Further Adventures In No Man's Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

After my exploration of the dusty, volcanic landscape of the previous planet, my spirits were raised when the next world showed signs of being Eden-like. Even from as far away as the vantage point of space, I could see what a lush, green world it was. Continent-sized emerald carpets stretched across the globe, and similarly vast cloud banks floated lazily above.

My ship penetrated the atmosphere. Glorious clear blue skies and a few moisture clouds above, while below the hilly terrain was covered in lush grassland and trees.

Settling my craft down on this green and pleasant land, I did not have long to wait for my first encounter with an indigenous life form. Scuttling around on highly flexible legs that looked remarkably like strong tentacles, there came a creature that looked a lot like a giant crab. Its claws snipped at foliage around it, raising these vegetarian mortals to its mouth to be devoured. For a moment it turned to face me, and I could see it had multiple sets of eyes. There was no way for me to read what emotional state, if any, this animal was in. But at sight of me it sped off with surprising speed.

I set forth across this splendid land, so happy to be able to feel cool wind and walk through pleasant shade and clear blue skies. The landscape was very hilly and I made my way through the valley that carved between those rolling hills.

As I passed through the valley I came upon a large plain with more hills in the distance. Bounding toward me there came a powerful-looking animal. It had four legs and its back was protected by a large shell decked with huge bony protuberances. Its head looked something like a dragon's to me, and I felt nervous as this animal approached. As it got near, it lowered its head and vocalised in a way that sounded like a cat's purr. Was it being friendly? I gingerly walked toward it and slowly extended a hand. The animal sniffed at my fingers and I gave its head a stroke. My first tactile contact with an alien being!

Leaving the friendly dragon-headed animal to its business, I trekked across the plain and ascended the hill I had seen in the distance. There at its peak, upon which rocky surface there clung various plants, I could look out across the landscape below me.

As I walked down the other side of the hill, sounds above my head caused me to look up. In the skies above I beheld flying creatures. Bizarrely, they appeared to be a mashup of various flying animals I was familiar with. Their heads were birdlike, complete with beaks that looked strong enough to deal with the toughest nut. Their wings, though, were not of the feathery kind but rather leathery like a bat's, spanned between elongated fingers just like that flying mammal. And their backs? They looked like the rear end of a bee. I watched as these bee-bird-bats flew their acrobatic way across the glorious blue sky.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, I decided to take a closer inspection of one of the treelike plants that grew here. The leaves were green with blue stripes, the trunk thick and bulbous. Curiously, the bottom branches looked like they had been sliced clean off. Surely, that land crab's pincers were not strong enough to cut through wood this thick?

A sudden loud vibrating noise caught my attention, and directed me to the true culprit. This thing I saw! It was one of the most alien creatures I had encountered so far. A giant biped, standing almost as tall as a giraffe, only with its long neck running almost horizontal to the ground. From its behind there appeared to be a large bony, blade-like appendage. This it positioned on the branch of a tree and, as I watched in fascination, it caused this strange appendage to vibrate rapidly, efficiently cutting through branches. The animal took the fallen branches in its mouth but, instead of eating them, carried them off somewhere. Was it building shelter to raise offspring in? This was a mystery that would have to remain unanswered, for I had more planets to explore...

Thanks to Hello Games for the images