If you go to Sony's E3 presentations promoting No Man's Sky, you see this amazing footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5sBbjckyzU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtmEjqzg7M
Needless to say, the E3 presentations and final product don't look alike to say the least.
edit: some people in the comments thought the game would be amazing based on the footage shown if you go back in the comments far enough. More recent comments express disappointment.
edit 2: user Azuren recently held a stream that has convinced me there are indeed planets in the game that are comparable to what Sean had shown off at E3 2015. For too long, streams I had tuned into featured very barren and dead planets that left me unimpressed. I imagine there are more dead planets than live ones due to the game's coding but this could potentially make the hunt for interesting planets more exciting and Azuren has shown me why there are people who can enjoy this game.
Thank you Azuren. The stream was great fun! ( Azuren's twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/azurendcuo )
That said, I must acknowledge the game has some game-crashing bugs which are unacceptable and need to be addressed as soon as possible. Also, I still feel $60 is a steep price for the game. Azuren had this to say regarding the price tag: "I agree $60 is steep for this game, but I wouldn't put it at less than a $25 value (when it's fully patched)." And finally, I still cannot attest to the space battles shown off in the E3 2015 trailer. Azuren's stream didn't feature much space battling. Maybe in the future I'll give them a harder look but I don't recall the space battles I have seen in streams looking as good as the E3 one.
edit 3: After another stream with Azuren, my thoughts on space battles has also improved. Battles in space can get pretty tense and deadly for those whose ship is not battle-ready. Prior to this, most streams I had tuned into featured an occasional enemy or two showing up and attacking the streamer to the streamer's annoyance. The streamer would shoot it down and just move on to a planet's surface. Azuren's ship at the time of the stream was not battle-ready and I would like to see more combat if/when he upgrades his ship enough to be able to hold his own against more powerful enemies. Maybe space battles can get as populated as they did in the E3 2015 demo? Maybe Azuren will volunteer again to clear this question up for me?
