Ark: Survival Evolved vs No Man’s Sky
Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark: Survival Evolved is a hardcore, prehistoric-themed (this means dinosaurs... lots and lots of them), survival sandbox MMO set in an astoundingly gorgeous persistent world where everybody is fair game. There is insane amount of resources that you can harvest, items you can craft and dinosaurs that you can tame. Not to mention, you can and will probably need to build shelters for yourself and your tamed beasts, and of course, defend it from other players.Being a hardcore survival game, you'll also need to take care to feed both you and your dinosaurs and that death is pretty permanent in this game. Even the tools you craft has durability that will gradually wear down when used. It might be difficult to be a solo player and thus, you are often encouraged to team up whenever you can.
Ark: Survival Evolved is definitely not the sort of game to play if you're easily frustrated. The learning curve - let alone the "survival curve" - can be pretty steep especially when you keep getting killed or harassed by other, better equipped survivors.
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.