No Man's Sky was one massive exception. It was an overhyped, falsely advertised, unfinished game. Most games in that state are actually kind enough to tell you they're Early Access. Even then, it's not like most Early Access titles, which are usually mostly finished. Even in EA, Starbound was a really playable game with plenty of stuff to do, even in the early days. You might also reference the game Unturned, which is actually free, and still manages to be a really fun Early Access game.