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Starfield vs. No Man's Sky: Which Game Does Exploration Better?

Patrick Armstrong: "Starfield and No Man's Sky take very different approaches to space exploration. When the pros and cons are weighed, which does it better?"

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thenerdstash.com
mandf994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

No man's sky. You can walk around the planet. You can fly from place to place. You can leave the planet and fly uninterrupted to the edge of the galaxy. The question is bait because all the aforementioned is fact. This article is meant to incite and devide.

Have a little class n4g, these articles are pointless and divisive.

343_Guilty_Spark994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

You won’t find class here

Binarycode994d ago

I'm here.

Remember. Class Never involves money like some people think.

Sonic1881994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

Definitely No man sky. Starfield has restricted it's boundaries on planet's and you have to click on the menu section to travel. As far as story and a campaign I give it to Starfield. I put in over 20 hours in Starfield and I still feel like I'm in the beginning of the game. I need to start focusing on the main missions

jwillj2k4994d ago

Spoiler alert, that feeling never goes away

shinoff2183994d ago

I've got in 35 hours and haven't even went to Sarah after she wanted to meet up

spss11993d ago

You don't need to use menus to travel. Just point your ship at the planet/mission area and press E to select and then R to travel on PC.

Lightning77994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

Besides flight freedom what else does it have going for it? Does it have a ton a main story?side quests? Romance? Leveling, crafting, radiant side quests, having a home in every major city etc? All people talk about is flight. Of course it does flight better that's the main selling point for the game but comes up short in every other way compared to Starfield.

It's no contest.

It's clear you haven't even played the game.

EvertonFC994d ago

The article title clearly states "exploration" not story, side quests, romance etc.
We know SF has great story and writing but this article is exploration.

Sonic1881994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

I do agree with you but I still don't think the game is a 10/10. It's more a 8/10 imo and it's not better than Oblivion or Fallout 4. Bethesda and the fans made it sound like it was going to be their best game ever and a GOTY contender. Not even close. The story and side quests so far is mediocre as well but that's my opinion. I do like the spaceship fights in space. That's awesome

shinoff2183994d ago

Way to miss the point lightning. It's talking exploration.

Z501994d ago

"Comes up short in EVERY other way"

How is Starfields underwater gameplay compared to NMS???

MrNinosan994d ago

Did you even play No Man Sky? 😏

fr0sty994d ago

It has a ton of crafting, the entire game of NMS is based around crafting... You can have bases on any of the literally billions of planets, and can build them yourself to your liking. It doesn't have invisible walls. It has plenty of side quests, you don't have to just try to reach the center of the Galaxy.

It's clear you haven't even played the game.

IRetrouk993d ago (Edited 993d ago )

It has multiple storys.
Side quests and radiant ones on every planet and moon.
No romance.
Loads of leveling.
Loads of crafting.
Homes wherever you want.
Plus 60fps.
Plus vr.
Plus 4 player coop with or without missions.
Plus you can own a capital ship and a shit Load of smaller frigate ships too, thats on top of the 10 or so starships you can own at one time.
Plus a squadron of fighters to call on in space.
While I'm not saying it does all these things better, it certainly does plenty that starfield doesnt🤷🏻‍♂️

BehindTheRows993d ago (Edited 993d ago )

Did you actually READ the question or decide to wear your heart on a sleeve to defend a plastic box? Some of you are seriously annoying with this. EXPLORATION - which one does it better? He presented it as he saw it.

It’s not that difficult.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 993d ago
Jin_Sakai994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

No Man’s Sky did exploration better which is what both these games set out to do. It’s also twice the frame rate on console.

Lightning77994d ago

Funny Ive been exploring planets. Finding new cities (yes random sprawling cities with different NPC's missions and recruitments and ships. Outposts, caves random encounters on each planet). Making things fresh and new so far. I probably discovers 25 maybe 30 planets and still have fully explored those planets that I've found because I'm constantly moving and doing other things.
The game has its issues that's for sure but Exploration like flying around to different planets freely is the only thing NMS has.

