Stellaris

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 984 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 742 out of 984
  2. Mixed: 133 out of 984
  3. Negative: 109 out of 984

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  1. Medus
    Sep 7, 2023
    8
    Pretty good game duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
  2. Yannig
    Aug 26, 2023
    7
    This game is pretty hard to get started with, but it keeps you interested ...
  3. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 25, 2023
    8
    Solid and complex space 4x strategy game. Very fun to play, plenty of options and with a lot of alternatives and modes to play... tends to become boring late game, and the DLC politic is unacceptable
  4. stellarissucks
    Aug 17, 2023
    0
    Great game, awful developers.

    This game is great mechanic wise, it is so much fun, but the sheer incompetence and greed of the developers is definitely what is driving this score. If you dare to uninstall this game and then try to reinstall it on the same system, there will be a myriad of hurdles you will have to go through to play it again. Nevermind that you have to literally buy    Great game, awful developers.

    This game is great mechanic wise, it is so much fun, but the sheer incompetence and greed of the developers is definitely what is driving this score.

    If you dare to uninstall this game and then try to reinstall it on the same system, there will be a myriad of hurdles you will have to go through to play it again. Nevermind that you have to literally buy DLC to make this game enjoyable, there's quite a bit of DLC features that should've been in the base game.

    Unfortunately, this devolved into a Paradox review, rather than a Stellaris review. But trying to play this game can be so frustrating at times, that I feel it is warranted.

    Thank you for coming to my TED talk.    … Expand
  5. apokalipto
    Aug 11, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  6. thethethe4
    Jul 26, 2023
    8
    Stellaris offers the player a unique experience to manage a galactic wide civilisation. You have resource too mange as well as a government to mange. You also have to be weary of a range of threats. You must also compete with other empires for new star systems and wage war if you must. The game has a lot of mechanics that are all very refined and fun to use, however there is a lot ofStellaris offers the player a unique experience to manage a galactic wide civilisation. You have resource too mange as well as a government to mange. You also have to be weary of a range of threats. You must also compete with other empires for new star systems and wage war if you must. The game has a lot of mechanics that are all very refined and fun to use, however there is a lot of seemly basic things looked behind DLCs. For example you can't build megastructures or use super weapons unless you get two separate DLCs. When playing the game you get reminded that you don't have DLCs by the game allowing you to see the options the DLCs offer but not allowing you to use them, a bit like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit but never allowing the rabbit to get the carrots unless the rabbits pays a further few hundred. All these features getting locked behind a paywall is really annoying though you can still have a enjoyable experience without them if you use mods.… Expand
  7. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    9
    Unbeatable space strategy game. So much going on, so many ways to play, so many things to do, so many stories to discover and create. Soundtrack is S tier ambience. Only downside is certain technical limitations, balance choices, and expensive DLC catalogue for full experience.
  8. 113
    May 16, 2023
    1
    Look, All I wanted to do was take over the galaxy like a normal teenager. However for some damn reason, those damn turtle people wont leave me the hell alone. I never did anything to you. We even made an alliance and then you betrayed me. We were supposed to enslave the jellyfish people together and now we will never know. Mark my words, I will end your Civilization.
  9. sara9420
    May 14, 2023
    10
    just one of the best RTS games out there, the sheer amount of time I've spent in this game on the pc and the xbox edtions is crazy, it keeps me drawn in.
  10. aap4ixx
    Apr 27, 2023
    10
    10 и не меньше. Я в неё наиграл часов 100 и каждый раз при выходе нового DCL я к ней возвращаюсь :D
    + Мод сообщество крайне мощное (сейчас без модов я в игру больше не играю, но это не говорит что игра не доделанная, просто всегда можно внести что то новое для души).
    От меня игра заслуживает твёрдую 10 :D    10 и не меньше. Я в неё наиграл часов 100 и каждый раз при выходе нового DCL я к ней возвращаюсь :D
    + Мод сообщество крайне мощное (сейчас без модов я в игру больше не играю, но это не говорит что игра не доделанная, просто всегда можно внести что то новое для души).

