It's a good game, but definitely a mixed bag: I'd say the core gameplay loop is immensely satisfying, but the game also lacks depth and the mechanics are largely hit or miss. There are some serious oversights that have surprisingly remained unfixed for years and I don't think there's any plan to make those changes any time soon.
As an example, resource gathering using tools in this game is absolutely phenomenal. The mining laser is one of the most satisfying mechanics I've ever used in any adjacent title: it feels so good to be able to mine from a great distance and have all the materials simply appear in your inventory. The terrain manipulation tool is also satisfying to use and it has a lot of potential combat and exploration uses as well.
But I'd say a lot of the movement mechanics in the game really are not up to par at all. The jetpack feels tremendously clunky and the rocket boots' trigger far too often in response to double pressing space, even with large time gaps in between. Gathering items by holding e can be painfully slow, but at least you can keep moving while doing so. The game doesn't do a good job of selecting the correct item when you're up close and personal, unfortunately: you'd think that it would default to the closest object based on your camera, but it instead uses your players' position.
These mechanics extend to conversations, shops, entering and exiting your ship as well as utilizing tools like autopilot. A lot of commands that you would think should have an easily avaiable shortcut do not and the constant short delays get old really quick. Of course, that's not to say that there's anything worth having in any of the conversations you do have, because NPCs have effectively nothing meaningful to say. Gathering words is immensely satisfying if you're into collecting, but the reward is to have a few more throwaway lines of dialogue that don't change from system to system, and will likely just be skipped anyway as you mash 1 repeatedly to learn a new word from the next NPC. Storage can be quite obnoxious, especially when you just start out and have next to no inventory slots: the problem can be fixed to some extent, but I still don't see what the value is in having arbitrary limits to storage in a game that's supposed to be all about exploring and seeing what's out there: infinite storage space and slots in your exosuit would be a great addition so that you don't get bogged down by inventory management and base building
The exploration is pretty deceptive, too: you'd think that the game would be all about exploring, but there isn't really much to explore. Everything: the planets, systems, galaxies, creatures, etc.. function in effectively the exact same way regardless of where you are in the universe, so there isn't much to look forward to regarding exploration. At some point the illusion clears and you see that there's effectively nothing meaningful to look forward to.
The breadth of content is immense, though, and if you enjoy collecting and base building then you'll probably find the later stages of the game more than satisfactory. There are an enormous amount of technologies, structures, and tools that you have at your disposal within bases: I just don't find this aspect of the game particularly enjoyable. For the general playerbase, there is progress to be made concerning player power, acquiring better ships, and building up your "hub" ships but I just don't think it's enough of an incentive for me to continue, so I'm dropping the game.
That being said, I did enjoy my experience despite coming to the conclusion that it was an immensely shallow one.
