No Man's Sky is a game that has been hyped up for years. Advertised as the ultimate space simulation, it's been met with mixed approval. What happened? A year ago this game was the stuff of legend; a limitless world where players could do whatever they want, be it piracy or being a trader. The reason it's flopped is simple; the hype.
Hype is normally a good thing in any industry. Hype sells games, and NMS is a perfect example of that. Plenty of franchises get hype and meet expectations or even surpass it, games like Metal Gear Solid V, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 are fantastic and got plenty of buzz. But the difference between those games and No Man's Sky is who made them.
This isn't an indictment of Hello Games. They're a small studio who I believe overachieved for the size of their team and their limited resources. But they can't match the productivity of a Konami or a Bethesda because of their small nature. They put together a solid game with plenty of sizes and they should be applauded for working as hard as they did and doing a good job of putting out a solid game. But the hype killed it before it even released.
It's a solid trade-simulation and it could be better. That's the honest truth of a game that was okay but just couldn't meet the expectations of a public waiting for the ultimate game. Hype can be great, but it's also a killer.
