Stellaris

The GOG version is not only not DRM free, there are also no achivements. It is bugged. Game itself is poorly programmed (to the point of grammatical errors) and is a DLC hell. A copy of extra aspects of SOTS 2 on Klauschewitz engine.

Three quick facts: riddled with DRM, incredibly slow to load anything, yet the game itself is fast, and the nonexistant tutorial leaves a game with that level of complexity next to unplayable

Paradox has sadly gone the razor blade route. Charge outrageous amounts for dozens of DLC that make the game really fun.

Even if When I talk about frustration, I don't mean gameplay-wise. Uninstall it once, and when you decide you want to play again, that's when the horror starts. And then you have to fumble around in forums trying to match your error, just for the install files to be "corrupted". It really makes you jump through a legion of hurdles just to get it up and running. This definitely Paradox's competence into question, if you ask me, there is no question. And there is no competence either. What makes this all the more frustrating is knowing that I payed god knows how much for like 10-11 DLCs. Most of which should've been basic mechanics when the game launched. The only reason Paradox isn't as hated as something as Activision or EA is because they make niche nerd games which don't get the attention as something like Madden. Said games are usually great, once you payed for the DLCs, of course. These business practices would make Blizzard blush. Awesome game, incomopetent and greedy developers. So incompetent it compelled me to write my 2nd review in like 4 years of having a GOG account.

This is a review of the base game only because I refuse to give Paradox another dollar until they stop with the DLC spam and go back to developing complete games. I've also never played a campaign long enough to get to the end game crisis, so make of this review what you will. The concept is nice, I wanted to play this game for a while before I actually bought it. But the actual gameplay doesn't do it for me. There's not enough interaction with other civs, especially if they're peaceful. Being able to design your own ships is nice, but combat basically just boils down to deathball mechanics. It also utilizes the war score mechanic from Europa Universalis, where after the war is over you negotiate territory in the peace deal rather than just keeping everything you've conquered. I thought the mechanic worked really well in EU, but it feels out of place here. Really the only fun I had with this game was with the race creator, where you can try to recreate classic factions from other media. Unfortunately some of the cooler stuff, like hive minds (for recreating Zerg or Borg), were witheld from the main game so that you spend more money on DLC's. And again, playing peacefully or even alongside a peaceful race is as boring is this game gets, so you really have to make everyone some sort of space Nazi if you want any kind of real interaction. I really wanted to love this game, but to be honest I regret buying it. Why shell out like $200 for the base game and all the relevant DLC's when you can just play Distant Worlds and have a much better time?