I'm not gonna sit here and argue this mind numbing facts that Starfield does way better because of the hate parade Ive been seeing across socials since it's release. Anyway back to it, I got more exploring to do.

Sephiroushin993d ago

@Lightning
Fresh?
I have put like 40 hrs, cave, outpost, laboratories, crashes ship and so on are repeated on every single planet, they are like big assets reused, i wouldnt call that fresh

xenz993d ago

@Lightning77 Starfield re-uses assets on every planet. Even side-stuff uses assets, buildings and areas found in the main campaign. Even enemies have the same placement.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 993d ago
fr0sty994d ago

Considering Starfield promoted itself on its exploration, it is not divisive at all to bring this up, it is making a valid point.

Lightning77994d ago

When did I say it didn't have crafting? So where's the rest of the content that does better than SF? I named and gave a list of things it did better. Where's your list? Flying, seemless exploration outposting and what else?

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 993d ago
Flawlessmic994d ago

Exploration no man's sky....

Literally everything else starfield!!

JEECE994d ago

The ideal game in this category would be one that feels like NMS when you are in your ship but like Starfield when you are on foot. Also remove the boundaries on planets lol.

neutralgamer1992994d ago

Ninosan

Agreed hopefully Bethesda will make improvements via patches to make the game even better. This is where NMS is today and it got here with a lot of hard work and feedback from players

MrNinosan994d ago

@neutralgamer1992
IF Bethesda would put a percentile of the effort to fix their singleplayer games compared to Hello Games, we would see progress Skyrim, Oblivion, Morrowind etc...

Skyrim is as buggy and broken through all 3 generations it's been released, so not buy wanting money, they care, as long as their fanbase says the games are perfect and the community fix the rest through mods for PC players.

So I wouldn't hold my breath, sorry.

MrNinosan994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

Not everything else.

No Man Sky:
- Exploration
- Basebuilding
- Ship and gear upgrades
- Item management
- Surviving mechanics
- VR
- Water/swimming
- Vehicles
- Animal breeding and riding
- Jetpack usage
- Space combat
- FPS (performance over all)
- Loading screens
- Multiplayer

Starfield:
- Quests
- Character development
- Shipbuilding
- Dialogue
- Cities
- RPG elements

shinoff2183994d ago

Ouch I forgot that. It was kinda sad getting in the water and finding out I couldn't dive. Wtf

MrNinosan994d ago

As I see many doesn't agree with me, I would love to know which points I was wrong at? 😏

I've spent 40 hours on Starfield as of writing this, and still going (and loving) the game, but would still be interesting to hear from the ones who disagree in my above comment, where I went wrong. 🕺

goldwyncq994d ago

And how many of those features were already in NMS on launch?

MrNinosan994d ago

@goldwyncq
Not that it matters as I'm responding to Flawlessmic who talks about the present, but 8 of the 14 lines were there from start.

Do you also want to ask how old No Man Sky is, or how big the team was, making it?

phoenixwing993d ago

I'd love a game with nms exploration and adventures on a galaxy with starfields content for story. would make a great game. unfortunately they're separated experiences.

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raWfodog993d ago

Yeah, your character can swim and explore underwater in NMS? Was that what you were asking?

Terry_B993d ago

Nah..the music and the creativity in NMS is miles ahead as well.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 993d ago
gametrotter994d ago

I gotta say, I'm disappointed by the exploration in Starfield. I don't really care that you can't run across entire planets, but the actual mechanics of the game as related to flying around space basically boil down to clicking menus. It's all fast travel, and so I don't get that same sense of wonder that I had in NMS. I really wish the game had a smaller scope and just included NMS mechanics :/

343_Guilty_Spark994d ago

It was never billed as a survival/exploration game

Christopher994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

It 100% was billed as an exploration game.

From Bethesda: "In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery. [...] Venture through the stars and explore more than 1000 planets."

Z501994d ago

What does "Unparalleled freedom" mean???

