No Man’s Sky just keeps getting better

polygon.com:

No Man’s Sky is a game about infinity. It’s not just about having infinite things to do, which is how games often express themselves. It’s a game about being an inhabitant of an infinite universe, an infinitely tiny speck among the stars.

At launch, No Man’s Sky was almost lonely, as you moved from one planet to the next in a solitary adventure despite the universe being shared, supposedly, with all of the rest of the players. After an intense cycle of hype and marketing, many players were disappointed to find that their “forever game” felt much smaller than they expected. Other than scanning plants and animals and discovering new planets, there wasn’t much to do.

The No Man’s Sky of today is nigh unrecognizable compared to the sparse game it was when it launched. The game still boasts the distinctive art direction that initially made it look so appealing — basically any planet you visit looks like the cover of a 1970s science fiction novel. But now the universe is a busy, almost cluttered place. As I play, I get the sense that I will basically never run out of things to do. My base can always be bigger or more beautiful; my small fleet of ships and freighters can only grow; there is always technology to add or upgrade to make my travels run a bit more smoothly. The universe is also very full — everywhere you go is full of life, in the form of alien plants or animals, or aliens on the space waystations in each galaxy, or even other players who can join you in special missions.

While I was partial to the emptiness of the original version, the game in its current state is simply a lot more inviting, especially the animals. On the planet where I made my first base in my current save, there were roving bands of creatures