I'm updating my review 8 years later, as the game continues to receive interesting and meaningful updates. The community is active and helpful, the gameplay loop is satisfying and varied while still being familiar, there are absolutely no microtransactions in the game. There's so much to like about No Man's Sky, even when there was so little to like when it first released.
Hello Games didn't deliver on launch day, but they have done far more with this game than anybody could have expected in August 2016.

Anyways, it's a good game. Consider getting it on sale, as it goes for 50% off ($60 full priced, $30 right now as I'm writing this) quite frequently and it's fun to play with friends.