Published , by Josh Hawkins
Published , by Josh Hawkins
Are you ready for some patch notes? Because I am, and today's update to No Man's Sky brings a ton of great changes, new features, and quality of live improvements. If you've been looking forward to seeing what Hello Games can do with the sci-fi exploration sandbox, then these No Man's Sky Beyond update patch notes are going to be quite a satisfying thing to read. Let's get started.
First, let's talk about the biggest features that fans are probably curious about - the Nexus multiplayer mission hub. This new feature basically allows players to congregate into a newly designed social hub area (it's still the Space Anomaly, but now it's better) where they can take on new missions and the sort. The Space Anomaly has also been updated to make it even easier to show off your ships, spacesuits, and other customizations, essentially turning it into No Man's Sky's version of The Tower from Destiny.
Next up, when it comes to big changes, is the introduction of uncompromising virtual reality gameplay. VR lovers can now dive in and play through the entirety of No Man's Sky in VR seamlessly. This also translates directly to multiplayer and VR players will be able to explore the world alongside those playing the game in the standard format. This is a very heavily requested feature, and honestly, No Man's Sky fits virtual reality perfectly given its emphasis on exploration and space flight. The game supports both PSVR and SteamVR, so PC and PlayStation users can make the most of it with their respective VR headsets.
Tired of listening to me go on and on? You can find the patch notes over on the official website here.
No Man's Sky Beyond also brings a ton of expanded multiplayer options for players. Whereas originally players could only team up in groups of 4, console players will now be able to group up with 8 total players, with PC users able to group up into a game with 32 players, at one time. The Space Anomaly has also received an upgrade and can now hold up to 16 players at one time on all platforms. This should help to make the world feel less empty, a big problem that I had with the game when I reviewed it back in 2016.
Ambient multiplayer is also a big component of this update and players are now represented as full character models whenever you run into each other in the main game world. You'll also be able to see other player's ship and character customizations, making it even easier to survive, build, and explore the world together in a more immersive environment.
PC players will also find a good reason to rejoice as the PC graphics options have been overhauled completely, bringing in more in-depth settings to really help you break things down the way you want to. You can download the update to see those changes right now, and from what I've seen so far, the options have expanded quite a bit.
Other quality of life improvements include an overhaul of the base building system, new technology trees that should make researching paths easier to understand, and even new technology specialists on the Space Anomaly that will sell you upgrades and enhancements for your Exosuit, starship, and Multi-tool. Speaking of the Multi-tool, players should find fewer interruptions when mining as Hello Games has tweaked the Sentinel response algorithms to make them less aggressive, and the overheating mechanic has been completely reworked to reward those than push the Multi-tool's heating system to the limit. Inventory limitations have also been reworked, as well as the introduction of new recipes and technologies that should help to alleviate the overwhelming grindy feeling the game used to have.
No Man's Sky Beyond is a huge update and we haven't even begun to cover it all in this article. I could continue writing about the updates for hours to come, but you don't have time to read all that. Instead, you can check out the full list of all the changes coming by heading over to the official website. It's a long read, though, so make sure you've set aside some time to really digest it all.
What do you think about the new No Man's Sky Beyond update? Let us know in the comments and be sure to share your favorite change, addition, or whatever with us so we know what you're most looking forward to.