It’s difficult to pinpoint precisely where No Man’s Sky exists at the moment within the psyche of gamers, and it’s a phenomenon that we’ve discussed a few times while attempting to deduce precisely how much weight their offerings should hold for the gaming public.

On one hand, the part that is well known is the cluster that was No Man’s Sky release where it came to light that what Sean Murray had been hyping up in a seemingly endless barrga of interviews simply didn’t exist in the form that it was promised.

It was arguably one of the most frustrating indie releases ever, and developer Hello Games disappeared entirely from the internet for months as fans grabbed pitchforks and torches while attempting to get any answers.

The part that is less known is that Hello Games actually came back and took some (very well deserved) hard hits from the community, and began grinding on the game to bring it to a state where it, more or less, functions as was previously advertised.

And it only took four years after the initial release on August 9, 2016.

So while the title may be actually enjoyed in its current state, it’s admittedly difficult to simply throw caution to the wind in whatever Hello Games comes up with next, and will likely be this way for quite some time as fans attempt to deduce what in the heck actually happened with the disparity between advertising and gameplay.

That being said, Hello Games has revealed their upcoming No Man’s Sky Origins, the v3.0 update that brings with it a drastic increase (an alleged double at least) to almost everything available within the title.

In all honesty, it looks amazing; a far cry from the initial state of the game, and even a noticeable difference between the game two months ago and the 3.0 release.

New planets with binary and tertiary stars the alter day/night cycles on planets, wildly varied landscapes (a marked improvement from prior versions), and far greater variety of life in both plants and aliens.

It’s like the NMS that everyone had hoped the original would be, dialed up to eleven with rich color schemes and boasting a fascinating amount of procedural generation that doesn’t offer lopsided creatures that brought us this absolute gem of memeage that still continues to invoke a few chuckles at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vupCgB8H9Og

Most interesting to some that like a bit more objective in their gameplay loop is the inclusion of new Archive Buildings; colossal buildings that tower over the land which offer heaps of treasure and data (including ruins in the universe) for those that can brave the perils that await them. with classic risk versus reward.

With its inclusion on the Xbox Game Pass, it’s nearly a no-brainer to at least scope out and see if the galactic survivor/crafter has finally managed to shirk its chains donned from a precarious release.