Hmm, idk guys, I'm still extremely hyped but cautiously worried about how No Man's Sky is going to turn out upon release. Let me explain.
When people bring up the comparisons to Minecraft, Terraria or Don't Starve, I can only see how they're half right. When in comes to the survival and exploration aspect of the game, No Man's Sky seems to have it down pat. Hello Games couldn't have done a more perfect job in creating a literal universe that looks like it'll have the variety and mystery worth exploring. However, the over very crucial aspect of those games is their scope of crafting and customisation. Those games may not have fully fleshed out NPC's or in-depth quest lines that push the story along, but you can still feel like you're making some progress and having goals to work towards when it comes to what you can or want to build. It's the bevvy of unique or fun items they give you that makes you want to go out and gather resources. And the stuff you can build can range from gameplay enhancing tools or just stuff that lets you dick around. Yes you can upgrade your gun, your suit and your ship in NMS, but from everything I kep reading or seeing so far it's all come across as very basic.
And it's a shame because there's so much potential for it to be more than that. Imagine having the option to craft different vehicles like a speeder bike or submarine to further explore the world, a grappling hook to traverse steep mountain sides and cliffs, different firearms that have adversely different attacks, crafting monuments and leaving messages that could potentially be discovered by other players, building a frigate or cargo ship to store your star fighter and freely customise the interior, or setting up your own buildings and structures as a base of operations in case you find a resource rich planet that you want to mine dry or even settle down on. Even something as basic as changing the appearance of your ship.
No Man's Sky is potentially the largest sandbox game ever, but it could be missing the one key element that makes sandbox games great; the opportunity to screw around like an idiot.