No Man's Sky - Switch Review

Leigh Wynne -

No Man's Sky allows you to explore the vast reaches of outer space, venturing from galaxy-to-galaxy in this huge, procedurally-generated universe. Follow your own path across the stars, completing quests and gathering materials in order to fix crashed spaceships while meeting like-minded individuals along the way. You’ll build your very own base with all your own amenities, fight space-pirates, purchase a freighter and trade with other races. There are so many possibilities, an infinite world to explore in the palm of your hands.

The Good

No Man's Sky is a complete behemoth of a game with a huge compelling universe to explore which is all procedurally-generated, meaning no two experiences will be the same and every gamer right now will be experiencing a completely unique universe amongst the stars. I was blown away with the sheer amount of content available and after playing for about 25 hours, I can safely say that I feel like I've only just scratched the surface of what No Man's Sky has to offer on the Nintendo Switch.

Upon starting up my adventure, a very brief tutorial will give you a short rundown on how to survive out there. Your first point of call is to fix up your crashed ship and gather some precious resources in order to replenish your life support system, which will stop you from dying. Also, you’ll be learning some of the game's basic mechanics, such as your jetpack and the crafting system, which is something you’ll rely on heavily.

Everything built needs some sort of fuel or energy to run and once it has been depleted, it will need to be refuelled, such as your ship's thrusters or your multi-tool laser. Therefore, collecting resources is one of the main objectives in No Man’s Sky; having the required materials is essential for your survival, giving you the ability to craft more advanced parts and items to assist you in your endeavours. The Scanner function tells you which materials each object gives you when you're mining them, and you can pin craftable items onto your to-do list in order to assist you. From there, you can sell items and materials that can earn you cash, which you can then spend on your exosuit upgrades in the space stations. In addition, you can also earn nanomites through quests and find lost tech in the field which allows you to purchase things, such as vehicles, base components and other useful items.

As soon as I was able to lift off my first planet's surface and venture into space, I was overcome with pure unbridled joy as I realised I could literally go anywhere and explore any planet at my leisure. I continued to research new forms of life, dig for materials and uncover huge cave systems choc full of new flora to discover. I experienced a wide range of unique planet ecosystems, each with their own weather effects including fire storms, sub-zero temperatures and even acid rain which can affect your suit's protection and life support systems. Each discovery feels monumental.

With each new planet, I encountered new events like protecting an outpost from a pirate raid and finding a gun-downed ship, only to realise I could fix it up and claim it for myself, adding it to my growing collection. I was absolutely gob-smacked when I checked out the star map for the first time and saw well over hundreds, if not thousands, of planets all available to fly to and explore. You’re limited when you first begin, but it only takes a matter of hours before you’re given the hyperdrive ability which allows you to fly to unknown reaches of space - riches and dangers they certainly hold! There’s an infinite number of possibilities and I never knew what to expect next.

TL;DR

  • A staggering amount of content
  • Fun crafting and building gameplay loop
  • A wonderful sense of discovery
  • Near-infinite amount of planets to explore

The Bad

At the beginning of No Man’s Sky, your starter planet will be completely random and in my case, I started on an extremely cold planet which killed me in less than three minutes due to the tutorial being so slow paced. At one point, I couldn't even see what to do as the screen had completely frozen up. I have to say, it wasn’t the best first impression.

I have unfortunately experienced a few game crashes throughout my 25 hour playtime. I've currently hit 15 crashes and while my progress seems to be saved, it happens consistently after only a few hours of play. This tends to happen when you're exploring on foot or leaving a planet; the game starts to stutter and then completely freezes before it crashes. This is frustrating considering how well the game runs most of the time.

No Man’s Sky on Nintendo Switch also has a lot of odd bugs, such as your vehicle falling into the ground or your character falling through the planet’s surface, only to reappear on solid ground again. Parts of your base also don’t seem to load properly upon returning to them, as well as some other strange graphical anomalies.

And last but not least, the Nintendo Switch version has launched without online multiplayer, which was simply an unfortunate price Hello Games had to pay to get the game running for the time being.

TL;DR

  • Random early ecosystems leading to quick deaths
  • Game crashes
  • Jarring bugs
  • No online play (for now)

Final Score: 9/10

No Man's Sky is a fantastic game and very impressive on Nintendo Switch. There is just so much to do and see and for the sake of this review, I haven't even touched upon a wide variety of other abilities and features that the game boasts. There's an endless supply of space to explore and experience; it's a port done right for the most part with its smooth performance, epic music and vast universe of possibilities.

Thank you for checking out our No Man's Sky Switch review, thank you to Hello Games (via Bandai Namco AU) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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