Further Adventures In No Man's Sky

ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

The blue orb of an aquatic planet hung in space outside my viewport. Sunlight reflected off the waters below, as though somebody had hung a mirror all fit for a god out here among the purple-coloured nebula clouds. I set my course for this new world.

As I approached the surface, the tiny specks I could see from space became islands jutting out of the crystal-clear waters that dominated this landscape. I had never seen water that looked so pristine, so untouched by the industrial practices of my home world. If ever a planet matched the description of Eden, it would be this water world that I was about to explore.

Upon disembarking from my craft, I caught sight of a small, cow-like creature. It stood at about knee-height to me, and had a set of impressive horns sprouting from its head. It seemed strange to me that a bovine-like animal would be so small, but then on Earth hadn't horses' ancestors come in various sizes, including the tiny eohippus?

Leaving the diminutive creature to its business, I made my way across the landscape. red-leaved trees rustled gently in the cool breeze, and cliffs of jagged rocky islands cast shadows over the crystal-clear waters.

A noise alerted me to something approaching. Turning in its direction, I encountered a large quadruped, with a bulbous head and no mouth to speak of, just a curious round opening. As it had neither fangs for carving meat nor molars for grinding up vegetable matter, I could not determine whether this animal was carnivore or herbivore. It did seem to have a sense of curiosity, though, coming up close to me. It seemed friendly enough.

I wandered on, taking note of all the plantlife around me. Here at the water's edge there grew a plant with thin, red flowers. I sat contemplating them for a while before the tranquil sounds of the waters lapping at the rocks below invited me to take a swim.

Plunging into the sea I found myself swimming through an underwater world of submerged caverns and seaweed that waved gently in the currents like a Mermaid's hair. What mostly caught my attention, though, were aquatic plants that appeared to have something like a natural lightbulb. Was this some sort of lure to attract other creatures with?

Swimming toward the shore on the other side, my attention was caught by the sight of a school of fish. They looked like a cross between herring and Ray's, with pectoral fins large enough to give that ray-like outline, and a powerful dorsal fin that gave them an enviable ability to move through the waters.

Emerging on the shore of a palm-fringed island, I watched the sun slowly descend, casting longer and longer shadows as the sky blazed orange.

A scuttling sound behind me. Turning around I was shocked to see a monstrous crab approaching. It was as large as I was, multiple sets of eyes locked on me in an unreadable, alien gaze. What a strange world, where cows were tiny and crabs behemoths. I was scuttling toward me, its immense pincers going snicker-snack. They looked so powerful, easily capable of decapitating me. I decided it was time to leave this aquatic world and go forth in search of more unexplored worlds.

Thanks to Hello Games for the images