@taby Subnautica (not below zero), and Outer Wilds are both excellent and have a similar feel without the same level of grind and boring as NMS. Outer Wilds is probably the best game I've ever played, it's that good.

@taby

Thankfully not too many games too similar to NMS ?

My two hundred hour+ space games however are both Indie 2D games, they are called Star Valor and Star Sector. They don't have the 3D feel of NMS but everything else about them blows the crap out NMS. Both games allow deep customization of ships, weapons and crew. Star Sector goes more towards mount and blade /tactical, while Star Valor is more like Diablo in space. In both games you start out with like “a tiny ship (Think Star Trek Shuttle) ” and in the end you can have a “fleet of Deathstars”.