I'm sure they all wanted it to be brilliant.
Got my refund. Fuck Sean Murrey. He lied about everything his game was about. Except being able to walk around on planets and fly in space. 
Agreed. IMO he got in way over his head after the initial wave of surprise publicity, then decided to run with it despite knowing the game wasn't anywhere near what he was pronising. This happens quite often with small indie developers, one way or another they just can't handle success (Phil Fish being the perfect example, in a different way).
Tomato Can - I think you're being a little hard on the guy. He tried to make something unique, and he ended up focusing too much on the tech and not enough on the actual gameplay. In the end, he made a mediocre game.I want to believe your way of thinking, but for a guy who wants the game to be great, he's awfully fucking quiet isn't he? The guys who made it are just down the road from me, no one wanted this game to be the pinnacle of gaming so far more than me.
It took a small team of developers 4 years to make this game. The idea it was just some half-assed cash grab is pretty dubious. I'm sure they all wanted it to be brilliant.
The game isn't the biggest disappointment. Sean's complete and utter lack of respect for us fans who followed its progress religiously takes that nod, we all knew it MAY be a failure, but still respected him. His silence has been sickening
Zoot - Agreed. IMO he got in way over his head after the initial wave of surprise publicity, then decided to run with it despite knowing the game wasn't anywhere near what he was pronising. This happens quite often with small indie developers, one way or another they just can't handle success (Phil Fish being the perfect example, in a different way).I get the feeling Sony may have said, "Sean, whether this game is good or bad, it's interesting enough that it'll be a console seller for us if we put an embargo on reviews pre release. He's millions, take it and run"
Well he hasn't been totally silent. As of a few weeks ago he was tweeting frequently about an upcoming patch, and saying that after the patch was complete they were going to start improving/adding gameplay features. Isn't that what he should be doing?
Tomato Can - Well he hasn't been totally silent. As of a few weeks ago he was tweeting frequently about an upcoming patch, and saying that after the patch was complete they were going to start improving/adding gameplay features. Isn't that what he should be doing?
He hasn't said shit in almost a month now
Tomato Can - Well he hasn't been totally silent. As of a few weeks ago he was tweeting frequently about an upcoming patch, and saying that after the patch was complete they were going to start improving/adding gameplay features. Isn't that what he should be doing?It doesn't need patches, it needs content. A game with 18 quintillion planets isn't much use if every one of them is as lifeless as the next.
Programming a procedurally generated universe full of planets isn't that hard. Filling it is very difficult. I'm not saying what I wanted from this game was ever likely to unfold. But he owes people explanations for, I don't want to call them lies.. But vastly embellished truths that he hasn't delivered even a fraction of
I still can't believe so many people fell for the hype. Common sense that an indie team wouldn't be able to deliver everything that was advertised. A truly diverse, infinite universe with depth and a story to boot? Lol, yes please I'll take all the magic beans you've got
PelantyMan - I still can't believe so many people fell for the hype. Common sense that an indie team wouldn't be able to deliver everything that was advertised. A truly diverse, infinite universe with depth and a story to boot? Lol, yes please I'll take all the magic beans you've gotIndie devs have made remarkable games the past couple of years. Name me a masterpiece by a non indie dev from the past couple of years and I'll tell you why you're wrong. No sequels
^I do agree with you(and I've bought many quality indie games), but I think it's also fair to argue that almost none of those indie games (with the possible exception of star ctizen) received the same amount of hype as No Man's sky (big sony marketing push with commercials and E3 showings, New yorker and TIME magazine featured articles among many other media, and an interview/demo on Colbert's Tonight Show)
That contributed to huge amount of hype. In addition to that, what many viewed as a paucity of details (remember the annoying "so what do you do??" posts) contributed to many people filing in the gap with their own imagination (which is understandable to a degree, I remember my reaction after seeing their first trailer at the VGA's).
So when you combine Sean's own statements, the expectations created by marketing and yes, the imagination of players themselves, then you end up wtih a type of game that would be close to unprecedented in terms of scope imo, for a development team that small. A receipe for dissapointment when expectations cannot meet the reality based on the composition, talent or size of the team.
Personally, I doubted that kind of game could be pulled of by a team of this size and funding level and so I held off from buying it, but I was hoping to be surprised. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case and I'm glad I waited. I think that many gamers can get too cynical at times, but it's games like this that justify that thinking for many.
Dreville79 -I honestly couldn't. I'm so far behind with modern gaming I've just recently started the first Mass Effect, and that's only a couple of hours play per week. The No Man's Sky hype was everywhere though and in my opinion for them to deliver on it with a relatively limited budget and a small team would have taken a miracle.PelantyMan - I still can't believe so many people fell for the hype. Common sense that an indie team wouldn't be able to deliver everything that was advertised. A truly diverse, infinite universe with depth and a story to boot? Lol, yes please I'll take all the magic beans you've gotIndie devs have made remarkable games the past couple of years. Name me a masterpiece by a non indie dev from the past couple of years and I'll tell you why you're wrong. No sequels
My steam profile says I put 56 hours into the game. More than happy with my purchase. I bought the game knowing exactly what it was. Feel like I got decent value for the money spent.
RicGillespie - My steam profile says I put 56 hours into the game. More than happy with my purchase. I bought the game knowing exactly what it was. Feel like I got decent value for the money spent.If you got 56 hours out of it, you got your money's worth. Most people didn't though. I think it had the fastest 2nd week drop in players in Steam history. Tons of people bought it, played it, said what the heck is this and quit.
Myself, I bought it despite the reviews. For some reason a big part empty universe sounded fun. I was wrong.
RicGillespie - My steam profile says I put 56 hours into the game. More than happy with my purchase. I bought the game knowing exactly what it was. Feel like I got decent value for the money spent.I'm glad you got your money's worth, I really am. But to claim you knew exactly what you were getting is just a lie. No one knew exactly what we'd be getting
PelantyMan -Some indies from the past few years I'd consider bonafide masterpieces.Dreville79 -I honestly couldn't. I'm so far behind with modern gaming I've just recently started the first Mass Effect, and that's only a couple of hours play per week. The No Man's Sky hype was everywhere though and in my opinion for them to deliver on it with a relatively limited budget and a small team would have taken a miracle.PelantyMan - I still can't believe so many people fell for the hype. Common sense that an indie team wouldn't be able to deliver everything that was advertised. A truly diverse, infinite universe with depth and a story to boot? Lol, yes please I'll take all the magic beans you've gotIndie devs have made remarkable games the past couple of years. Name me a masterpiece by a non indie dev from the past couple of years and I'll tell you why you're wrong. No sequels
Don't Starve, Brothers, This War Of Mine, Ark, Rogue Legacy, Nidhogg, The Escapists, Rocket League..
These games aren't for everyone, but every one is innovative, brilliant and deserving of more praise than any mainstream game I've played.