NMS is a game that sets out to deliver upon the fantasy of exploring the universe, and by and large succeeds. If you're reading this review, you probably know that you can seamlessly fly your ship off of the surface of one planet, fly through space, and then land anywhere on the surface of another planet. But NMS also offers an interesting main questline, bountiful sidequests, and the opportunity to build your own fleet of capital ships, as well as running your own settlements, all on the backgrounjd of a resource-gathering survival game. It's like Minecraft in space, but with more structure. That said, NMS is a game that's a million light years wide, but only an inch deep. Don't expect much depth to any of the systems, save for maybe the crafting system. I also felt that a lot of waiting and grinding is involved, which is the main thing that took this down to a 4 star rating for me. Mining materials can take a lot of time, and it can be awhile into the game before you get the means to help you automate resource gathering. This game is a bit of a time sponge. That said, if you have enough time for a game like this, it can be a lot of fun to live out the fantasy of exploring space and going from a crashed pilot with only a wrecked ship and an exosuit to your name, to building your own wealthy empire in the stars.
