Premium Edition worth it?

[dande48]

I've loved Stellaris, but Paradox really ran it into the ground with subpar DLC. The large updates are heavily based around the latest DLC, and with the quality of DLC going down, it's no longer fun for me.

I understand needing to keep the lights on at a company, and DLC is less expensive and less risky than new IPs. How does Age of Wonders 4 stand? Is it a great game on its own, with the DLC adding to its greatness? Or are they going to run this game into the ground too?

[dande48]

Also, I've enjoyed the Civ series, but can't seem to get into the any of the Total War series. Is this game much like Total War?

[Goblin]

I think the base game is great, all the dlc are also pretty good imo.

The game is combat focused but other than that i wouldn't say it is like total war.

[pmemer]

I'd say it's worth it. It plays a lot more like Civ rather than total war. What sets this apart is that there's an insane amount of customization and replayability compared to civ, at least imo.
The DLC is also very well priced and worth it for what you pay. It's not a CK3 scenario where it's debatable if the DLC is worth it even on sale.

[Quvano]

Some big differences between AOW4 and TWWH are:
- Turn based vs real time combat
- Heavy army customization in AOW4 vs fairly fixed races in TWWH
- Map/World customization in AOW4 vs fixed campaign map in TWWH
- TWWH's combat is a lot more cinematic if you zoom in or watch replays
- There is a lot of race specific lore in TWWH, where there is none in AOW4. The only lore is about the settings and heros in the story realms and that's pretty lose in this iteration.

They both feel quite different.

City/Empire management are about the same in complexity and much less when compared to CIV, which is its primary focus. If what draws you to CIV was the deep empire/city management then you won't get that with the other two.

[dande48]

Great input, guys. I really appreciate it.

[Apheirox]

Base game is good quality and the DLCs are, too. It really depends on whether you want to shell out for the price of the full content packs.

[Stephanie]

This game is EXCELLENT. Partly though because of player-made mods. There are many hundreds of good mods available, thousands total.

WELL worth purchasing with all the DLCs. Glad i learned to always buy Premium versions whenever possible; getting ALL future DLC's added to your base game automatically, without having to shop for them individually as they are released, is a nice convenience.

This game is waaaay too life-sucking for me, which is why I'm at 2000ish hours played and still playing...

[Terrkas]

The free Updates so far added a bunch of stuff and werent related to the dlc at all. For example primal fury added a nature culture. The free patch a necromancy rework.

[Astronimo]

I'd say, every DLC worth it.
1) Dragon rulers are cool. Both visuals and gameplay. Dragon transformation is very good, since it has no penalties.
2) Reavers and 4 machine tomes are very cool. Tome of dreadnaught works great with Shrine of smiting.
3) Primal fury adds pretty interesting culture, tomes and very good mount traits. Plus furry forms if you need them.
4) Eldritch realms, so far, is the largest one. Eldritch sovereign is rich on options, Umbral abyss is a true adventure mini game within the game, cosmic events and crisis are messing with game a lot, making it more unpredictable and fun.

So, here you go. Season pass is way cheaper and gives a LOT.

[Blanch Warren]

I was an alpha Centauri fan, but I haven't played Civ 5/6

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by Stephanie:

This game is EXCELLENT. Partly though because of player-made mods. There are many hundreds of good mods available, thousands total.

WELL worth purchasing with all the DLCs. Glad i learned to always buy Premium versions whenever possible; getting ALL future DLC's added to your base game automatically, without having to shop for them individually as they are released, is a nice convenience.

This game is waaaay too life-sucking for me, which is why I'm at 2000ish hours played and still playing...

not all future dlc, the eldritch realms dlc was the last in premium edition/ season pass.

more will come for extra money.

[sandman25dcsss]

Buy base game first, then get season pass when it is on large sale.

[「Hliey」]

Stellaris is made by an in-house studio of Paradox, where as Paradox is just publisher of this.

Further on DLC, the devs wish to continue support, but are uncertain on committing to another season pass. So we might get some more expansions, but unclear how many or for how long yet.

[jpinard]

I think getting it all together now is the way to go.

[Furin]

A little late to the thread, but I bought the premium edition on release and dang I was not disappointed with the amount and quality of DLC. For me it was worth it and I usually stay away from packages, deals and other 'free stuff', because more often than not you are just getting scammed.