Is No Man's Sky Worth It On The Switch?

"We have one chance to create a game like this, and we must not mess it up," said the head of Hello Games studio less than two months before the launch of the space survival title No Man's Sky. It was a game that promised vast worlds across 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets. Upon release, No Man's Sky was riddled with bugs and lacked any meaningful mechanics despite the small indie team's abundance of promised features, most of which were false. The game failed to live up to its initial hype and promises.

The most notorious deception associated with No Man's Sky was related to the multiplayer component. Developers claimed it was possible to encounter another player while playing but that the world was so vast that the chances were slim. Upon investigation, it was revealed that multiplayer was not initially included in No Man's Sky.

Despite numerous controversies, poor reviews, and criticisms, No Man's Sky was a very successful game. On Steam, more than 212,000 players played it on the first day, and it had the highest number of downloads on PlayStation in the month of its release. However, this statistic rapidly declined – just one month later, there were only slightly over 2,000 players simultaneously playing the game on PC.

In this review, we will explore what it's like to play No Man's Sky on the Switch and how the developers turn things around concerning the game. If You are interested in another highly anticipated game that had a rough start, check out our Warhammer 40 000: Darktide review!

The Look and Feel of No Man's Sky

The graphic cutback, compared to versions on other platforms, is noticeable as soon as we start the game. The Switch version of No Man's Sky doesn't escape the blurry aspect that most big game ports to the hybrid system tend to have. The textures have also lost a lot of resolution, and special effects and particles (like clouds, explosions, or light-speed jumps) are less impressive than in other adaptations. All these changes diminish the grandeur of the game's universe, which no longer delivers such stunning postcards as in different versions. So, getting entranced by the galaxies and planets we visit is more complex than on consoles and computers.

In this regard, the port treads a fine line: on the one hand, it depends on each individual's tolerance for reduced graphic quality, whether it's worth enduring in exchange for playing on the Switch. On the other hand, at times, this cutback can interfere with gameplay in the sense that it becomes challenging to recognize certain things, like distinguishing animals that blend into the background due to the blurriness or positively reacting to visual artefacts that appear on the screen in the form of bugs. Our experience has been quite enjoyable in that regard, and it's feasible and rewarding to play No Man's Sky on the hybrid system. Still, we have encountered moments and issues that could somewhat detract from the experience for more demanding players.

The Gameplay On The Switch

The gaming experience is impeccable most of the time, mainly because all the features of the version that we have been playing for years on other platforms have been kept intact. New features have been introduced, such as the possibility of controlling the menus using the console's touch screen, a new "relaxed" game mode that reduces the difficulty of survival and grinding materials, or improvements in automatic saving. This favours direct entry and exit from the game, a way much more appropriate to the portable game style that this version wants to promote.

Ultimately, the great asset of No Man's Sky on Switch is not to play on a big screen (even though it can be seen better with the console connected to the dock ) but to be able to venture into space from a portable console. It must be clear that there are better versions of the Hello Games game if we talk in terms of graphics or performance, but it is capable of providing that fantasy of intergalactic travel that this game knows so well how to exploit. Everything works as it should. Everything is where it should be. The essence of the work is intact, and that is enough for a game that many people use as a platform to imagine our space adventures.

Did No Man's Sky Turn Things Around?

At launch, No Man's Sky had repetitive gameplay and numerous technical difficulties. The story was virtually non-existent, the interface needed to be more clumsy, and the game didn't visually match the promotional materials. To make matters worse, Hello Games retreated into radio silence after the release, not responding to inquiries and criticisms. Fortunately, the situation began to improve several months later. The first update expanded the base-building and object-construction mechanics, and various game modes were added. The second update introduced a new type of vehicle and enhancements for the PlayStation 4 Pro. A year later, Atlas Rises expanded the story and brought the promised support for cooperative play.

Things improved when No Man's Sky released Next in 2018. This expansion enhanced graphics added third-person gameplay, underwater exploration, and full multiplayer, leading to increased players. Later expansions turned the game into an MMO and added an optional VR mode, cross-play support, and other enhancements. In the end, over five years, No Man's Sky evolved from a total disappointment to a game that delivered more than what it initially promised.

In Conclusion

The most significant aspect of this entire narrative is that every upgrade and update for No Man's Sky was offered to all game owners without any charge. Despite the game's seven-year-old existence, future upgrades are still being developed. The game has subsequently expanded to all conceivable platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation VR2, and even iOS. Out of all of these, we liked the Switch version for its portability.

No Man's Sky has had its ups and downs in its life cycle, almost in a rhythmic fashion. The game garnered the title of the biggest disappointment and the most significant redemption in modern gaming. Some players still need to be won over, but those who have returned to the game have generally found the enjoyment they were seeking.

No Man's Sky has an ESRB rating of T for some blood and fantasy violence. If your kid is younger than that and loves sci-fi, especially things like Star Wars, then this is a no-brainer.