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A fun game with a surprising amount of depth. The UI is a bit confusing at first, but once you figure it out the game is quite addictive, just wanting to produce one more game.

I picked this up after the Next update because it finally seemed worth getting. I'll say it is a very fun game, it's relaxing to explore, build your base, and fly around, and the game is aesthetically pleasing. I would hesitate to pay $60 for it, but for $30 or less it seems like a good purchase if you like this type of game.

tldr; Fun but overpriced for what it is at the moment.

I've played through two games and won the second one. While I enjoyed my time playing it, I feel like I have already experienced all the game has to offer. There doesn't seem to be much variety in play style or in-game choices at this point in the game developement. I could ramp up the difficulty more, but I feel like it would be more of the same with less margin for error. I think it is a fun game, but I can't recommend it for $25 when I got ~10 hours of enjoyment out of it. I would recommend it if it was on sale for cheaper and maybe future updates will improve the game to the point where I would recommend it.

People complain about the DLC, but if you wait and buy it as a bundle during a sale, it is affordable. The game is awesome, my favorite game hands down.

I love this DLC (and the Banks update as a whole).

The Banks update without DLC includes traditions/unity, as well as a faction system rework.

The main issue with the DLC is that many of the new improved features are added for free. The main things you get from purchasing this are megastructures and ascension paths, and some advanced specie management choices, which some people don't think are worth $20. Personally, I want paradox to release more updates of this quality, so I bought the update at full price.

As a whole this update takes the game from good to great. It used to be that I would get bored halfway through, but now I stay entertained from the start of the game to the finish.

Updated for version 2.0.2.

I really like the changes in the 2.0 update. Combat in 1.9 with warp/gateways was just obnoxious, where you just chased around enemy fleets hoping to catch them. I only played on hyperlanes before because of how annoying combat was. They managed to make the combat system more interesting while retaining the solid RP and empire building elements.

This is my favorite space 4X game.

Pros:
Lots of variety in play style, with highly customizable empires.
Interesting events and exploration system.
Challenging end game crisis scenarios.
Enjoyable empire management options.
Active development meaning more content in future.

Meh:
Combat is on par with most modern 4X space games. At least it is no longer a weakness in the game.
Insufficient diplomacy options (only slightly better than civilization, which is weak for a paradox game)
Weak AI (I've yet to find an unmodded 4X game with good AI tbh)

Cons:
Repetitive events (after 270 hours you pretty much know what is going to happen with each event)
Expensive DLC. They need to lower the price and or bundle old DLC.
Only conquest/expansion victory conditions (if you care about victory conditions you probably don't play many paradox games)

What I want in the future: improved UI, deeper federation mechanics, more events, more diplomacy options, more victory conditions, MORE EVERYTHING!

Overpriced? Yes. Fun new content? Yes. Just wait for a sale, then buy and enjoy.

Fun game. Similar to terraria, but with sci-fi theming. I hope they implement the story elements, the developement has been very slow :(.

Considerably cheaper than the table top version.