The key thing to the game is it's a metroidvania, but your upgrades are knowledge. If you don't know how to do something, look somewhere else for more information.

Also, don't just land on a planet and wander around. You're wasting your time. Fly around them and look for something interesting and land there. Most of the time it'll lead to you learning something new. If it doesn't, try again next time.

The game starts slow, because you don't know what's going on. It ramps up pretty quickly though. You just need a few points of interest first. Literally just go anywhere and find a structure or something and start exploring. Everything is incredibly intentional. There's almost nothing to gain where it doesn't look like there's something, so go where there's a structure or something that looks intentional.