Starfieldbroke onto the scene in late 2023 after several long years of hype and general anticipation, but it wasn’t received with the universal acclaim that many had expected. It wasn’t a poorly reviewed or poorly selling game by any means, but with Bethesda toutingStarfieldas the nextSkyrim—in other words, the next big thing in the RPG genre—the ultimate reality of the project wound up being far more disappointing.
In a nutshell, one could chargeStarfieldwith simply not being “enough.” It runs fine, especially compared to other, more roughshod Bethesda games; it has a serviceable sci-fi world with plenty to do; and it has arguably the best moment-to-moment combat of any Bethesda RPG. But for many players, it lacks the X-factor that made the likes ofSkyrimandFallout 3so special, and with the space-faring adventure title approaching its second birthday, its rather inconsequential impact on the games industry is sorely felt. This is doubly true in the wake of theShattered SpaceDLC, which suffered a notably worse reception than the base game. But for those feeling especially weary ofStarfield, whether as a result of its purported mediocrity or simply because they’ve milked it for all it’s worth, there’s a more than suitable replacement waiting in the wings.
Why Starfield Fans Should Give No Man’s Sky a Chance
No Man’s Sky Has Ballooned Into the Definitive Open-World Space Game
When it first launched in 2016,No Man’s Skywas received even worsethanStarfieldwas.Starfieldwas hyped-up as the next big RPG, butNo Man’s Skywas touted as a revolutionary project: a groundbreaking, procedurally generated game that would kickstart the next era of the gaming medium. Of course, it was unreasonable to expect such great things, especially from a team as small as Hello Games at the time, but the final product was still in rough shape. There was little of substance to do inNo Man’s Skyat launch, and many wrote it off as yet another oversold, underdelivered release.
But Hello Games didn’t give up on its dream, and got to work on steadily improvingNo Man’s Skythrough myriad free updates. Over the course of nearly a decade,No Man’s Skyhas been improved with powerful, transformative new features and content drops, the most significant of which include:
Not only have these changes madeNo Man’s Skya genuinely good game in 2025, but they also set a rock-solid precedent: players can likely expect more substantial updates to come to the game over time. Beyond the realm of free-to-play live service games, which tend to lean heavily on opportunistic monetization systems, such long-term support is virtually unheard of. In other words,No Man’s Skyis a constantly evolvingspace exploration game, offering a greater abundance of varied content than something likeStarfield.
In a way,No Man’s SkyfillsStarfield’s gaps. It includes several features and mechanics thatStarfieldlacks, such as multiplayer and seamless spaceship exploration, which makes it one of the best companion pieces imaginable for Bethesda’s space-themed RPG. Thanks to the virtually boundless potential of user-generated-content,No Man’s Skycan continue to grow and change even after Hello Games moves on to its next endeavors, whileStarfieldwill likely cease supportafter its next DLC, if it does wind up getting one—Bethesda may opt to cut its losses afterShattered Space.
