How's the game without DLC?

[Hexatorium]

Title says it all. I'm a poor guy, can't afford the DLC.

[Apeironic_Entelechy]

Quite good.

I've (almost) never bought the DLC on release and I've never really felt like I was missing anything, they're nice but they just add to the game instead of being essential.

Frankly, even if you had the money I'd still recommended that you just buy the main game. It's better for you to discover if you like it or not and then decide which DLC to buy.

[Skeletonking]

Depends, playing tall is basically impossible without Utopia but the others aren't as important.

[Hexatorium]

Originally posted by Fourthspartan56:

Quite good.

I've (almost) never bought the DLC on release and I've never really felt like I was missing anything, they're nice but they just add to the game instead of being essential.

Frankly, even if you had the money I'd still recommended that you just buy the main game. It's better for you to discover if you like it or not and then decide which DLC to buy.

Would I get a lot of playtime out of it?

Also, as an additional question; I don't know if you own EU 4, but it's worth asking, is this or EU 4 better without DLC?

[Evilgenius]

it is alot of fun, even without DLC. You will miss out on all kinds of things, but it has alot to offer for €10.

The DLC add more varied Empire setup, like Machine Empires, Hive minds, Megacorps or Fanatic Purifiers. Without DLC you are stuck with the more "normal" Empires. Still alot of different once, from Fanatic Spiritualist to Robot obsessed Materialst.

But if you can afford a DLC along side the base game, I would buy Utopia, it gives access to Mega Engineering, advanced slavery options and ascension perks, which is alot of fun, a

[Apeironic_Entelechy]

Originally posted by Hexatorium:

Originally posted by Fourthspartan56:

Quite good.

I've (almost) never bought the DLC on release and I've never really felt like I was missing anything, they're nice but they just add to the game instead of being essential.

Frankly, even if you had the money I'd still recommended that you just buy the main game. It's better for you to discover if you like it or not and then decide which DLC to buy.

Would I get a lot of playtime out of it?

Also, as an additional question; I don't know if you own EU 4, but it's worth asking, is this or EU 4 better without DLC?

I think you absolutely would, the DLC's don't fundamentally change the game so if you like the main game you'll play a bunch regardless if you have them.

When compared to Eu4... I'm honestly not sure. I've owned EU4 for a long time so playing the game without major DLC isn't something I can honestly offer advise about, I'd say you should choose which game best suits your tastes. Playing as a empire/kingdom in the Late medieval period or a space polity in the far future?

[Evilgenius]

Originally posted by Hexatorium:

Would I get a lot of playtime out of it?

Also, as an additional question; I don't know if you own EU 4, but it's worth asking, is this or EU 4 better without DLC?

I think you can have more fun with this, than EU4 base game. But they are very different games. Stellaris is more a 4x mixed with Grand Strategy, which to me gives is more replayability then EU4.

[galadon3]

EU4 honestly is the worst example of a pdx game when it comes to DLC-policy, usually the base games are pretty good without any DLC, EU4 is the one where very essential parts of the gameplay are gated behind DLCs

[Doomwarrior]

Its a good game but boy can i not imagine playing with all the extra flavour

[lockwoodx]

Originally posted by Skeletonking:

Depends, playing tall is basically impossible without Utopia but the others aren't as important.

What is 'playing tall?'

[Peelsepuuppi]

Originally posted by galadon3:

EU4 honestly is the worst example of a pdx game when it comes to DLC-policy, usually the base games are pretty good without any DLC, EU4 is the one where very essential parts of the gameplay are gated behind DLCs

CK2 is a mix of that. There are some IMO pretty essential DLCs That Flesh out the mechanics but others are just for more fun and extra. Then there's Jade Dragon which I still don't get the purpose of. Though I mostly play "Western" countries and Nordics.

[Apeironic_Entelechy]

Originally posted by lock:

Originally posted by Skeletonking:

Depends, playing tall is basically impossible without Utopia but the others aren't as important.

What is 'playing tall?'

Playing tall refers to focusing on internal development instead of expansion.

So rather then conquering or colonizing a bunch of territory you focus on building up a smaller amount of territory. Essentially quality over quantity.

[Peelsepuuppi]

Originally posted by lock:

Originally posted by Skeletonking:

Depends, playing tall is basically impossible without Utopia but the others aren't as important.

What is 'playing tall?'

Playing Tall vs Playing Wide.

It essentially describes what your main focus is for your growth.

Wide means you focus on expanding to new areas while Tall means you focus on improving what you already have.

Neither excludes the other just describes your priorities.

[ColorsFade]

Originally posted by Hexatorium:

Would I get a lot of playtime out of it?

Also, as an additional question; I don't know if you own EU 4, but it's worth asking, is this or EU 4 better without DLC?

Absolutely.

I bought it without the DLC and put probably 300 hours into it before I got the DLC. It was fun and addictive, in that "one more turn" kind of way (except this is more like "a few more minutes", since there are no "turns").

Great game. If you like space 4X I think it's possibly the best one available.