No Man's Sky nearly burned up on its atmospheric entry back in 2016—it promised the universe, and only delivered a sort-of-okay space game. PC Gamer gave it a middling 64 at launch in our No Man's Sky review, with Christopher Livingston remarking: "I’ve touched an infinite universe and walked away with some nice vacation photos."
Despite that, developer Hello Games has done a bang-up job polishing it over the years, pouring gallons of elbow grease onto a game that would've otherwise faded into security via a whole heap of updates. Its overall Steam reviews are now "Mostly Positive" on Steam—an unthinkable reality eight years ago.
