Let me preface this review with the acknowledgement that at the time of writing, I am 5hrs shy of 700hrs sunk into this game, and probably somewhere north of $200 spent on DLCs plus the base game.

To you, potential new player who may see this... Run. This game is a trap.

I loved this game, as obvious with my hours played. I pretty much lived and breathed it for a while, bought the base game for my brothers and even a few friends too. I realized eventually though, that this is no longer the game I fell in love with. Paradox has gutted the dev team who once created it, and the developers who remain seem intent on turning this into Age of Wonders 4 but space. Rather than focusing on building up gimped systems and mechanics, they've taken the stance of ripping up and completely reinventing core gameplay mechanics in order to nerf them down - most of which were unnecessary, and all of which were nerfed/restructured WAY too hard.

Don't even get me started on the DLC system. They create The Problem: Every couple of months they release a $15-20 DLC that adds/changes core gameplay and adds new stuff to do alongside a free update to support said new stuff. This game came out a loooong time ago... The cost of buying all DLC at full price will make your eyes cross at this point. Then, they sell you The Solution: A paid-monthly subscription that grants you access to all the DLCs.

I had to work up the guts to walk away even with the Sunk-Cost Fallacy dragging at my heels, as the game has been warped further and further away (Technology Update & Leaders Update) from the game I had previously been so enamored by. And that's just it, that's the reason I can't recommend this game.

No matter how much you enjoy it now, Paradox still can't make up their minds about what Stellaris is supposed to be or how it's supposed to play. Will you enjoy the next update? Will it alienate you? Roll the dice and wait a couple months to find out what inane new balance change Paradox has in store for you along with the next $25 hickie.

Truly a shame.

Let me preface this review with the acknowledgement that at the time of writing, I am 5hrs shy of 700hrs sunk into this game, and probably somewhere north of $200 spent on DLCs plus the base game. To you, potential new player who may see this... Run. This game is a trap. I loved this game, as obvious with my hours played. I pretty much lived and breathed it for a while, bought the base game for my brothers and even a few friends too. I realized eventually though, that this is no longer the game I fell in love with. Paradox has gutted the dev team who once created it, and the developers who remain seem intent on turning this into Age of Wonders 4 but space. Rather than focusing on building up gimped systems and mechanics, they've taken the stance of ripping up and completely reinventing core gameplay mechanics in order to nerf them down - most of which were unnecessary, and all of which were nerfed/restructured WAY too hard. Don't even get me started on the DLC system. They create [b]The Problem[/b]: Every couple of months they release a $15-20 DLC that adds/changes core gameplay and adds new stuff to do alongside a free update to support said new stuff. This game came out a loooong time ago... The cost of buying all DLC at full price will make your eyes cross at this point. Then, they sell you [b]The Solution[/b]: A paid-monthly subscription that grants you access to all the DLCs. I had to work up the guts to walk away even with the Sunk-Cost Fallacy dragging at my heels, as the game has been warped further and further away (Technology Update & Leaders Update) from the game I had previously been so enamored by. And that's just it, that's the reason I can't recommend this game. No matter how much you enjoy it now, Paradox still can't make up their minds about what Stellaris is supposed to be or how it's supposed to play. Will you enjoy the next update? Will it alienate you? Roll the dice and wait a couple months to find out what inane new balance change Paradox has in store for you along with the next $25 hickie. Truly a shame.