    От меня игра заслуживает твёрдую 10 :D
  11. Roger1868
    Feb 28, 2023
    10
    I have to give Stellaris a 10 out of 10 for this masterpiece. This is the greatest 4X strategy game I have played so far. BTW- Paradox makes other great games. With all the DLC, this game without question, is infinitely replayable. The many options of alien character creations are mind boggling. If a game is too long for you, just make a smaller galaxy. Great stuff here. Get this game.
  12. rezo_21
    Feb 15, 2023
    9
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 88 IIIIIIIIII====================
  13. MrTusks
    Nov 29, 2022
    0
    For the life of me, I can't figure out what this game wants me to do. The tutorial gives you tasks but doesn't tell you why it matters. If you transfer some knowledge from games like Civ you can figure out things like the resource management, but beyond that I am not given a reason to care.
  14. Smiler78
    Nov 6, 2022
    2
    First impressions of a game I had very high hopes for. Love strategy games with a passion so I was excited to play this. I loaded it up, chose my empire and was met with a massive array of icons and options. I have NO IDEA what to do! Just flicking through lots of upgrade trees and options. I don't get it thus far. I have given up for now. I feel like I would have to study it for weeks toFirst impressions of a game I had very high hopes for. Love strategy games with a passion so I was excited to play this. I loaded it up, chose my empire and was met with a massive array of icons and options. I have NO IDEA what to do! Just flicking through lots of upgrade trees and options. I don't get it thus far. I have given up for now. I feel like I would have to study it for weeks to even grasp the basic principles. I'm tired and can't be bothered trying to figure it out. To be continued...… Expand
  15. jacybfb
    Sep 3, 2022
    10
    Great game! Fun! You can play a lot of different games! Really recommend it!
  16. Andrew_P
    Aug 28, 2022
    10
    Великолепная космическая стратегия. Это отличная песочница для создания разных рас и отыгрыша интересных сценариев. Великолепно!
  17. flecso
    Jul 17, 2022
    0
    Достойна гра, не все ідеально але дуже класно
  18. BrotherBrent
    Jul 15, 2022
    6
    Thought this was a 4x but it's not. It's OK but don't expect something like MoO.
  19. ChumaGG
    Jun 9, 2022
    9
    Debe ser uno de los mejores juegos de estrategia que he jugado. Altamente complejo, divertido y con un alto nivel de rejugabilidad.
    Los únicos puntos negativos que tiene, están relacionados con la forma en la que esta comercializado y con el late game del juego. Si quieres la experiencia Stellaris completa, tienes que gastar bastante dinero en DLC. Mientras que el late game del juego, se    Debe ser uno de los mejores juegos de estrategia que he jugado. Altamente complejo, divertido y con un alto nivel de rejugabilidad.
    Los únicos puntos negativos que tiene, están relacionados con la forma en la que esta comercializado y con el late game del juego. Si quieres la experiencia Stellaris completa, tienes que gastar bastante dinero en DLC. Mientras que el late game del juego, se puede convertir para algunos, en un infierno de micro gestión.    … Expand
  20. marsmelon24
    May 7, 2022
    10
    Stellaris is the best strategy game I ever played it is so Sc-fi and science fiction it should be in the history book
  21. ShadyAlligator
    Apr 27, 2022
    10
    Has been made into the best space strategy game ever crafted, especially with the expansions. Even without the expansions, the free patches have made the game really deep and replayable, either as a sandbox (on easy) or as a hardcore strategy experience (on hard).
  22. Serevok
    Apr 22, 2022
    10
    Have been playing this game since the very start and I still love this game! There is just something so special and unique about this game that I just have not found anywhere else.
  23. EngineerGamin
    Mar 29, 2022
    9
    Very fun strategy game. War and destruction on a galactic scale are fun! :D
  24. Ivan9173
    Dec 9, 2021
    10
    Сначала я долго не мог разобраться в механиках игры, а позже стал абсолютно от неё зависим.
  25. Rnoviok
    Dec 4, 2021
    10
    Good game from Paradox with lots of good dlc's
    great gameplay in my case is fun for hundreds of hours
  26. Harpmen
    Oct 29, 2021
    9
    Plants that survive in the nuclear world and feed on radiation, enslaving mushrooms, necro-democrats. It's all there for you.
  27. kamil0101
    Oct 26, 2021
    4
    An interesting game to play on the Xbox Game Pass for a few afternoons, but not much longer than that. It was fun figuring the game out, peeling off more and more layers of the game mechanics, then managing planets, assigning planets' "pops" to jobs in order optimise various outputs. But after working this out and winning a few systems in my first ever war, I did not see a reason why IAn interesting game to play on the Xbox Game Pass for a few afternoons, but not much longer than that. It was fun figuring the game out, peeling off more and more layers of the game mechanics, then managing planets, assigning planets' "pops" to jobs in order optimise various outputs. But after working this out and winning a few systems in my first ever war, I did not see a reason why I should keep on playing. I already knew what the game would be like: a "rinse and repeat" cycle of optimising resource output, upgrading fleets, waiting for the truce to expire before winning a couple more meaningless systems in another meaningless war.

