2 words: Pure joy.

It has been several years of early access and Starbound's potential was clearly seen then.

The dev team has since spent lots of time refining the game and polishing the various mechanics into the gem that is Starbound.

It sucks you right in, and lets you just explore and be amazed at all the different worlds and races and people you meet.

You define the kind of game you want to play and the game does not hinder you in that aspect.

This is the gold class of procedually generated exploration games. Nothing else comes close.