I'm about 6 hours in.
So far I've upgraded to a new ship twice, added three new inventory slots to my suit, upgraded my multi-tool four times - one of which I bought from a totally-not-shady alien dude selling totally-not-shady tech out of dufflebag at the trading post, learned over 50 words in two different alien languages, discovered all but one of the planet's animals plus another 20-something plants, broke into multiple 'facilities' and stole their tech - which I now have like 25 new technologies unlocked...
... and I haven't left my freakin' starting planet. This god damn game is going to ruin my life.
I
And to talk about how wildly different experiences can be - I started on a giant, tropical planet full of plants, animals and minerals. My wife, on the other hand, started on a small, desolate wasteland with super-high radiation, almost no plants, no animals, minimal resources and the most aggressive and angry Sentinels I've seen yet. I've been frolicking through alien plains while she's in a constant fight to simply survive.
It's hilarious.