No Man's Sky leaker claims game can be finished in 30 hours

No Man's Sky players expecting hundreds of hours of gameplay may be in for a nasty surprise.

No Man's Sky is one of the most anticipated titles of 2016, so it's not surprising the first hands-on report from a player is attracting huge interest - especially when it appears to contradict a number of expectations.

Although No Man's Sky releases next week, a redditor called daymeeuhn got hold of an early copy of No Man's Sky and began posting videos this weekend, prompting Hello Games founder Sean Murray to ask players not to spoil it for themselves.

Daymeeuhn seems to have agreed and has refused to share later game footage or explain what he's found while playing, but he has made some mostly spoiler-free comments about No Man's Sky's systems which have clashed with what some had expected from the Hello Games space adventure.

The bit that's really upsetting people is that there's an easily-available resource which daymeeuhn claims can be used to fuel wrap jumps, allowing players to reach the centre of the galaxy - nominally the goal of No Man's Sky - in about 30 hours.

"The pacing was going okay until I ran in to these and then it just skewed everything for me," he wrote on No Man's Sky subReddit, in a post later moved to the spoilers megathread.

Daymeeuhn said this isn't an exploit or cheat, but an important and foregrounded game system. In response to reader suggestions that he has skipped most of the game in a race for the centre, he said he spent plenty of time on other activities.

"I have done A LOT of what the game has to offer. I actually intentionally took time out of my warp jumping over the course of going to the middle to explore planets to break up the monotony of it," he said.

"This does not mean I have done all of the major events, however - I am still yet to swim to the bottom of a big ocean. I am still yet to destroy a space station. I definitely still have stuff to do."

Bear in mind here: there's some confusion as to whether reaching the centre is the true ending of the game, which is difficult to discuss without diving into spoilers.

Although he expressed disappointment in some aspects of the experience and highlighted various bugs and issues he encountered, daymeeuhn also had a lot of praise for No Man's Sky and said nerfing the resource mentioned above would go a long way towards fixing his major complaint. Describing No Man's Sky as a slow burn game, he said he'd experienced some pretty magical moments.

"The terrain and overall vibe of the planets has been surprisingly refreshing. I never really have moments where I land on a planet and say, 'Oh no, not this one again,'" he said.

"Everything is very smooth. I really enjoy the space flight, it's quick enough that I don't sit around twiddling my thumbs but it's long enough at times where I legit feel like I'm traversing a realistic space-distance.

"The noises and sound in this game are some of the best I've ever experienced."

The notes, which daymeeuhn warns do not constitute a full review of No Man's Sky, have sparked furious discussion on Reddit. Some users have accused Hello Games of lying about the game's content due to perceived discrepancies between marketing and daymeeuhn's report. Others have come out swinging for the unreleased game, picking holes in daymeeuhn's assessment - or more accurately, in response to the way some readers have taken them as gospel.

Some of the sticking points among daymeeuhn's claims include not being able to switch from celsius to fahrenheit, not being able to attack NPCs, ship upgrades being cosmetic and a lower difficulty curve; apparenyl daymeeuhn did not die once during his play through.

Although they're spread across multiple posts, there's a heck of a lot to digest if you want to go through daymeeuhn's comments in detail - but you're risking spoilers if you do so. It's definitely worth remembering that Hello Games is working on a day one patch for No Man's Sky, and also that one player's experience while they're still exploring isn't exactly a conclusive assessment - especially when they themselves have stressed it's not a full review.

Still, it's food for thought. If you have any concerns, it's best to wait for No Man's Sky reviews to drop as we get closer to release next week.