Big Caveat : I only played a single game, v2.8.2, no DLC

Hard to fault as a space-based 4X game but for me it suffers from the same problems that many space-based strategy games have:

• Space isn't as interesting as the surface of a planet. Stellaris does well to create interesting maps, with natural choke points and a variety of system types, but in the end, for me, hills, mountains, rivers, oceans etc. create a much more interesting and relatable canvas to explore.
• The Tech feels somewhat generic. A lot of the time, I didn't even check what the name of the tech was - "20% faster physics research", I'll take that. Was it Quantum Physics or something else - I don't care. In the mid-game, the "research complete" pop-up just felt a bit annoying.
• The options to customise ships and fleets are detailed and significant and the fleet management interface is outstanding. But it's not really feasible to watch a space battle in real time to see how your choice of weapons, ship-types and so on made a difference. Just watch the bar move on the pop-up window to confirm you made the right choice.
• The fact that resources are not planet specific makes planetary management a bit boring. What am I short of? Make more of that. Of course it is not that simple, but in the end my planets didn't feel too distinct from each other.

There was a lot to like as well, of course. The races felt distinct and the AI was above average for this kind of game. Diplomacy and warfare felt significant and meaningful. The UI and graphics are excellent and the game was easier to pick up than I expected. There's a lot of depth without complexity for complexity's sake and the various mechanisms are well balanced. I was engaged while I played but just not deeply engaged.

Overall, great space 4X game but I think the genre is just fundamentally less engaging that games like Civ, EU4 etc.

3.5 stars, but 4.5 if you love space-based 4X.

Intro

I loved Europa Universalis III (grand strategy), Endless Space (4X) and Galactic Civilizations II (4X). All of those have their own problems but they're generally engaging. Stellaris is not. Some positives first.

Positives

The race-design options are truly impressive. You can pick from a variety of traits, government types, philosophical leaning, et cetera. You can be undying robots, a hive mind or a race that eats the enemy. There are neat options for your starting planet too, like it being post-apocalyptic or pre-apocalyptic. If the rest of the game was half as fun as this it'd be amazing.

The game also features semi-randomised research options which make research feel a bit less stale than Endless Space or GalCiv.

Poor Design

This game is what i call "pause-based". There's probably a proper word for it but it means it's real-time but you can pause at any point and keep playing. Surveys, research, building and the like all take a certain amount of time. Generally you want to play on the highest speed because otherwise it would take forever to get anywhere.

Here's the problem. There's no autopause other than for events. There's no automation option for explorer ships that actually automates them - anomalies/research have to be done by hand. Messages for newly available options are limited. On planets you can build a building for every 5 population. There's no message that tells you when you reach this threshold, and the population of planets isn't listed in your overview thingie. So you constantly have to check this manually. I was playing in a small galaxy and this was already a pain.

Lack Of Fun

Stellaris, like EU, puts some fairly strong limits on expansion. Influence builds extremely slowly, administration takes dedicated buildings, you can't move pops as easily as in many other games, and so forth. Problem is, there isn't a whole lot to do other than exploring and very limited building. No intricate diplomacy and trade, no small skirmishes in neutral territory, no figuring out what unique buildings to construct. Mostly you're just waiting for things to happen.

The one interesting thing is exploration, with a bunch of different events and anomalies and sometimes multiple options. But even during the second game i had already seen most of the events i got. Apparently contact with other factions tends to bog down in stalemates too.

One time a completely new race spawned and right away they crushed my strongest fleet despite it having nearly twice their strength. All the time, resources and research that went into it was for nothing just so this new race could stand a chance i guess? I get that you want some semblance of balance but to do this on the easiest difficulty? I completely lost interest after that.

It's a fine game it's just that the genre is probably not for me (at least, if this is representative of the genre, it's not for me).

I run into a somewhat satisfying loop of surveying planets, constructing shit, doing diplomacy and combat whenever it's required, repeat ad nauseum with research upgrades to make sure i never feel like nodding off.

It is sufficiently alright where I am feeling a "mild" sense of enjoyment, but it just peaks there. I'm not super engaged, and I don't feel like making it to the endgame. This is probably a worthless review from someone who isn't into the game if I leave it at that, so I'm at least going to run down some positives.

Combat is interesting in terms of options, and there's always something to put your fleet on if you feel the slightest bit bored. There's tons of research paths and options and the different starter races feel differentiated. You will have to change your global strategy around developments that happen (when they do, VERY few and far between) and your gameplay loop will change over time.

Overall though eh, I've had the best I can get out of this and I'm not seeing any more down the line. (6/10)