Ehhh, maybe. While the game is so much better than it was at launch, it's still pretty sandboxy and repetitive. I found myself dropping it after I realized I was trying to build bases to get better at gathering resources to make money to buy bigger ships to make more money to... What exactly?
Yea Elite Dangeous is kind of the same, you have to make your own objectives or you're just running missions to make money to buy ships to be more efficient at those runs and eventually even bigger ships to make more money.
I came to a realization a few years ago that I am too boring to play sandbox games. I need a tightly crafted narrative, I cannot be left to my own devices. After a long time of trying to get into every sandbox game that looked cool, it was such a relief to finally realize that about myself.
I would say I do to an extent, but elite dangerous solo is pretty egregious i just feel really confined even though you can get out of your ship now. If there were a few more things to do it would check all of the boxes such as things you could do in NMS like build bases, etc. And plus the ship customization is strictly internals and you don't have the ability to change the overall look of your ship besides skins.
I've on/off played this game for way too long. If you can get past the initial slow start, and I'm talking at least two hours of gameplay, then you'll find things begin opening up. This expanding of the gameplay applies to equipment, ships, battles, exploration, and mechanics in general. It's a game that has become a fantastic experience and yet along the way sort of forgot about that initial experience, which could be expedited significantly without much loss.
That said, if you struggle to make challenges for yourself and often end up aimlessly wandering til you get bored without some direction, I would hesitate to grab NMS. Go watch a recent Let's Play may be the best idea to get a handle on whether it fits your preferences.
One thing I loved about Elite was the collection of mini games. Navigating through the space station to your landing pad, finding a suitable patch of surface to touchdown on a planet, having to fight or yield to a supercruise interdiction, they all came together to make Elite feel like a driving game where your vehicle happens to be a spaceship.
In No Man's Sky landing and takeoff are achieved with a singular button press. And the ship combat is there to check a box. The game is mostly about taking pics of flora and fauna and digging trenches in planets for minerals.
Yea, I would have to agree wholeheartedly that the ship flying is awesome in Elite. The ambiance is great, such as the creaking of the ship when in hyper drive. I guess the games are two different kind of space Sims. If what you're telling me is accurate about NMS then Elite is probably better for me in the long run, I just wish I had a friend who would actually play it with me and make space a little less lonely - I guess I would have the same problem in either title come to think of it.
Each to their own. I've played both and I found elite to be very "space truck driver...ey". Personally, I want to spend my time exploring solar systems and not decelerating to space stations. NMS also has rich and meaningful planetary exploration and not a hollow imitation afterthought.
Due to the depth of NMS, I wouldn't even put them as comparable. One is an award winning best seller that's having yet another huge free update just to make the fans happy, the other is free on playstation plus because no one will buy it.
Yea that's kinda what I was getting at in my comments on here, maybe not necessarily this comment you replied to, but elite definitely had the ship aspect of the game down, it feels so good to fly around, bur you're totally right in how you called it a space trucking feel. That's where I get tired of it even if you can get out of your ship with the expansion now. With all of the comments here I think I'll wind up buying it here soon and giving it a whirl.
For me, yes. Its an award winning best seller. Its also dirt cheap and a labour of love for all the scifi they enjoy. They listened to what their players wanted and just ...... did it, like a bunch of psychopaths.
It also has one of the most meta storylines I've ever seen in a game. For me, its a very special game and as close as anyones come to the space game I always wanted growing up.
Its not for everyone of course. But, if its your kind of thing, it'll really work for you. Honestly, if anyone choses to play it, id recommend getting a buzz going on whatever poison you're into, don't Google any of it fot a bit and let it unfold as you play. Part of the game is figuring out the game.
I'm not sure about Elite, but I think I was saying that more to your point than against it.
When I first got the game I had about 50-60 hours into it before I started getting bored. I spent most of that time farming eggs to sell and hanging out in space ports waiting for cool ships to arrive. I've come back a few times after updates but it always felt monotonous. All that's really left is it's a cool VR tech demo, as long as you only want to fly ships (which is pretty cool, but gets old fast).