9 Ways Hello Games Should Have Made No Man's Sky

7. Quests & Side-Quests

Framing the overall narrative as a quest to see what's at the centre of the galaxy would also allow enough free-reign in regards to 'flights of fancy' such as exploring other planets, eco-systems, lifeforms and cave systems. Being this explorer/space adventurer-type, you'd be free to hop between planets to your heart's content, with the narrative backbone always being there when you want to resume it - that of chasing the centre of the galaxy.

To that end, we need a number of simple-yet-fun quests to pad out each chunk of gameplay before you jet off to another star system.

For example, we've already noted you can use language to acquire various parts necessary to leave your current cluster, but quests like acquiring a certain number of resources to cash in at the Galactic Trade Terminal, placing beacons on downed ships for collection, taking care of space pirates, defending large transports from attacks, removing hostile Sentinels that have gone haywire - any and all of these would give you more credits, which would feed into purchasing better ships yourself, better suit upgrades and above-all, essential items for interstellar travel.

As the game stands, there are so many brilliantly designed aspects with no connecting thread. Simply provide a reason to connect the dots, and gamers will do the rest.