I don't know how many different ways to say it. We all enjoy different types of games! You obviously aren't a fan of sandbox games, lots of people aren't either. Or maybe it's just this sandbox game. That's fine too.
But it is pretty objectively a great example of taking an absolutely abysmal launch and turning it into something that a decent amount of people (doesn't mean everyone!) still enjoy and talk favorably about. It still sells copies. It still keeps the lights on at Hello Games.
I cannot think of a single other game that had such an awful launch that has, 10 years later, enjoyed mostly positive reviews. Cyberpunk might be the closest.
I enjoy sandboxes. I like Minecraft, Terraria, etc. "Make a gold axe so you can dig further" is something to work forward. Make an anvil so you can craft new equipment to explore, sure.
Here it's "make a qreblz machine because the voice tells you to". And then you can craft a wewrkz. Why.
There are a few storylines that you can try to immerse yourself in, but they're very heady, ambiguous stories that seem intended to make you wonder if the universe is a simulation running on an unstable computer, without ever committing to any concrete explanation for anything.
The endgame is mining lots of metals and making warp fuel and diving into black holes repeatedly to get to the center of the galaxy, after which you can traverse to the next galaxy, which has different distributions of types of stars and planets, and differently colored galactic nebula. There are 256 galaxies in total.
But I still think you've missed (or are just ignoring) the point of my original comment. I didn't claim it's an objectively good game that everyone enjoys.
It's an objectively good demonstration of taking a shit launch and turning it around into a success story.
In Minecraft/Terraria/Subnautica, I can actually do something with the new equipment. Go to new places, fight new enemies, conquer new bosses.
In No Man' Sky, it's already all there. In fact 10 minutes into the game I was crafting a wooden shed right next to a busy alien base with constant spaceship traffic. Can I interact with them instead? Can there be any storyline involving the sci-fi base right next to me? No, like most of the game it is just for show. You are supposed to look at the pretty scenery and ignore it while do the most boring crafting game ever. Those two aspects are not connected at all.
I think the craziest turnaround story was Final Fantasy XIV, which was so bad at release that the following shitstorms meant that everyone expected it would go the way most MMOs go (soon forgotten). But not with Square-Enix (who had a money maker with their previous MMO Final Fantasy 11) who commited to revamping the whole game which took basically 3 years but in the end it became a really good game with a lot of happy players. (I have not played it myself so would like to listen to what players themselves say!)
FFXIV is an excellent game, with multiple exceptional expansions (Heavensward and Shadowbringers being particularly great) and a generous free trial mode that doesn't limit hours (!) and includes the first three games/expansions and a decent endgame. It also includes keyboard/mouse and controller support and cross-play across PC/Mac/PS5/PS4/Xbox.
It's worthy of the Final Fantasy name, and Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy) actually plays it as well.
Current state of STALKER 2 is pathetic. Might be better in few months after many patches. I hope they'll fix all bugs, because otherwise is solid game as predecessors.
I also don't enjoy simulators. Same as for films or book, I look for interesting story, that has a point. To be honest, quite hard to find it those days, but luckily we have plenty older games that I can still enjoy.
I don't know how many different ways to say it. We all enjoy different types of games! You obviously aren't a fan of sandbox games, lots of people aren't either. Or maybe it's just this sandbox game. That's fine too.
But it is pretty objectively a great example of taking an absolutely abysmal launch and turning it into something that a decent amount of people (doesn't mean everyone!) still enjoy and talk favorably about. It still sells copies. It still keeps the lights on at Hello Games.
I cannot think of a single other game that had such an awful launch that has, 10 years later, enjoyed mostly positive reviews. Cyberpunk might be the closest.