No Man’s Sky vs Starbound
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky has had a really rough start but thankfully the game developers have the integrity and the determination to continue the development of their game and honestly, despite the fact that the game still needs plenty of work, it has improved a lot since it was first released. The game is a sci-fi-themed, procedurally-generated planet and space exploration game where you can not only gather resources to craft and build your base but also learn how to communicate with sentient aliens or hunt non-sentient ones. You can also literally play any role you like, be it as a trader, an explorer or a bounty hunter.The galaxy itself feels very much alive due to the many factors in play - space pirates plundering unwary traders, various factions fighting to secure new territories, and more, aside from the fact that you'll be playing with other players in the same galaxy. Due to its procedural generation, every new planet you land on will always have a whole new ecosystem that you have never seen before, but like many players have noted, you still get the feeling that the creatures and the planet itself look familiar enough to discredit whatever differences they have. However, the best part about the game is perhaps its fragmented storyline - a plot that has to be assembled piece by piece as you explore the many worlds the game has to offer.
Many fans of the game has touted No Man's Sky as a first-person Starbound, but whether that's true or not, well, it's up to you to decide. The game can be pretty costly to buy at its original price considering that the game feels a lot like a work-in-progress, but if you can get it cheap, then the game is worth the experience.
Starbound
Starbound is amazingly fun 2D sandbox/exploration game that will put you in the shoes of a spacefarer and a captain of your very own spacecraft. As you travel through space, you will need to stop by planets to collect resources and perhaps even colonize them so you can also gather up a crew to man your ship. There are up to 7 races to play as, a story campaign where you are tasked to save the universe, and 3 different game modes ranging from Casual to Hardcore to either provide you with a fun relaxing experience or to put your survival skills to the test. You can even play the game cooperatively when you want. For modders, you can add in new races, biomes, dungeons, quests and anything else you'd like as well.Starbound can be turned into a pretty much an endless game due to its procedurally generated universe, where you can simply fly around in your spaceship looking for your next big adventure. Thus, you can definitely expect hours of gameplay at the very least for your first playthrough, making this game very well worth its price.