Stellaris

I love this game, I have spent 50 hours playing it at this point, and it's incredibly detailed and very entertaining. I can just get lost in it. The only thing I miss is a much smarter AI. Apparently, there is a mod for it, though: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=german&id=692253918 but it really ought to be part of the game, rather than a mod.

I´m no veteran of 4x games or grand strategy or any of that sort. I mean I played CKIII a bit and Planetfall ,AOW3 etc but not for the thousands of hours some people have put into those types of games. I was looking for something complex you could pour many hours into, and this came recommended. This has many knobs and dials to turn with many game systems not always easy to understand with a glance, that´s what makes it fun. Theres very little downtime there´s always somewhere you can optimise or something to click on managing your space empire. I think of the reasons I got hooked on Stellaris is even though theres many obscured systems you won´t see just looking at the map ,initially there is the instant gratification and easy to understand , "if I click here this little ship flies here" presentation combined with the "events" that are just small text popups with little stories in them and I found them very (some very very very good basis for a sci-fi mystery movie or novel level) interesting sci-stories. I still haven´t seen anywhere near all of them I still get new things happening after having played for 70+ hours. I did spend some time on youtube looking at tutorials and guides to understand how some of the systems worked but even before I understod them the game was for the reasons mentioned fun to play as I was learning. game is not perfect but any issues I have with the game are minor compared to how much I enjoy it. I got the game and most of the dlc except a couple of the species packs on the sale and combined it was about the price of a AAA blockbuster at full release price. Definetly worth it.

The music, gameplay and mechanics are spot on. Its Civ in space, and you can modify anything. I start playing and then the sun starts setting and I wonder where the weekend went. Time to be a wage slave again

Why did this game take so long to come to GOG. I already own this game on steam and I sunk a lot of hours in to it. It was really good getting all new version because with each major update the mechanics of the game changes so much that you actually got a brand new game (for free). And a new change is coming soon so I will again spend hours on this game.

First of all this is Paradox game, if you are not used to it's engine and AI logic, you won't get all flavor until you explore all it's facets. Second, gameplay-wise Stellaris is your typical, but perfectly-made 4X with Civ5-like progression/economics and diplomacy/AI mechanics from CrusaderKings (light version). Latter means that all those small things you don't understand, they matter a lot, and if you'll understand them you may make AI dance for you. I like small stories of Stellaris, graphics, music combat it is all very smooth and balanced, but AI and it's behaviour is a real gem here. Not perfect gem, but still times better then in other 4X games, where AI runs as a script and after script end will never try to come back and just sits braindead in the corner. Here it will come back, and it will fight other AIs for you too (without your participation in war). Just set it on the right track. You may meet small random non-scripted AI who sits on one planet and not finished, because he is very polite. Gift him a sector and you'll see how he'll bloom and make a comeback. To put it plainly, in comparison to Endless Space 2, this game rocks from gameplay side. I'll say it's like civ5 but 4x. If you like civ5 go Stellaris, if you like civ6 where game entertains you, but AI is dead, go -> ES2. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed ES2 greatly. But after you heard all stories there is nothing to do there. Here... in Stellaris you may play for centuries same run even after all unique researches are done, just keep AI dancing and fighting. Yes, you need to make wars, even if you are "good guy", like me. There are "liberation wars" for that. And if you don't like to war, you may get into federation and other AIs will win game for you, though game will be much shorter and shallow that way.