    A major problem with this game is its theme: there is none. The sci-fi veneer is quite poor.

    We know nothing about the species that are available to play, there is no story, they are completely random (in fact, I believe they *can* be randomised). Which makes interaction with AI opponents a dull affair, in which you only care about their strength relative to yours.

    The systems are all pretty much identical except for their resource output and the colour of the star, so I explore them only because I have to, not because I'm genuinely interested to find out what's round the corner (first encounter events were fun though). It is different from other comparable games: in Civilization, for instance, discovering edges of the continent, strategic resources, natural wonders, city-states all matters and makes exploration interesting. In Europa Universalis or its spin-offs like Crusader Kings you don't really discover anything but you play on the real world map, which adds meaning to your conquests: it's more fun to say "I conquered France" than "I won 6 star systems, all identical and randomly generated". It doesn't help that planets suitable for colonisation are fairly rare and a great majority of systems are empty points on the map which you can't do anything interesting with, other than mine them for resources.

    The game is horrifically time consuming. I did not finish my game, I abandoned it in what I believe was early mid-game, to which point I got after spending maybe 15 hours. You could finish a infamously lengthy RPG game like The Witcher 3 or watch all 11 seasons of Modern Family in the time at this rate it takes to finish a single game of Stellaris. And you'd have way more fun doing so.    … Expand
  28. whatname
    Jun 7, 2021
    10
    I might change it later, but for now I give a ten.
    I played for 50 hours.
    This game is amazing. And it works on Linux without doing anything. The only bad thing is that it is difficult to start playing it. I left it there for two months before finding the time and motivation to dig into it. Now, after fifty hours playing it, I really am amazed. It is deep, strategic, with the    I might change it later, but for now I give a ten.
    I played for 50 hours.

    This game is amazing.
    And it works on Linux without doing anything.
    The only bad thing is that it is difficult to start playing it.
    I left it there for two months before finding the time and motivation to dig into it.

    Now, after fifty hours playing it, I really am amazed.
    It is deep, strategic, with the emotion of exploring the stars and building a civilization that I did not have since Galactic Civilizations (one and two).
    Stellaris is much better of course, given how old that game is now.
    Although less important to me, it also has great graphics, music and sound effects.

    You cannot control almost anything during the battle.
    At first I thought that was a limitation, coming from Sins of a solar empire, but now I like it because the fun is being able to build the fleets and defenses, and to decide where to employ them.

    Besides, this game is much more strategic than Sins of a solar empire, and I am not sure anymore that manually controlling the ships would be a plus.    … Expand
  29. Scalzo98
    Apr 16, 2021
    9
    Its a fantastic game that has depths that require quite the learning curve. But once you master it you can become what ever kind of empire you could ever dream of. It does have its flaws and particularly when in online matches glitches will tend to crop up, but they are rarely ever game vreakimg .
  30. Inari_Acolyte
    Apr 1, 2021
    8
    A good sci-fi 4X game with a wide breadth of mechanics, playstyles, and replayability. This game is enjoyable despite the regular changes to its base mechanics, prevalent tech issues, and mediocre AI.
    Unfortunately, the game is woefully incomplete without some of its DLCs: namely Utopia and Megacorps. I only recommend buying this game if you can get it on sale with DLCs.
  31. enro
    Feb 19, 2021
    8
    Really good space strategy game that gives you customization options. Recommend
  32. Nikitosss95
    Feb 13, 2021
    10
    If you mix Sci-fi with Europa Universalis and Star Wars/Star Trek, you will get an extraordinary and exciting game called Stellaris! I love how in the beginning you have to explore and to colonize as many planets as possible until you encounter neighboring empire/realm; I love the well developed economic system of this game as well as the technology tree, kudos to creators of this game!
  33. WCM320
    Feb 6, 2021
    9
    Stellaris is a great example of players not knowing what they want.
    The 8 it has is fair, but it should be a bit higher, there is nothing better then it right now and most likely wont be fore awhile.

