My Top Really Cool No Man’s Sky NEXT Discoveries

A lot of people have been talking about No Man’s Sky and not because of its previous poor quality. Since the release of their latest patch NEXT, there has been an incredible increase in praise as Hello Games seem to have redeemed their past failures. So, let’s shamelessly jump on to the praise bandwagon and look at some of the discoveries I have made because I also like to brag about finding things.

Hexagonal / Malfunctioning Planets

These were the first kind of exotic planets I came across. Looking like a Civ V world map from space, they were always worth landing on. Upon landing, you can get two different versions of the planet. Firstly, you have one that is entirely hexagonal. Trees made of hexagons and yellow vines, hills composed of a grey (or blue) hexagonal texture, the surface of the standard hexagonal worlds are breath-taking.

Malfunctioning variants are more of a curiosity.  While they have plenty of hexagon goodness, there are also segments of normal planets awkwardly stitched in. Making these planets incredibly interesting to explore as you never are quite sure what parts will turn up where. This random nature to the hexagonal planets make them by far some of the most intriguing ones in the entire game.

Cactus

OK, so a Cactus isn’t impressive, but I assure you there is one type of Cactus found in No Man’s Sky that is worth a look. While crossing the frosty terrain of the planet CURIOSITY, a creature can be found which may give you quite the jumpscare. And it wasn’t those biological horrors everyone has been on about. Green and hopping isn’t something you expect to see on the snowy white canvas of a blizzard world.

Yet the sentient hopping cactus is the most bizarre creature in the cosmos. It hops. It is a cactus. It’s not sentient but I put that in the name before I thought about it. Best part is that they aren’t just found on frost worlds. Many players have found some variant of these leaping shrubbery on many different planets that they have visited. With a bit of time, you’ll find a couple of your own to follow around.

Beam Rocks

Often the first impressions of a planet are granted by the name of the biome. So, you can imagine my thought process upon discovering a Redacted planet biome. Why is it redacted? Who redacted it? What will I find down there? Fortunately, I got the answers to two of those questions. What I found was a planet of rocks with beams shooting up to the sky. Normally when there are beams in the sky it isn’t very good. Fortunately, these beams are just visual and don’t hurt anything.

Upon walking around what was a seemingly rocky planet I discovered the reason as to why the planet was redacted. All of the plants had been turned into the rocks that littered the planet. As soon as I realised this was the case I bolted. While I doubt anything would have happened to me, it was a terrifying premise to be confronted with. Hopefully there are more worlds like this to experiment with.

Thirsty Cloud Sea Mines

It’s not what you think. In the vast expanse of space there exists a planet with the biome title of Breached. After having such read such a biome name I had decided to investigate. After breaching the atmosphere, I noticed that the surface of the planet was covered in something akin to a sea mine. Some floated, most lay on the ground and bits of metal where scattered across the surface.

Upon landing, I noticed a very odd weather listing known as Thirsty clouds. Understandable as the planet had about as much H2O as a skeleton in a furnace. But if that was the case how where the clouds formed? Ah well, mystery for another day. All the mines where quite entertaining to look at and provided an incredible amount of pure ferrite. A key element in base building. Certainly, a biome worth visiting if you are in the process of construction.

A Literal and Figurative Chicken

I have many choice words for these little blighters. When I first saw them, I thought they looked pretty cool from a distance. Now I equip my gun and actively go out of my way to hunt them down. Every time I tried to snap a picture of the aptly named “Teleporting Bird”, they would teleport away. It took me a solid two hours to get even a Loch Ness monster style photo. May as well have been a smudge on a camera.

Fortunately, after another hour (on top of the previous two), I managed to snag a decent photo of them. Only to realise that close up they look like a hammerhead shark stuck its head on a chicken. Needless to say, I was livid. Their ability to teleport away once photo mode was active is still interesting. Maybe they can teach the weeping angels a few tricks.

Who Needs Waterworlds?

More often than not, the various planets of No Man’s Sky don’t have something interesting to show. On occasion it can feel a little repetitive. After scanning this planet and seeing being listed as lifeless, I assumed it would be another empty world. Boy was I wrong. Upon entering the atmosphere, the geography immediately caught my attention as the planet’s surface was littered with pillars of rock that ascended high into the clouds. Intrigued but not satisfied with the initial curveball the game had thrown me, I landed to potter around on a supposedly lifeless world. Almost immediately after exiting my craft, I was greeted by Watto, the “charismatic” Toydarian from The Phantom Menace.

Furthermore, the discovery notes list them as “untameable” just adding to the phrase “Jedi mind tricks don’t work on Toydarians”. After composing myself, I set to work setting up a Watto conservation centre. After all it just wouldn’t be right to let such an extravagant species die out to such a hostile environment. As for the other 13 species, they can tough it out. Wattoworld is supposed to be lifeless not overpopulated.

An Adorable Rarity

These creatures aren’t overly special. I christened them Toddlers because they stamp their feet and shake the ground as they do it. Not something people would normally deem interesting. Yet if an earlier article on this site is a testament to anything, it is that I have penchant for the adorable. And I’ll be damned if this list is finished without me mentioning either something cute or about TF2. Outside the fact I just want one as a pet (basically a bigger St.Bernard), they do have one thing of note. That despite being listed as a rare creature, they litter the surface of their home moon. So many of them populate the surface that I have begun to suspect that they are the next sentient species to be added to the game. Which would be unfortunate, as I wouldn’t be able to keep one as a pet without being labelled a slave trader.

And that is some of the coolest worlds and creatures that I have found so far. What about you? Come across anything bewildering yourself? Share your discoveries with us in the comments below.