Stellaris & Ck2 should be case studies on how having no clear DLC policy can ruin a game, the ongoing addiction of paradox for milking DLCs so that the end user full experience costs over 200$, is nauseous & a stain in the gaming industry. Stellaris has had numerous revisions from small to complete gameplay mechanics overhauls, most games in paradox start from a cloudy vision or idea, that is release when the company budget requires to, usually in a very buggy state, with incompetent AI that doesn't know to play the game! Eventually consumers pay to fix, complete or redesign the game with DLCs. There have been more than 1 DLC that has broken the game and where the gameplay at the end of the day consists of digits going up and singleplayer actually meant a single player as A.I. ignored you xD Besides this big disclaimer that highlights that I don't know which stellaris I'm reviewing, here is a short list of pros and cons. Pros - Music - A high degree of customization of the campaign - The late crisis which seems mostly scripted but provides good gameplay - Strategic combat especially in late crisis game can be good when you are forced to move fleets against numerous enemy fleets - A randomise bias tech tree is interesting - Storytelling components of the game from the mission log & excavations Cons - Bad AI besides the late game crisis which is mostly scripted, the other empires can't compete with you without cheating and getting massive bonuses. - The gameplay progression eventually ends up being a digits game, usually imbalance easy to stack bonuses and digits - Planets end up being all Gaias in the end - Tactical combat is non existence - Debris collection is annoying and not fun - No end game objective or win scenario tied to storylines Pay & play imperium galatica 2 first xD it's cheaper and has more soul, stellaris if you can get all the content for under 50$ it's worth it, I hope AI becomes better & maybe we can see voice acting.
I'm really into space strategy games with management and combat, I think I must have played almost all 4x space games there are, so just by having a quick look at this game page I knew I had to have and play immediately! I also have a soft spot for Isometric 2.5D games like Jagged Alliance, Xenonauts, X-COM and I also really enjoy games like StarSector and FTL. So I must say even where this game is at it already provides really good gameplay. Pros - Crew Management - No level Progression, all the progression seems to be item based which I really enjoy, although I would enjoy some limited crew progression and experience. - Soldid gameplay loops and strong gameplay progression - Good Attention to detail, the moment I saw aliens incapacitate my crew and then drag them and put them in cocoons fully animated was a really strong point - Enjoyable combat and ship boarding - Good implementation on ship hazards like fire, high temperatures, low CO2, low Oxygen and others Cons - UI leaves much to be improved - Trading values are not set correctly food is so expensive and so is most of the goods, you end up having a ship that produces all, ends almost the need for trade - No quests or missions afaik - No planet landings. - The first time you see a siren planet you have no idea what it is and that is hurting your crew - No much loot to equip your crew like armor or other times of weapons like explosives - The game needs more tooltips on many info on the UI
This is a good game but lacks value at most should be priced as Cities Skylines. The most innovative mechanic is the technology research that impacts your city, it's a very nice addition to the genre of city simulators the progression in time is also well done, as you research new technologies jobs disappear & new are created for new products, you can add different perks to your town like road lighting, garbage bins etc. I would say this has some flavors of Sim Societies and Civilization V although in this game you can't really click on citizens. Pros - Good Campaign Game - Technologies Mechanics - Interesting mission scenarios - Good Graphics - Interesting Electoral with different parties that change has the time goes - A thin layer of satisfying decision that have ripple effects on the campaign Cons - Needs a Sandbox mode with options like disabling and enabling features - If played with the tutorial active you will most likely loose the game, I lost 4 times straight & had to disable it, it limits too much what you can do on the start & you easily go over budget. - Unpolished values for a bunch of things like Low density to med zones have insane upkeeps, that will make you loose the game if not careful. - Confusing necessities on the UI, for example if you make an industry zone & give it no electricity running water, sewer, internet anything it doesn't seem to impact greatly on the performance and competitive of those industry, you actually make a much better profit having dark ages industries in 2000 xD than having a zone with all those services. - Having good relations with parties is very hard, approving legislation that those parties want doesn't give a good enough boost, it needs to give a large boost even in some cases some permanent thresholds perhaps. - Infrastructure & their upkeep is too high and you can't remove them, for example you add lighting posts or metro/bus and you start having massive looses you can't undo those services.
