Photo Mode is the best thing to happen to No Man's Sky since launch

So, I've been playing around in the No Man's Sky photo mode, courtesy of Wednesday's Path Finder Update. Maybe I'll get to the new base-building options. Maybe I'll build a ground vehicle. Maybe. Not likely, though, since I'm more in love with its new Photo Mode.

At its worst, No Man's Sky is a clinically monotonous stab at the survival genre. But, at its best, it has always been one heck of a wallpaper maker. That's why I went back into what is now No Man's Sky version 1.2. I'm not even sure I remember how to harvest resources anymore, let alone refuel my hyperdrive. So, I just hopped between a couple planets in whatever system I happened to leave off on when the last update happened.

Now! Now that you can see your ship in third-person, now that you can add filters on the fly, now that you can even change the position of the sun in the sky, I'm having a blast again. But much in the same way that The Sims became a "rosebud"-fueled home-building program for me, No Man's Sky has become an endless sci-fi book cover photo op. It's no longer about the game. It's about the tools to fulfill the vision I've always had about the game.

It kept me occupied for an hour or two tonight, anyway. I like the pretty pictures. Also: happy seven month anniversary, No Man's Sky. You're one step closer to the game you always thought you could be.