TL;DR: If you like waiting while pointing a laser at things and constantly navigating menus, this game is for you. If you don't like those things (or are neutral about them) but want to explore the galaxy and find cool plants and animals, this game is not for you.

No Man's Sky bills itself as a game of exploration, survival, combat, and trading. It is actually a game of waiting and navigating menus. I have yet to see any combat or trading and very little exploration or survival, because at the beginning of the game you are tasked with a number of small missions that you need to do. These missions require you to point a laser at a series of objects and wait (and wait) while the laser breaks them down into materials, then navigate menus to start crafting, then navigate more menus because crafting things once isn't enough, then find more things to point your laser at (and wait...) to collect more materials. Eventually you will have to find things to point your laser at in order to recharge your laser (which also requires menu navigation).

Finding things to point your laser at involves a little exploration, but the planet you're on is so homogeneous that once you've found a dozen things to laser you probably won't care about exploring any more. Oh, and navigating the planet takes a long time, so once you've seen the few plants and animals that exist you're going to be seeing a lot more of those as you wait to find the right things to laser.

While you're waiting for your laser to finish breaking things down, it's possible that the radiation on the surface of the planet has whipped up into a storm, so now you must retrace your steps back to your ship. This is survival! It isn't really interesting, though, because planetary navigation isn't a challenge or puzzle. Just point yourself toward your ship and wait until you get there.

After an hour of the introductory menu navigation / crafting missions I was told to find an answer in the stars. I got in the ship, excited to finally be doing something potentially cool, but then once I exited the atmosphere I was instructed to go back down to the planet I had just come from-- there was a mysterious signal. It turned out to be an excuse for more lasering and menu navigation.

One hour later (after dealing with a frustrating structure crafting menu navigation experience) I tried to leave the planet again (I had to go laser more things and navigate more menus to get more fuel for the ship). I was a little shocked that this worked, and finally excited that I'd get to see a new place! I followed the instructions to make the ship go faster... and then waited. Pretty streaks of color went past the cockpit. I waited a bit longer. Then I slowed down the ship and rotated around to see planets! Including the planet that I had just left, which was by far the closest one. I pointed myself at the next closest planet, got up to top speed, and the game told me it would take one minute and forty-three seconds to get there. 1:43... during which I could look at the streaks of color, or even navigate the crafting menus. What joy.

Once on the new planet I got out of the ship and started moving about, only to find that the fauna and flora and minerals there were more or less the same as the place I'd just left, just with a different color palette. It was at this point that I closed the game, probably for good.

Those of you who like this game, please tell me: What am I supposed to be doing during the many long, dull minutes I have spent pointing my laser at objects? Why do I have to navigate menus to build piece A and piece B in order to navigate more menus to construct equipment C? If I have all the raw materials, why can't I just build equipment C? What is fun about menu navigation?

Bonus criticism: The menu navigation in VR is quite annoying. Many of the menus are attached to your hands, so you're trying to hold one hand absolutely still while you point at the right selection with your other hand. It's not difficult, exactly, but it is a needless "challenge" that adds to the amount of time you spend navigating menus.