Recent reviews by nodashik

Now I can be one with the cosmos.

10/10 would elephant again

(Coming from a Civ 5&6 + Stellaris + CK3 player)
[EDIT- One year later]
Some real improvements on the basics of the game. Diplomacy and Influence still feels lackluster (albeit slightly better) - AI does micromanage it a lot for many annoying notifications of little actual effect.
For a positive note : Civics do feel a lot more understandable and actually impacting on the game. Events felt more compelling (although I do feel some concern of repeatability on new runs).
What I didnt see last year was how much the lack of a specific queue for military units impactful. Especially since Humankind makes the effort (that i havent seen in any other of the 4X i played) of substrating units from city pops - dont get me wrong *that part* IS a very good idea. Building unit with pops (and having to divert some production to unit production) is impactful enough on your development that you should be able to do both at once (like historical nations were able to - an indeed succeeded when they did well at managing that).

For the diplomacy part, a DLC seems to be coming and I'll be watching to see if it brings the much needed improvement on that side. For the unit, the addition of a unit queue is easier said than done (how do prod splits up for instance ?) so would either have to be another DLC or a mod.

Either way, recommandation remains the same for now. Good for a 50%is sale, wait and see how DLCs affect the game. Still an interesting game, especially with the new cultures. The little bit I played of Endless Space 2 makes me rather hopeful for the future as long as Amplitude remains committed to the game.

[ORIGINAL REVIEW]
Huge potential, but current endgame is quickly limited by the lack of ways to invest Influences.
Diplomacy is fitting for early game up to the medieval era, but quickly lacks the capacity to do more sophisticated trade deals and treaties that would better suit the intrigues and politics of the Early Modern Era and onward - The ability to spend influence in this context would be a welcomed improvement in a future DLC for instance.
Civics as well can be somewhat frustrating to unlock, but YMMV. As a matter of fact, it would be perfectly forgettable if it wasnt adding to the already lackluster feel of the influence game.

On the plus side, City Development is unparalleled for now, and the Warfare is very solid.

A very interesting game, but not a recommend yet. I would advise to wait for a 50ish% steam sale or for one or two gameplay DLC in order to make the game able to compete on equal ground with other 4X games.
Looking at Amplitude Studio's current track record on the Endless Games (which I haven't played personally), I believe such DLC can be expected, so keep a tab on this.