Highlights
- Starfield and No Man's Sky share similarities in gameplay, space exploration, and customization.
- Both games received mixed reception upon launch, but have since improved with updates and expansions.
- Starfield's future post-launch content may follow a similar trajectory as No Man's Sky, potentially elevating its reputation.
One of the very first video games ever made – 1962's Spacewar! – was a multiplayer Sci-Fi game that saw players attempt to maneuver two rudimentary "ships" around a collapsing star. Ever since then, the Sci-Fi genre has remained a strong staple of the video game industry, and rather fittingly, it's usually been at the forefront of a lot of gaming's boldest innovations, with games like Doom, Half-Life, Halo, and Mass Effect all breaking new ground for the entire gaming industry. And while Starfield and No Man's Sky aren't quite as groundbreaking as those games, they set out with similar intentions.
When No Man's Sky was first announced in December 2013, many gamers thought it looked too good to be true, and the more developer Hello Games promised, the stronger the feeling grew. Many fans had a similar reaction to Starfield during its own run-up to release, and that's just the start of the two Sci-Fi games' similarities.
Related
A Future Starfield Expansion Could Fill Out its Universe by Following Fallout's Lead
The continued potential for Starfield expansions is huge, and any future DLCs for the title should look towards Fallout to inspire its worldbuilding.
Starfield Might Find Itself in the Same Boat as No Man's Sky
Starfield Bore a Few Similarities to No Man's Sky On Launch
In the lead-up to Starfield's release, many fans of No Man's Sky pointed out some clear similarities between the two games. Gameplay-wise, Starfield and No Man's Sky did share some key features, with both games putting a heavy emphasis on space exploration, dogfights, upgrading and customizing ships, and creating outposts on different planets to harvest resources. Of course, there were plenty of features that also separated the two games, such as Starfield's strong RPG approach, but the comparisons were quite a big talking point for the industry just before Starfield's launch.
When Starfield was released last September, these comparisons only grew stronger, but for a very different reason. Upon its initial launch, Starfield was met with a very divisive reception, with both fans and critics alike being split on the Bethesda RPG. Naturally, this divisive reception also reminded players of No Man's Sky's launch back in 2016, though its initial disappointing reception was much more uniform across the board. But the comparisons between Starfield and No Man's Sky aren't finished just yet. In fact, comparisons between the two games might only grow louder over the next few years, though that's far from a bad thing.
Starfield's Comparisons to No Man's Sky Will Only Grow Stronger
Since its release last September, Starfield has received a wealth of updates and patches, many of which have gone a long way in fixing fans' initial grievances with the game. Bethesda is also planning to release Starfield's Shattered Space expansion this Fall, which will bring new story content, new planets, and new gear to the game. In a recent interview with MrMattyPlays, Bethesda's Todd Howard also stated that another large-scale story expansion is currently being worked on, likely planned for release next year.
As it currently stands, Bethesda's plans for Starfield seem quite similar to No Man's Sky's when it first launched. In its first year or so, No Man's Sky dedicated itself to releasing consistent updates that fixed a lot of the game's biggest issues. After that, it started to release large-scale expansions that added highly-requested features to the game. Over time, No Man's Sky went from being viewed as one of the biggest failures in modern gaming to one of the most impressive Sci-Fi games around. Although Starfield is very far from being a failure, it still isn't viewed by many as a truly great game. But much like No Man's Sky, it could reach new heights with its post-launch content.
Starfield
Developed by Bethesda Game Studios, Starfield is a sci-fi action role-playing game where players interact with multiple factions, engage in combat, customize their main character and ship, as well as explore a universe that features over 100 systems and 1,000 planets.
- Platform(s)
- PC , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- September 6, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Genre(s)
- Action , RPG
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours
- X|S Enhanced
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 101 GB (September 2023)
- Metascore
- 86
FAQs
Powered by IGN Wiki Guides
| Single-Player | Polled | Average |
|---|
| Main Story | 115 | 30h 33m |
| Main + Extras | 190 | 83h 30m |
| Completionist | 87 | 182h 31m |
| All PlayStyles | 392 | 89h 57m |
Since launch, No Man's Sky has received countless updates bringing new game modes, new content, quality of life improvements, massive visual improvements, combat enhancements, added features, and also basically transformed the game into a superlative experience right now.