CrimsonWing69994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

@Z501

I'd assume "unparalleled freedom" means freedom in a game that can't be compared to another game side by side or "parallel" in comparison... but I mean, y'know, it's marketing terms.

badz149994d ago

don't forget that Todd also said "limitless possibilities"

gametrotter993d ago

I never said anything about survival components; simply, that space travel lacks depth and intrigue. There are too many menus, and I get no sense of distance or discovery.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 993d ago
mrcatastropheAF994d ago (Edited 994d ago )

@christopher

They 100% billed it as an RPG hence "in this next generation role-playing game".

No Mans Sky is a crafting/survival game with light RPG elements (and a narrative that nobody remembers or can reference without a google search)

Starfield is a traditional Bethesda RPG with space exploration and crafting elements.

I would say the only deception here on Bethesda's end was the "unparalleled freedom" tidbit; everyone else is just mad that they had different expectations than what we were told (and should've known from prior Bethesda RPGs) to expect.

Christopher994d ago

That's some stretching to ignore what is right in front of you in text alone let alone the whole presentation at gamescom and thereafter.

anast993d ago

This is why Bethesda makes so much money.

computeSci994d ago

Fair enough. But which game does questing better? Starfield is a Bethesda RPG first and foremost. No Man's Sky was always about the exploration.

pezking994d ago

yeah I think digital foundry said it best when upon playing it for a minute, they tempered their expectations in that it's just a classic Beth game using space as a backdrop.

Once you accept this, it really opens up and I treat it like a new Mass Effect title and can't put it down.

MatrixxGT994d ago

That’s how I always expected this game to be and I wasn’t disappointed. At 35 I haven’t wanted to go home to play a game in a loooong time.
All the little Easter eggs like a 🥔 randomly sitting on an old computer or my ship being hailed by a foreign ship asking about my ships extended warranty.
Always a little chuckle…

Eidolon993d ago

That's how I will go in.. we'll never get the space exploration adventure we dream of because it takes too much work designing worlds, the best we get is procedurally generated.

EvertonFC993d ago

So basically before playing starfield role play it's another game called Mass effect pmsl.
They got the RPG right then Haha

anast993d ago

Why should anyone temper expectations when the expectations were built on what they had said?

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computeSci993d ago

Why all the disagrees? Starfield does do questing better. And No Man's does exploring better. Crafting maybe about equal? These are 2 diffrent games really. In Super Mario Galaxy, space is a theme and setting. Starfeild is simply a Bethesda style RPG set in space. It's that simple.

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20°

Starfield Update 1.000.004 Released on PS5 to Mitigate Crashes; Players Still Reporting Crashing

Starfield on PS5 has just been updated to 1.000.004 to fix crashing issues, but players are reporting it didn't take.

90°

Starfield Was the Best-Selling Game in the US Following PS5 Release

Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana Mat Piscatella has revealed Starfield was the best-selling video in the US based on dollar sales for the week ending April 11th.

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vgchartz.com
jznrpg36d ago

For the week that nothing else of note launched.. I’m sure it will sell some copies but look at what released that week

36d ago Replies(6)
z2g35d ago

It’s not a requirement to buy games every month or whenever one is released. I don’t think people are going to spend $70+ on something they don’t care about.

GotGame81835d ago

I have talked about not being able to get into this game at launch. I still haven't given it another go, even though I think it looks great and has come a very long way since launch. Some people just want it to fail, even if it is a great game. I know why, we all do.

Starfield didn't just have the best sales for a week, but it was pre-ordered on PS store, with very nice numbers. I really need to start it again, on my PS5 though. So I can see how it is now. It has had some major updates.

I am looking forward to it all over again now.

Huey_My_D_Long35d ago

Its not that people want the game to fail. Its that Bethesda wont ever improve their games if you guys keep calling slop like starfield great games. Pure as that. Formulaic, chasing the trends, slop.

Like Bethesda has fallen off since FO4.

Ive a PC 4070, no interest in Starfield since the beginning since despite Bethesda owning some serious FPS legacy within their ranks...They just like seem to hate good shooting mechanics.

