No Man's Sky just received a hefty update on Nintendo Switch 2, coinciding with the settlement building-focused Beacons update. The differences on Switch 2 are pretty stark, with Nintendo players now able to experience No Man's Sky's full suite of multiplayer options, as well as other welcome additions like the ability to manage settlements.
Having played hundreds of hours of Hello Games' expansive sci-fi survival game, I'd dabbled with settlements in the past, but found the real time-tied missions to be difficult to consistently bother checking in on. That's all changed, as a new portable way to play the full game has now arrived.
Getting settled
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The Beacons update overhauls the settlements that were originally added to No Man's Sky in September 2021. Buildings can be individually inspected, showing their overall effects on settler happiness and materials production. They can be upgraded too, changing their overall structure and appearance.
Every now and then, you'll settle disputes between your citizens, with a deeper and clearer pool of solutions offered each time. These small updates combine to make the mini management simulation that lives inside No Man's Sky feel fresh and most importantly, worth your time exploring.
In the past, I'd dipped my toe into settlements, but bounced off pretty hard once I realized that tasks required hours before they could be revisited and completed.
Now, playing No Man's Sky on Switch 2, and being able to sync my save file between platforms, I've been able to pick up and play more easily. I've now become completely devoted to improving my settlement, though it's certainly not been an easy ride so far.
Space cops, begone!
Returning to my long neglected settlement after nearly three years I found the mood of the inhabitants to be predictably dour.
Frequent attacks from Sentinels (No Man's Sky's roving space cops), a poisoned water supply, and several half-finished buildings added up to a very low approval rating for this budding mayor. After realizing I could now take my settlement with me on the go, I set about dealing with Sentinels, choosing to craft an AI-boosted mech suit to repel several waves of rogue enforcers.
Turns out, combat is pretty snappy these days, as I was now able to fire huge waves of destructive power from my mech's Minotaur Cannon. The Sentinels responded with a mech suit of their own, but mine was bigger, shinier, and practically unstoppable.
Things in Greater Amtarh settled down quite a bit after the collateral damage from the laserfire died out. Priority two was now in effect: solve citizen disputes, get the construction of habitation units authorised and properly funded, and of course, find a better dwelling for me, the mayor.
Something more suited to the benevolent, but fair ruler I'd become. The time restraints became windows of opportunity, encouraging me to finally explore the planet I'd be calling home. I found some absolutely horrific lifeforms, fed them pellets to sooth them, and even started to warm up to their gangly proportions.
There was a quest I'd left unfinished too, which had me chasing a friendly Sentinel drone from supply base to supply base, as it hacked enemy systems and rewarded me with upgrades for my Minotaur mech.
Heavy is the head
These small updates combine to make the mini management simulation that lives inside No Man's Sky feel fresh...
I've grown quite happy with my home away from home, with Beacons adding extra flair to the personalities of my settlers. They set off fireworks upon the completion of buildings, and autonomously produce lucrative materials that I can sell on my regular trips up to the system's local Space Station.
There's a fishing hole behind the atmospheric harvester, a set of red and gold rugs by the marketplace, and a starship landing pad that services visitors. What was once a fairly flat experience has been transformed into a lively hub of commerce, one that occasionally erupts with chaos thanks to semi-regular attacks from pirates.
There is, unfortunately, an issue with game versions at the time of writing that locked me out of the cross save system while Hello Games works on an update on Switch 2. Still, I've gotten into the rhythm of managing my settlement on PS5, finding genuine excitement in the growing overall happiness of my planetary hub.
We're in terrible debt, it's true, and there's apparently a hostile spy in our midst that threatens to turn morale on its head, but I'm happy to have a reason to load back into No Man's Sky a few times a day.
Looking ahead, it seems like I can recruit a squadron of starships to protect my settlement from the skies. There's even mysterious Autophage Settlements that I've yet to encounter: robotic inhabitants housed in structures cobbled together from scrap metal and glowing purple crystals.
With Beacons, I could manage up to four settlements if I wanted to, expanding my rule across multiple star systems. For now, I'm set on carrying Greater Amtarh into a new industrial age. Maybe I can get a bigger turret for my mech suit as well. Here's hoping.
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