Stellaris: Upgrade Bundle

Stellaris is one of those games that suffers from the modern game design paradigm of making every little aspect a DLC unlike games of twenty years ago that just got two or three huge expansions. That said Stellaris is a great game, but it can be hard for someone who is new to figure out what is required for the Stellaris experience and what is advanced content, optional content, or fluff/horse armor. This Starter Pack is a heaven send for new players. It includes the base game AND Utopia. The base game should always be bundled with Utopia. Core game play mechanics that make Stellaris unique and famous are not accessible without Stellaris's first expansion. That alone makes this worth the price. As for the other three parts of the Starter Pack, they aren't as necessary as Utopia, but great places to build from. I would usually advise someone to get Synthetic Dawn for the Sci-Fi machine aspects of future space travel that are missing from the base game. Leviathans adds the giant space monsters to the game to spice up conflict experiences. Apocalypse adds the giant planet killer space weapons missing from the base game and Space Genghis Khan mini story arc. That said, if I were building a starter pack beyond the base game and Utopia, I would also include the Distant Stars Story Pack. Stellaris can feel kind of empty and Distant Stars can really make the galaxy of Stellaris feel alive. So if your someone whose decided to go for this "Starter Pack" over "Stellaris base game + Utopia", consider adding Distant Stars to your shopping cart. You won't regret it.

I do not condone ripping out key gameplay features and then trying to sell them as DLC.

If you were remotely interested on trying out this game, but don't know where to start because of the tons of DLC, get this fire-and-forget solution. The bundle includes Utopia, which is the only vital DLC for Stellaris, plus three other DLC packs that offer a little bit of everything: A new playable empire (race), more stuff to find in the universe both friendly and not so friendly, technologies, ships, and even music. The base game is overwhelming enough. With all the content included in this bundle, you'll have more than enough content for months or even years. This bundle is actually great because it'll provide you a rock-solid foundation for you to understand and master the game, so you can choose better which DLCs you want to gradually add to your experience in the future. If you think it's expensive, wait for a sale. -70% off deals come and go pretty frequently, and the amount of content this bundle offers, at sale price, is a steal.

Paradox interactive has the capability of creating great, fun games. But then they rip them apart to sell back to you as DLCs at 20+€ each. It's just not worth it. Especially after considering that they not only stuff content behind Paywalls, which would be understandable, but also Quality of Life features, which almost amount to bugfixes. If you buys this game you will be happy at first, but then you will feel the dread of being ripped off. Screw Paradox (Bought and played on steam)