    The only real issue with it is that it feels very much like a "Live service" With the company constantly tinkering with it.
  34. Fallconex
    Dec 17, 2020
    8
    A great strategy with great style, beautiful graphics, good scenarios, and lots of content to explore. Replayable for many many times
  35. openworlds
    Dec 14, 2020
    8
    One of the best recent space strategy experiences out there. It's not the best Paradox game and abuses of too many sci-fi cliches, it's really more oriented to "space fantasy" that a "science prediction and simulation", the options, micro and macro management, could be better, the notification system is annoying, the art, music, ethics system and events are great.
  36. Ghost1069
    Dec 10, 2020
    0
    Stellaris was, until 1.9.1, a very good game. It was on the right track to become a masterpiece. All it needed was some more content and QoL updates.

    Instead, we got a "rework" that made the game a boring spreadsheet spree. You spend literally 95% of your time looking at the planet list and shuffling pops and induestries between planets.

    Just go play 1.9.1. It is much better than this crap.
  37. Combiner
    Nov 15, 2020
    10
    One of the best space games for me, with so many detail. I actually never finished any run (I have around 200 hours in it) because every run is different and you want to play it again and again.
  38. crocro27
    Oct 5, 2020
    10
    Stellaris is by far one of the best strategy games out there. It has a perfect balance between politics, management, and warfare. With patches and DLCs the game has only become better, and I really wish they added some other improvements to the game like changing like the army where it would be nice if you could make your own divisions like in hoi4 and on the political side something likeStellaris is by far one of the best strategy games out there. It has a perfect balance between politics, management, and warfare. With patches and DLCs the game has only become better, and I really wish they added some other improvements to the game like changing like the army where it would be nice if you could make your own divisions like in hoi4 and on the political side something like a parliament where if you are a democratic empire you need to get support of the majority to pass your laws similar to te galactic senate in the federations DLC, but other wise this game is perfect… Expand
  39. Pumpk1n_
    Jun 28, 2020
    9
    Played the game for over 300 hrs, with all of its DLCs.

    The game was great in early-mid game when exploring and became a challenge to one's patience towards the end game. Partly because of the high PC requirements for pops as well as the crisis. I love the game for its backgouend stories written and hidden as anormalies waiting to be discovered, loved how you build the universal    Played the game for over 300 hrs, with all of its DLCs.

    The game was great in early-mid game when exploring and became a challenge to one's patience towards the end game. Partly because of the high PC requirements for pops as well as the crisis.

    I love the game for its backgouend stories written and hidden as anormalies waiting to be discovered, loved how you build the universal empire and dealing with different spieces as the leader, loved the great content and variety in the empire management, loved the music, the music was awesome.

    Also , mods would add quite some fun to the game.

    The main issue for the game is the poor late game experience. And I doubt it could be solved in the forseeable future.    … Expand
  40. ARando
    Jun 23, 2020
    10
    A very fun game by paradox. Gameplay is fun and engaging, anomalies are fun, but the best part about this game is that it is an amazing story driving experience. A must try for those who love sic-fi, fantasies about future societies, or simply love a good story in general.
  41. dlbin7
    Jun 22, 2020
    9
    the game has many questions but it still give us a vast and strang world ，I think it will be better.
  42. SubaqueousDream
    Jun 19, 2020
    8
    One of those game that will consume 1000's of hours before you even realize. Then doubles it once you realize you can play with friends in multiplayer!
  43. Crimert
    Jun 18, 2020
    7
    At first, the gameplay was really exciting. But I got bored in time. Long story short, I had high hopes but left a bit disappointed. 26hrs on record.
  44. HaloFever
    Jun 1, 2020
    6
    At the fastest speed, a game of Stellaris on a small map will take 16.67 hours. (Big thank you to my son for running those numbers.) My first real game of Stellaris took me over 40 hours. I suppose that makes Stellaris a great deal assuming you have nothing better going on in your life. I thought if I got to the end, there might be a big pay-off, like a cutscene or a memorial to all of myAt the fastest speed, a game of Stellaris on a small map will take 16.67 hours. (Big thank you to my son for running those numbers.) My first real game of Stellaris took me over 40 hours. I suppose that makes Stellaris a great deal assuming you have nothing better going on in your life. I thought if I got to the end, there might be a big pay-off, like a cutscene or a memorial to all of my space empire's achievement. There weren't. The game just says "victory" and that's it.

