Stellaris

There are two version of Stellaris 2.0+ the current game and 1.9 and bellow. The game launched as many Paradox title launch a complete but shallow game with a lower than start AAA price point but with a frequent DLC releases that can take the game into the hundreds of dollars in overall cost. With each DLC adding more and more meat to the game. The game released with warp drives, hyperlane drives and wormhole drives all with their own strengths and weaknesses but as of 2.0 they removed 2 of the three drive types. It was a HUGE disappointment to many players because that 3 drive system required different strategies to counter each type. It was fun encountering a wormhole drive aggressor state and watching them jump over your defences forcing you to scramble to counter their attacks. This made the game really enjoyable for me, with the asymmetric setup resulti9ng in many great games. Today I see stellaris as a game that broke the 4x mode to a game that withered and died on the vine to be just a mediocre 4x game. If I recall this happen because the lead designer for the game changed and IMHO the new chap just didn't have the vision or imagination to run as lead for stellaris so he dumbed it down. The game has divided the fan base on those that love 2.0+ and those that love 1.9 or earlier. There is no right or wrong it subjective choice but it has made it so I just don't play stellaris much anymore. As I so miss playing with and against multiple drive types. It changed the game so much to remove them. The also made the game more grindy requiring you to build a station in each system as jumping systems doesn't save you resources as it cost twice as much to claim a system two systems away than it does one system away. Which is another change which makes the game a grind compared to 1.9-. Just not a fan of 2.0+

10 € for the game, 68 € for all dlc's. WTF? I liked playing the game in the beginning. Now i checked the dlc's and i lost the motivation to play it again, because i have a unfinished game now... Paradox wants me paying more than the full price again... thats ridi... very very unsatisfaying and disappointing. Milk other people, i will keep spending my money to other developers :P

Version 2.4 is tied to the new version of the Paradox Launcher which requires registering at Paradox. By definition, that's DRM. On the plus side, the new launcher finally allows cloud saving, which didn't work before. The game is good, and I like playing it. But GOG should be honest about the current version not being DRM free!

In my opinion, definitely on the best 4x space games out there. Paradox does a fantastic job at crafting grand strategy games. I was also happy to see it brought to GOG, which was the ultimate reason I bought it. Unfortunately, Paradox keeps up some rather unfortunate business practices which make it hard for me to recommend this game on its own merits. Specifically, just like with Crusader Kings 2, they release a TON of, mostly small, but rather expensive DLC. Some are essential, and rebalance the game (with patches focused specifically for those DLC). Others are portraits. I'm also not pleased with the lack of direct IP/LAN multiplayer. You must create an account, and consent to data harvesting. It's not exactly DRM free, unless you're sticking with single player only. That being said, is it a great game you should buy? YES. Just be prepared to pay more than you'd expect.