You aren't pulling my leg are you? I always wonder why the game was only $20 despite it looking very very open world
I thought it was obvious I'm busting your balls.
My experience with no mans sky is extremely limited so I can't make direct comparisons. But from what I gather it seems like some of the bigger criticisms were that isn't very compelling and the randomization creates lots of "things" but they aren't very interesting. Combined with the lack of any compelling narrative and you have no hook to draw the player in. Randomization can create all sorts of different things, but that doesn't name them interesting.
Subnautica, imo, not only suffers from none of these problems but excels at subverting every one of them. Aspects of the world are random, such as loot and materials, but the world itself is painstakingly created and therein lies a huge difference. It's endlessly interesting because it's a living, breathing world that you can explore and, somewhat ironically, the lack of randomization makes it feel more alien because it there's always a certain sense behind everything. Things are happening for a reason just like in any environment. The animals behave certain ways for certain reasons, things grow in certain places for a reason, etc. Thats why randomness doesn't create anything interesting.
As for the narrative, there's less of a story so much as you piecing together things that happened in your absence. But as it goes on it adds layers into the world youre in and slowly peeling them away is
your story. I just had something happen that could have been a scripted event, but it was purely emergent gameplay and I practically shat my pants. It'll likely be a gaming moment I'll remember forever.
Anyway, I've sung enough praises. There's more than enough here to separate Subnautica from the pack of gathering/survival games and it's a game that should be played knowing as little as possible.
