No Man's Sky has always allowed players to choose their own path and decide their own adventures, but with the latest Outlaws update, the game has now gotten closer to becoming a true RPG. Hello Games has crafted the story and quests of No Man's Sky to intentionally allow players to make their own decisions, decide their playstyle, and choose their background for themselves. There are various factions and guilds within the universe of No Man's Sky to align with, giving players unique opportunities and resources. The alien monoliths found scattered around the worlds of No Man's Sky also give players different dialogue options to uncover. But with the Outlaws update for No Man's Sky, players can now expand on their choices further than ever before and venture down new paths not seen before.
No Man's Sky is crafted around player customizability, with players having the option to not only tailor the way they play, but the way they look as well as how they approach certain quests and situations. The game provides accessibility to players that want to play their own way, providing multiple dialogue options in most conversations, character customization, technology optimization, and starship and freighter customization, allowing more flexibility when flying through new solar systems.
The latest Outlaws update adds new additions to No Man's Sky, expands on a number of systems, adds a new class of starships, and creates a new hub for pirate activity, including renewable missions, bounty boards, and unique items and technology not found anywhere else. These new features not only expand upon the existing mechanics of No Man's Sky, they also move the game further down the route of becoming a true RPG.
No Man's Sky Has Slowly Evolved Into A True RPG
In order to become a true role playing game, the player must have the freedom of choice, and this has steadily increased as No Man's Sky has gotten updated over the years. Some players have even recreated scenes from iconic films, like Interstellar, to roleplay in No Man's Sky. Complete character customization, including playing as alien races and changing outfit details and color schemes, was added quite some time ago, and the Outlaws update expands on this system further by introducing a new helmet and hood that can be acquired through the Outlaws questline, "Under A Rebel Star", as well as adding the first cape in No Man's Sky to the character customizer. After adding in a third person mode in the NEXT update back in 2018, and introducing robot companions in No Man's Sky's Sentinel update, character customization has become a staple of the game. Including more ways to change and upgrade the appearance of the player character will bring No Man's Sky ever closer to becoming a fully-fledged RPG.
Even though No Man's Sky has always focused on player choice and agency as a core gameplay feature, the Outlaws update's new options expand it considerably. The player has always had the choice to attack space pirates in combat or to hunt them down for bounties, as well as attacking innocent trading freighters, but the incentives weren't as compelling as they are now. While players of No Man’s Sky shouldn't terrorize the Galactic Hub, being able to roleplay a pirate takes things to a new level. Unlocking unique technology that boosts the player's weaponry and starships through outlaw bounty missions makes these tasks more rewarding than ever, and makes this playstyle more lucrative, even as the update bolsters other playstyles that allow the player to reject the pirate life.
Before the Outlaws update, if a player were to engage in piracy, the repercussions were minimal if non-existent, typically just angering the NPC that was attacked. Now, players that engage in piracy, harbor smuggled items within their inventory, or try to loot No Man's Sky Sentinel encampments with explosive weapons, will be chased down by Sentinels unless the player cooperates with them. This new system adds more weight to the player's decisions and actions and provides a direct consequence for engaging in piracy. These features are also built around a high-risk, high-reward playstyle which rewards successful criminal activity with rare loot that cannot be obtained by other playstyles, incentivizing players to get their hands dirty.
No Man's Sky Can Continue Adding To The RPG Formula
To expand further on the RPG elements that exist within No Man's Sky, Hello Games could implement more personalized features that build off of existing mechanics, such as a stock market within the game world, as the shop feature already includes fluctuating prices based on the economy of the system the player is currently in. This could also affect No Man's Sky's future Expedition updates, which could implement different stock market prices and fluctuations in each Expedition. Adding in a galactic stock market could incentivize players to engage more with the economy of the world and make it easier to accumulate credits beyond researching lifeforms and selling raw minerals.
Dialogue has always been a core feature of No Man's Sky, as the game is heavily dependent on advancing NPC relations and quests with dialogue and the choices that the player can make to either better their relations or to gain a rare resource. Expanding the dialogue options within quest conversations could allow for more versatility and choice when engaging with an NPC, and could even affect No Man's Sky's companion system by bartering for pets. Using the factions that a player can join to influence dialogue options could also expand on the current dialogue system to allow for more flexibility and depth within a conversation.
No Man's Sky has come a long way since its mixed release six years ago, and it has definitely included many game mechanics over the years that would fall under the RPG category. The Outlaws update provides many additions to existing game systems that allow players to express themselves in new ways and delve deeper into new play styles that were otherwise unfeasible before. Perhaps Hello Games could take these new systems and apply them to its next ambitious game beyond No Man's Sky. There have already been two updates this year so far, so No Man's Sky still has a long year ahead of itself to continue forging down more of an RPG route and to further expand upon RPG systems to give players more control over their character and the worlds around them.