Any reason why recent reviews are so negative?

[jackaho]

Overall reviews are 80% positive, while recent reviews are onl 64% positive. Was there a bad update or something?

[MTB-Fritz]

reading through the negatives provides the explanation I think.

Endless Space is not a beginner friendly game. Its harsh and punishing and it requires much more effort to get into then many casual games of today. There are not many "valid" negative reviews IMO. Most are nothing more then frustrated venting at being floored by the AI. Others never broke into the game and see it as broken and unfinished when in reality its a polished gem.

Really....most of the negative reviews are little more then whining. The authors never put in the time nor did they understood enough in order to write something substantial. Honestly...most hardly qualify as a "review" at all but of course....steam doesnt care so most use it as a thumbs-up/-down feature and steam just displays the result

Endless Space is finished and unchanged for years by now but due to ES2 sale events it usually gets ES1 out for a spectular low price so I guess a lot of people give it a try for that

[jackaho]

Thanks MTB-Fritz.

[Rex Futuri]

Are you sure there hasn't been a change to the game? I hadn't played for nearly a year, and now the tech tree and some of the combat rules seem to be very changed. I completely agree with giving a negative review for a game that has fundamental changes made to it long after release. They just did it to Stellaris, and that game became zero fun.

[MTB-Fritz]

well I have constantly played the game for the last year and javent experienced any changes. The only issue I had was with the enemy AI which I also adressed on the dev forum but as it turned out that was due to some corrupt files on my end.

Any particular examples for drastic changes in tech tree and combat rules?

edit: not sure about your history with the game but Endless Space was combined with Disharmony some time ago meaning that if you only had and played classic you now have access to Disharmony which plays very differently. If you re-installed the game recently the default setting would load up Disharmony.

[Gargozul]

Endless game isn't a friendly game... until you understand the mechanics and get the real potentiel of the gameplay. Then, from an angry player, you transform yourself in a space conqueror, a planet and system Emperor, and then, there's a last thing you're waiting for: who will dare to take just one step in my borders Empire? I've played ES without Disharmony, and this DLC brought more deep gameplay to the game.
The only bug I can find to this game, is that you can't say "OK, I'll play just for half an hour...". Two hours later, you're still chasing the Sophons!

[Blackdragonbird]

I had the game for some time, but only now I started playing. Have to say that it's frustrating. Already read many guides, looked in youtube videos, but the AI simple always have more than me ever, no matter what I do. It expands faster, have more military, overall only one time I got more points than an AI, I was 3rd, the 1st AI declared war on me because of my military building. Detail, it loved me in the turn before, with trade deals and all, and simple go to war a turn later hatting me.

[MTB-Fritz]

Originally posted by Blackdragonbird:

Have to say that it's frustrating.

I second that :)

BrigadierBills Beginners Guide to Disharmony is really all you need to break into the game. If you do have specific questions tho or are looking for tips we can have a chat if you like.

[WolfHound]

Originally posted by Rex Futuri:

Are you sure there hasn't been a change to the game? I hadn't played for nearly a year, and now the tech tree and some of the combat rules seem to be very changed. I completely agree with giving a negative review for a game that has fundamental changes made to it long after release. They just did it to Stellaris, and that game became zero fun.

I'm pretty sure I've noticed a change in the past year. You used to be able to defeat an AI by getting them to surrender their last system in diplomacy. This is no longer possible. Everything else as far as I can tell, combat and such, is the same.

I find the game pretty easy, somewhat too predictable now. The hard part part is, like people said, it throws a lot of stuff at you at the beginning and not a great tutorial. But once you figure it out its a breeze.

Another reason for bad reviews might be that it has ES2 to compete with now, which has a much more in depth immersive feel. Sad thing for me about ES2 is that some great ES factions were either made minors or removed and there aren't enough factions now to even fill up a large game.

[The_YellowBacon]

you have to read an essay to bearly understand the game

[MTB-Fritz]

whats becoming very obvious is that reviews often are extreme opposites in what they express. One review describes it as "fantastic" the other says its a POS. The overall majority of the reviews sides with the positive side and IMO most of the negative reviews can be easily disregarded due to cusswords or pure venting vitriol and overall agressiveness from the author whenever someone "dares" to correct them.

I guess its safe to say that todays generation isnt used to games which doesnt help them along but drop them into the fray without much assistance.

That doesnt make the game at large "bad"

Reading "essays" as you put it certainly helps but its not a requirement. Prior experience in 4x as well as a thicker hide when it comes to the learning process are assets in Endless Space. If you are easily frustrated and have a low treshold for spending effort then chances are you ll never realize what kind of a game Endless Space is. All you need to do is play the game and pay attention to whats happening. At first you wont understand anything (I certainly went through that stage) but if you "want" to understand it then improving your matches is not all that difficult.

Apart from the guides available I think every honest question put on this forum is being replied to so you cannot complain that you dont have a chance to learn the ropes.

Endless Space is not a game that you pick up and play for a few minutes. Oh you can do that...sure BUT it requires some knowledge on your part to do successfully so you cannot really avoid the front effort which is massive.

Every game with a certain amount of complexity has this problem and more recent titles in 4x try to improve their tutorial in order to make the break-in easier. Amplitude neglected the tutorial part in their first release. Doesnt change the fact that the game is indeed very good (especially considering on what kind of budget it was created)

[Liro Raériyo]

i dont know why people say this game is complicated, to master? sure, but so is chess, and overall its not hard to learn how to play that.

[BatMart]

Originally posted by jackaho:

Overall reviews are 80% positive, while recent reviews are onl 64% positive. Was there a bad update or something?

because it was in an humble bundle and A LOT of people bought it...You know this game is complex and not for everyone. this explains that.

[Lujo]

It's kinda of funny to see the game being raged about as "too complex". I've played many classic 4X games and if I have anything negative to say about Endless Space is that it's kind of bland and simple when compared to some. It's a pretty good variant of MOO but it's probably the most basic and generic feeling 4X I've ever seen. Not the worst at all, and it's more fun than its... sorta generic nature, let's say, would suggest. But overly complicated?

[WarBird]

I've noticed that too but I don't get it. I LOVE this game. When I first started playing, like most people, I avoided reading the manual and just preferred to figure ♥♥♥♥ out as I play. I had no trouble and was up and running with minimal effort. So many reviews bellyaching about difficulty and I just don't understand. The UI is glorious and incredible simple and intuative. If you've ever played any of the Civ titles, it's beyond me how you could be confounded by this one.

[Cosmic Castaway A90]

I'm very confused about the complexity being discussed here as well. The most prevalent praise and critique about Endless Space 1 is how basic it is. The most confusing aspects are how the shipyard, combat, and certain technologies function. Aside form that, it's a standard 4X.

While a good number of the negative reviews from the April sale are baffling, there are a decent portion whose main critique is how awful the A.I. is, and that's a very valid critique. The stat boosts are an incredibly lazy method of balancing the game. Some are also experiencing issues getting the game running.

Some reviewers sound as though they've never heard of a 4x, for others the world and mechanics just don't click. Others are being turned off by the poorly created A.I. I don't exactly see anything to suggest any of these reviews are millenials wanting an easy to understand game handed to them.