Is no man sky endless? ›
Time Expenditure. No Man's Sky is not a game with an endpoint. You're given the primary goal of reaching the centre of the universe though, without spoiling it directly, this becomes a recurring goal.
What is the hardest achievement in no man's sky? ›
If you really want to challenge yourself while playing No Man's Sky, the following achievements are some of the toughest ones you can unlock in the game.
- 7 The Star Beast. ...
- 6 Stranger In A Strange Land. ...
- 5 Galapagos. ...
- 4 The Sentinel. ...
- 3 To Live Forever. ...
- 2 Space Odyssey. ...
- 1 Take A Deep Breath.
A sol is an in-game unit of time equal to one half of a starcycle, about 15 minutes real-time. It is used by the game primarily to measure how long the player has survived extreme conditions, so that it can award Extreme Survival milestones.
How many years would it take to explore all of no mans sky? ›
In fact, it's almost unfathomably large. Your character wakes up on one planet, but No Man's Sky has 255 entire galaxies' worth of planets to explore, totaling up to more than 18 quintillion worlds. It would take you nearly 585 billion years to see them all.
Is there an end to No Man's Sky? ›
It's open ended. That being said, you could make it a goal to reach the galactic core and jump to the next galaxy. There's like four basic types of galaxies and there's a total of something like 256 galaxies that you can travel to.
Why did no man's sky fail? ›
Compton noted that No Man's Sky lacks a quality of perceptual uniqueness, a problem that other game researchers are looking to try to solve to provide a more crafted but still procedurally generated experience to the player, placing less emphasis on the vastness of potential outcomes as No Man's Sky's marketing relied ...
What's the goal of No Man's Sky? ›
The Goal. The goal is to reach the center of the universe, but the player has immense freedom in where they go and what they do. Even after reaching the goal, players may continue to explore the universe.
Has no man's sky ever been free? ›
We're calling it OMEGA, and for the first time No Man's Sky will be available to play for free! Expeditions in No Man's Sky have become one of the most popular ways to play the game. They bring all players together to the same planet for an interstellar, shared experience.
Just like Minecraft, the core of the game resides around harvesting resources, exploring new places, maybe building a base, and then going to another planet and repeating this cycle. No Man's Sky offers some breaks to this via space travel, missions, managing your fleet of ships as you travel system to system.
Is no man's sky just a simulation? ›
The No Man's Sky Universe is a simulated universe run by The Atlas. According to in-game lore, many vastly different iterations of the universe existed, with very different histories and races. As the Atlas AI became more and more corrupted, the universes became more and more similar to each other.
What is the rarest creature in no man's sky? ›
Rangifae are considered one of the rarest land fauna in the game, with only a 0.25% chance to be found on a planet.
What is the most hostile planet in no man's sky? ›
Compakask-Mepp Major is a highly dangerous, small parched planet in the star system Kamaixingti on the PC version of No Man's Sky. This is the most dangerous planet in the system due to the sheer number of predators that inhabit it.
How many hours would it take to visit every planet in no man's sky? ›
Highlights. No Man's Sky has a staggering 18 quintillion planets, making it practically impossible to explore everything. With over 10 million players, it would take around 58,494 years for every player to collectively visit every planet.
Who has the most hours in no mans sky? ›
Most No Man's Sky Playtime Ladder (Worldwide)
| # | Steam ID | Playtime (H) |
|---|
| 1 | 0GL | 39,071 |
| 2 | Endless ∞ | 29,141 |
| 3 | SniperViperman | 27,966 |
| 4 | KooR | 23,682 |
158 more rowsOn planets, distances greater than 1,250u are converted to representation by estimated travel time in real-time, with about 5 minutes (walking on foot) to every 1,250u, or about 250u to 1 real-time minute (about 1 in-game hour).
How long is a day in No Man's Sky? ›
Simple mod that changes the day/night cycle to 24 hours instead of the default 30 minutes.
