No Man's Sky studio Hello Games unveil Light No Fire, a fantasy survival game set on a single, huge planet

rockpapershotgun.com:

Hello Games have announced Light No Fire, the Guildford, UK-based developer's most ambitious new game since 2016's space sim No Man's Sky. In development for roughly five years so far, it's an exploration-driven fantasy experience with building mechanics, a range of curious mythological creatures, and a procedurally generated open world that is apparently Earth-like in both geography and scale. Hello have just screened a trailer at this year's Game Awards. Earlier this week, they invited me down to their Guildford offices for a quick, informal chat about the game, which I am going to characterise as Fable meets Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Another way of describing Light No Fire is that it's No Man's Sky held up to an enchanted mirror. It's immediately recognisable as a sibling production, from its gemlike logo art to the acoustics of the title, but all the familiar elements have been inverted. No Man's Sky's art direction is designed to evoke a classic Frank Herbert sci-fi book cover; Light No Fire takes that vivid palette and applies it to a fairytale world that recalls Narnia and Pan's Labyrinth. Where No Man's Sky gives you billions of planets, Light No Fire devotes all its attention to one. And where No Man's Sky aims for the feeling of being alone in the universe, despite its latter-day multiplayer elements, Light No Fire is about community. You can play it alone, chopping down trees and lugging them up a mountain to construct a cabin retreat, but the developers are trying to encourage players to explore, build and survive together.

The game's procedurally generated map is designed to feel more plausible and crafted than No Man Sky's planets, with more realistic continents, oceans, valleys and rivers. In