No Man's Sky nails something I haven't loved since EverQuest

I've been excited for No Man's Sky since I saw that first trailer with the soaring score from 65 Days of Static, but it turns out my favorite part of the game has nothing to do with what that first glimpse promised. Like my friends at Polygon, the game overall isn't exactly what I expected, and there are plenty of unnecessary frustrations, like punishing inventory management, that muddy the experience. But the unexpected can also be joyful, and I found joy in a part of the game I didn'