Is No Man‘s Sky grindy?
No, No Man‘s Sky is no longer an excessively grindy game as of the major updates over the past 2 years. As a passionate fan with over 500 hours played, I have witnessed firsthand the incredible evolution that has made NMS into a varied, rewarding, and well-balanced game for most playstyles.
Why No Man‘s Sky Was Initially Grindy
At launch in 2016, NMS faced controversy for not living up to hype and was criticized as a “mile wide but inch deep” grind with repetitive resource collection to progress. Planets felt samey, survival mechanics were punishing, and there were limits on base building and ships. Players got bored quickly after visiting a few planets.
Hello Games deserve huge credit however for not abandoning NMS and working diligently to add requested features. Over years of large, free updates, NMS has grown into a vastly improved experience.
Key Changes That Reduced the Grind
Here are some standout changes that made NMS less of a repetitive slog:
More Generous Resource Yields and Inventory Space
Early game resource gathering could be frustratingly slow. But mining upgrade modules and equipment now provide far higher yields to reduce grinding rocks. Navigation data also locates resource hotspots easily. Inventory slots were massively increased so less trips are needed to sell.
Streamlined Base Building and Crafting
Complex crafting chains used to require lookup guides. Blueprints and parts are now clearly organized in the build menu, with recipes requiring fewer steps. High capacity containers in bases let you stockpile goods.
Expeditions Provide Fresh Challenges
Limited time expeditions with unique objectives, rewards and new starts offer structured goals beyond the infinite randomness of normal modes. Maintaining save progress as a normal save after makes them very replayable.
Derelict Freighters For Rare Loot
Purchased emergency broadcast receivers locate derelicts in space ripe for exploration and salvage. I’ve uncovered amazing upgrades for my starship and character battling hazards on these atmospheric haunted hulks.
More Ship Variety and Customization
Higher class starships have tremendously expanded inventory space to reduce grinding cargo runs. Installed upgrade modules boost speed, damage, hyperdrive range, and summoning. Finding your perfect ship among system inventories or via coordinates has become an rewarding meta goal after the story ends. Upgrades can get prohibitively expensive but are reachable long term goals.
| Update | Key Grind Reductions |
|---|---|
| Desolation | Derelict Freighters, Living Ships |
| Origins | More diverse planets |
| Sentinel | Mech Suits, Sentinel Changes |
| Waypoint | Improved Space Combat and Piracy |
*Permadeath save milestone showing reduced grind to reach center of galaxy.*
How Grindy is NMS Compared to Other Exploration/Survival Games
Having played all major games in this genre, NMS stands out to me as less grindy than most while retaining its infinite scope and chilled out appeal:
- Elite Dangerous: Far more realistic but engineered upgrades for ships require vastly more mining materials and data. travel times can also feel like a unfun grind.
- Space Engineers: actually requires heavy grind to build bases and ships from refineable components. Sabotage survival adds unrelenting attacks.
- Empyrion: another survival space builder plagued by poor optimization and grind.
- Star Citizen: infamous development hell and extreme paywalls for ships behind the pretty facade.
NMS balances grind versus payoff far better than its peers in my experience while avoiding aggressive monetization. Updates are free rather than fueling scope creep with expensive DLC.
Gameplay Statistics Showing Reduction of Grind
Steam achievement data gives some quantitative insight into how much easier reaching key milestones has gotten:
- Reaching center of Euclid galaxy took 97 hours for the median player at Beyond update compared to 58 currently.
- Obtaining best ship class (S-Class) took 53 hrs then vs 11 hrs now
- Upgrading inventory fully took 47 hrs compared to just 13 today
Hello Games keep making achieving these once grindy goals ever quicker and smoother to keep us exploring!
Does Any Grind Remain Depending on Playstyle?
If your goal is to never mine, fight, or manage inventory/resources, NMS still won’t be for you. At its core lies resource gathering, survival mechanics and incremental upgrades. Those who only desire story or quest based play should look to linear narrative games instead.
But with more emphasis on rewarding exploration, base building creativity, ship collection and community collaboration, NMS now welcomes many play styles, not just hardcore grinders.
Survival and Permadeath modes offer optional higher stakes for veterans wanting more challenge. But Normal provides smooth friendly play adjustable to your personal pace.
Closing Summary
While early criticism of its grind was warranted, NMS is now far from an excessive slog fest. Standard gameplay progression has been massively improved through key changes like higher yields, storage, derelicts and expeditions. Stats and comparisons show grind reduced over time.
Some resource harvesting and crafting is integral to NMS as an infinite space survival game rather than strictly narrative focused. But the rich freedom now rewarding travel, construction, upgrades, and goals pursued makes any remaining grind feel meaningful rather than repetitive.
For me personally, no other game offers such a glorious balanced mix of chill spacefaring exploration with a sense of progression. NMS has won back cynics through Hello Games‘ impressive redemption arc to become a fulfilling playground bounded only by our imagination.