I dont see whats the appeal and thats ok. But how can you guys call it great? By what metric? The story? The Gameplay? The package all together? Hell I'm enjoying Crimson Desert, but I've got my issues with some design choices, but I do think the game is better as a whole than its individual parts. Is that the case for Starfield?
To be honest alot of you starfield stans dont make a great case for yourself, since I've never heard a starfield say what it is they enjoyed about it other just it being another Bethesda game that feels familiar yet new to them. Yall dont make the case on whats so great about starfield that keeps you coming back.
What does it do that makes it great that everyone like me is missing?

Like I wanted to like the Starfield, but after seeing its first trailer, it pretty much came out like I thought it was. Bethesda has been coasting off prestige for years now. and honestly starfield is proof of that.

CrimsonIdol35d ago

I'm fine with the game being janky Bethesda-core etc. For what it's worth it's more polished than previous games have been and the shooting mechanics are fine, feels pretty good even.

What I'm not fine with is it just being completely dull in every way. Even if they managed to resolve the structure of the game constantly sending you back and forth through maps and loading screens it's still going to be dull. The original The Outer Worlds did Fallout in space better, and that was hardly perfect (I haven't played the second one so I can't comment on that). At least The Outer Worlds had some interesting characters, enemies and locations. Starfield has none of that. They can argue that it's more grounded/going for realism or some nonsense (yet it's still doing Star Wars/Firefly style space travel) but it's fundamentally dull.

I dropped loads of money on a copy of this game at launch and I've no desire to get my money's worth out of it, I pretty quickly cut my losses and moved on. I don't know what happened to the writers for Bethesda, I presume they all moved on and have since been replaced by Jenny from accounting.

sweatyrich34d ago

I agree with @CrimsonIdol
I played the game to completed, but it's version of NG+ simply didn't appeal to me, so I never went back to it.
There's base-building, but it really serves no point, other than, there's base building. If you're into that, you have it, but I didn't touch it at all, as it wasn't part of the story ... At all.

The main character models are "ok", but the NPCs are just bad.

And IMO, people shouldn't be OK with a Bethesda game being janky. They're a big company, and should be jank-free by now!

MrBaskerville34d ago

I've given it another go and with the new more modular difficulty i managed to balance it a bit like Stalker 2 and it has been a lot more enjoyable this time around. The free roaming in space also helps a bit. Still prefer older Bethesda games, but it's growing on me
ever so slowly.

Jin_Sakai35d ago

Curious gamers. They’ll soon find out soon enough how trash it is.

Reaper22_35d ago

I dont think so. The games has been well received on PS5. Getting good scores too.

Jin_Sakai35d ago

Digital Foundry showed how bad the game runs even on PS5 Pro and crashes. It can’t even hold 60fps and not a looker to begin with. 🤷‍♂️

Grilla34d ago

I found out. I loved FO4 and wanted to judge Starfield for myself. I should have waited for a sale.

Putte35d ago

It's still as Bad as it was on Xbox. Of cause some playstation user's are curious and because there is a lot of them then the sales are gonna be somewhat okay for small time period. But still a very sad story what starfield turned out to be. Maybe the biggest disappointment in my gaming life.

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40°

Starfield: Free Lanes Trophy Guide & Roadmap

The Free Lanes update has arrived! Earn every Trophy in the DLC with the help of our Free Lanes Trophy Guide & Roadmap!

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daynglsgameguides.com
phongtro123_com35d ago

Solid, practical guide overall. The roadmap structure makes it easy to plan a clean run, especially by separating missables from cleanup. I also like that it flags potential grind points and suggests when to tackle them.

A couple of things that could make it even stronger:

Clarify any missable trophies/achievements more explicitly (and whether manual saves are recommended before certain choices).
Add estimated time for 100% completion and note difficulty settings if they affect progress.
Include brief build/loadout suggestions for tougher segments or challenges.
If applicable, call out any bugs or tracking issues in the update that players should watch for.

Overall, helpful for both newcomers and completionists, just needs a bit more detail in a few areas.