So I got about half way through the story, about 20 hours in and I just got distracted messing around with stuff... That was about 50 hours of play ago 
At some point I might talk about some other things but right now I feel like talking about pets. Once you identify any fauna on a planet, you can interact with it... Feed it, pet it or adopt it. I have run across a few that I could not adopt and I don't know why but they have been few. Also, you can only have a max of six pets, Annnnd you get 2 slots and have to buy the other four (pretty expensive to get all six). Pets seem to be able to do things for you but I've not figured it all out yet... Some pets you can put harnesses and helms on to mount weapons and they fight beside you (or under you if you are riding them)... Some will hunt near by resources and bring them to you... Some don't seem to do anything. Some fly, some are on the ground and some swim (some seemingly through the earth).
Right now I have three pets.
The first looks exactly like a rainbow balloon. I can neither ride it nor does it seem to do anything but slowly follow me around but it looks cool.
The second is... uhhhh... ok, imagine a 4x4 that stands up, is made of some kind of multi colored rock and jumps around following you. It has no limbs or head or appendage of any kind. It does jump real high and kill enemies during combat... It's actually a bit odd to see.
The third is my favorite. When I first saw it, it was hostile to me (a red paw over the head indicates an animal as hostile) and it scared the crap out of me... Heh, I thought it was a werewolf 
It came running up over a hill about 30 feet in front of me and it was freakin fast. I kept dropping it some food as I ran and eventually it stopped wanting to kill me and I was able to pet it a few times and then adopt it. Imagine a cat with brown fur... A cat that spends a lot of time bulking out it's upper body... Oh... And it walks/runs upright... And has horns that are swept back... And glowing red eyes... And is as big as you are... It's pretty badass looking. It both fights in battle and looks for resources when not, plus it can have harness and helmet.
I've not even gotten into the genetic engineering you can do with pet eggs yet 
Edit history
= new reply since forum marked as read