So with VR announced for No Man’s Sky in the Beyond update, dropping somewhere close to my birthday, I had something to put on my list (along with an excuse to upgrade to a PS4 Pro).  For a good portion of NMS, VR is, quite simply, sublime.  But it’s not perfect.

But before I get into that, let me talk about the issues with even purchasing the PS-VR gear.

First, finding the best set to order wasn’t easy.  You need, at a minimum for NMS:Beyond:

• VR headset
• PS Camera
• Two Move controllers

And depending on set you find when you look for what to buy, it may or may not have move controllers.  The package you choose may or may not have games in it, either … well, it probably will, but you may or may not have any interest in said games.

I opted for my gift giver to get me something slightly more expensive: a pack with the headset and camera, and then buy the controllers separate, since it looked like the particular package would come with games I might want to play: Moss and Astro Bot: Rescue Mission.

I did play both.  And let me tell you … it’s interesting just how fun it is to play platformer style games in VR if they are coded to use VR right.  Both games were incredibly fun, and the story for Moss was even compelling and the game overall well executed.  Astro Bot’s story was … well, enough to give the game a plot, but beyond that you really don’t need much more for it.  As a pure platformer (Moss probably could be considered a pure platformer style game, but the ambiance and theming didn’t make it feel like one) Astro Bot doesn’t need a plot.  So much so that if you have VR but don’t have Moss, I’d recommend getting it if you can find it for around $20 (only length alone prevents me from recommending it for a higher price).  Astro Bot?  Well, $20 would be on the high end but it’s a fun game, so if you can’t find it cheaper, just buy it at $20.

Now, let’s talk about No Man’s Sky.

I have huge respect for Hello Games and love No Man’s Sky.  Really!  I do!  When I call it a “walking simulator”, that’s not mean to minimize the game or its implementation – it’s just the best description I can think of to shift the focus on the game towards its strengths.  It’s like saying Elite:Dangerous is a “flight simulator” (which I wish they would provide VR as an option just for the head-look function, but alas, that’s too much to ask apparently from E:D on PS4).  That’s really it.  Both games could be said to be similar in that they both take place in space and might suffer from “mile wide, inch deep” syndrome.  But I love both for what they are.  I’ve spent the money to get both a disc copy of NMS and recently went ahead and got the digital copy so I didn’t have to always have the disc in the console; as far as E:D is concerned, I’ve spent more on the PS4 compatible flight stick as well as “Frontier Points” for ship paint jobs than I’d like to admit.  And for a go-to, waste a couple of hours rescuing people or grinding away at some pointless task, E:D is my go to right now.

And when it comes to No Man’s Sky in VR, if all you’re doing is running around on planets and exploring, it’s incredibly immersive.  I mean, really, nothing would beat it for that right now.  It would be my go to for that couple of hours wasting grinding, except …

Where No Man’s Sky in VR breaks down is when you start doing base building or flying in VR.

Flying initially seems like they’d be able to really get the immersion perfect – you actually “grab” the throttle and stick to fly the ship.  The problem occurs in that you don’t hold the move controller in the same way as you would the throttle and stick – the stick alone, you point the controller at the TV (instead of holding it vertically like you would the stick), and that severely breaks the immersion.  It is not as intuitive for successful space flight.

Base Building suffers (even on the PS4 Pro) from the same thing base building outside of VR originally had issues with: Memory Usage.  Base building limits are severely restricted in VR (at least when compared to non-VR), and large preexisting bases will not fully render.  Areas of the base will not “phase in” until you are close enough to be impacted in them.  Indeed, even forgiving that issue, on the normal PS4, I was falling through stairs that had rendered, like the visual was there but the collision was not.

Add to the fact that it turns out large farms or bases that use certain rooms or base features now require power to do so … and the best way to get large amounts of power is location specific and at this point would require me to move my base … I’m not all that interested in spending time in NMS.  I’d rather spend a couple of hours grinding away in E:D rescuing pilots from fuel shortages or to make the creds I’ll need for the December introduction of Fleet Carriers.

Now I must say, with NMS:Beyond’s expansion to the multiplayer aspect, it was exciting to stumble across another player that was using VR – you could tell just by the way they held their hands that they were doing VR.  I mean, it was a little creepy the way the wrists would occasionally render at unnatural angles why they were gesturing, but other than that, it was amazing.

If I ever get the itch to step on to an alien planet and look around at the majesty, No Man’s Sky will quickly get loaded up.  I’ll just have to not build a new home and ignore the immersion-breaking flaws I stumble across when moving between planets.