This game is really fun. I've spent so many hours into it that you wouldn't believe. But it seems that this game is already aging... and Badly. With the introduction of 4.0, the tons of new unnecessary mechanics, and nother really new other than ship skins, it seems the game's only way to survive is to rebuild it with each iteration making the lastest one totally unplayable to me. 4.0 Introduces chaos to something that really never needed to be changed. You can no longer control what populations grow in your planets to maximize production, and completely got rid of our freedom of control. Now everything grows automatically, and it's so frustrating when you are trying to have different subspecies that excel at specific tasks. Well not anymore, now somehow when you have several subspecies, your main one keeps growing and there's no way to control that. These people have wrecked something that didn't need to be changed... Don't they know what if something already works, it doesn't need to be changed? Instead of improving the planetary invasion system to make it more interactive and engaging, they decided to redo the whole planetary system. Eladrin shouldn't be game director... He should have looked at his predecesor's works and improved upon it, not change it entirely for the worst. It's time to turn the page, and for Eladrin to pass the mantle to someone more capable.
This is the first review I've written here, and let me begin by telling you that this game is as if Baldur's Gate and Xcom decided to make a baby, this would be the product of that! The mechanics here remind me a bit of Xcom with some of BG3 added to it... If you are a fan of the genre you will find this game familiar. In Xcom if you want good cover from ranged attacks take cover behind a wall or a gas pump, and if you are smart enough use the map against your enemies. Also, this game gets a lot of things that BG3 seems to lack at the moment, for instance, reactive spell casting, I just love it! OH! and there is a hint of modular potential that I've detected as I play the game, such potential, I can't wait to see how it turns out after a year or two of maturity! There is also that dungeon maker, but that is still a work in progress, though I have seen a few player made maps already, it's fantastic. However, there are a few bugs here and there but it's to be expected, and actually it's way less that most AAA titles I've played, so there are no game breaking bugs I have found so far, which is a relief. The weird graphics glitches here are there, some a bit funny too! LOL! Wait till you see if you ever try this game out. I also believe there are a few weapon models that seem repetitive or simple have not been added yet. I expect to see the devs add some bad ass looking elven long swords. All in all, this game to me is a respite from the stink the gaming industry is currently churning out. Definetely, a game you must acquire, and not that expensive either!
