No Man's Sky Prisms update brings a stunning visual overhaul and much more

No Man's Sky got another big update, and this one dramatically improves the visuals of the game, adding a ton of graphics-related features. This update titled “Prisms” follows the multitude of other free updates No Man’s Sky has received since its rocky launch in 2016.

Hello Games have truly pulled off the redemption arc with updates at this point, arguably surpassing their initial promises about the game made in the 2013 announcement trailer.

No Man's Sky Prisms😍Reflections🐰Fur🐛Flying Pets🔮Refractions☂Rain + Weather🚀More Stars👾Bytebeat Expansion😎Parallax Occlusion Mapping🌌New Warp Effects😭Improved Photo Mode🍾New Particle Effects🌈Improved Light Shafts💎DLSS🌼Increased Biome DetailOut Now! pic.twitter.com/y7D7S7syEw

— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) June 2, 2021

“Virtually every aspect of the game has had a visual overhaul,” Hello Games said in a news release. “Planets, skies, stars, creatures, the weather, space stationers and more — new technology and new art mean they look the best they’ve ever been.”

No Man's Sky: Prisms update brings stunning visual overhaul

The Prisms update brings support for Screen Space Reflection (SSR), which makes stunning reflective surfaces and improves lighting quality in the Space Anomaly, space stations, Atlas stations, freighter hangars, derelict freighters and more.

SSR introduced in Prisms update (Image via No Man's Sky)

The update introduces new styles of volumetric lighting, with colored and directional volumetrics used to make the whole No Man’s Sky universe more atmospheric.

Volumetric lighting in No Man's Sky: Prisms (Image via No Man's Sky)

The visuals and audio of the hyperdrive warp effects have been improved to make it feel more dramatic.

No Man’s Sky is about to look prettier than ever with a visual overhaul and quality of life improvements, coming today as part of a free update: https://t.co/8j2WcyjucV pic.twitter.com/iO3AtESkwZ

— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 2, 2021

Hello Games also added support for Nvidia’s DLSS technology which essentially improves both performance and visual fidelity on RTX Graphics cards.

The new weather effects include dimensional rain, which “refracts the light,” making the surfaces it touches “slick and wet.” The extensive list of visual upgrades includes light shafts, terrain details, torch visuals, refractions on glass and liquids, visibility of stars in the night sky, creature fur and much more.

No Man Sky’s Prisms update will also let players pet the flying creatures which were added in “Companions” update of February 2021.

Moreover, in the list of other quality-of-life improvements, No Man's Sky players can now save tracks in a personal library and use them as a custom soundtrack with the “Bytebeat Synthesizer.” A new terminal named “Synthesis Laboratory” also comes with this update, which will provide recipes for crafting components, in exchange for nanites.

The full patch notes of No Man’s Sky: Prisms can be read here.