    If I am to be totally fair, I have to let you know that you can adjust the game settings to make games go quicker. Choose the smallest, fastest tech improvements, and earlier events. Even so, Stellaris has long stretches where you have nothing to do while you wait for your workers to make more resources or science ships to scan objects. Then you hit pause so you don't lose time versus the computer opponents, and thus turn Stellaris into a kind of turn based game like Civilization. (Though even in the heyday of Civilization 2, games would never take more than 40 hours to play.)

    Back in Mass Effect days, I might have marveled at the diversity of star systems and the sci-fi storylines built into the game. Times have changed, and with games like "No Man's Sky" that let me explore a galaxy in first person, I find look and feel of the game to be uninteresting. The voice options of the a.i. assistant are nice. The planet destroying Colossus is also good fun. The giant space battles are kind of "meh" when the player has no control over the ships and the frame rate tanks.

    The strategy game is entirely familiar, and any veteran of these kinds of games will win easily. You can see which resources are important, but one of them, energy, is also the game's currency. Spam energy production and you will have an easy time. The game also gives the players many tools to assure victory. I love tools. If you play as a race who cannot inhabit any world other than a perfect "Gaia" world, then you can genetically engineer them to survive on any world. If your empire is to big then you can build some administrative buildings to ease the burden of expansion. You can dedicate planets and orbital habitats to maximize production of research, resources, or trade. You can also build a super giant fleet to terrorize the galaxy. Play it your way.

    The game has some limiters. The first is the "Influence". You cannot simply take an area of space by planting a space station. You first have to build up enough influence. I don't know how influence is supposed to work in the dead of space. This isn't like a city annexing the unincorporated county. No one will protest. When you form a galactic council, then influence is understandable. Early in the game, though, it is simply a limiter and not an elegant one.

    The other minor limiters are empire sprawl, starbase capacity, and star fleet capacity. You can solve empire sprawl and fleet capacity issues with buildings. Starbase capacity is more of a hard limit and seems very arbitrary considering the game world lets you staff hundreds of giant space ships but not more than a dozen starbase's. Much of the game seems arbitrary, like trading with the a.i. My son plays this game with his friends on-line and they will trade constantly. The limiters in the game to keep the human in check versus the a.i.

    Lastly, the a.i. in the game can be dumb. For starters, if you give the a.i. control over your planets, a complicated task in itself, the a.i. will do a terrible job. The best way to play is to micromanage everything. I am always baffled when I play a game on a computer and the game won't let me use the computer to reduce the tediousness of playing the game. War with the a.i. is frustrating. The a.i. will not send their ships on suicide missions, but they will break up their fleets and make picking them off a more tedious task than it should be. In real war, armies tend to congregate at chokepoints. Not in Stellaris. The a.i. doesn't understand the meaning of the word. Perhaps the a.i. strategy is to exhaust the player with tedious actions per minute.

    All in all, my feelings about Stellaris are mixed. There is a lot of game here and I appreciate what the game has to offer. There is just too much of it and too much of it that is not fun to play.    … Expand
  45. Nereid
    May 24, 2020
    2
    Good, music, good UI, okayish graphics but the diplomacy is just meh.

    And because the diplomacy is the biggest part in a game like Stellaris, it just deservers 2/10. So, what is wrong with the diplomacy? As soon as you or an AI empires is part of a federation you can't negotiate NAPs or mutual defense pacts anymore. A federation has to fight for their own. Even if there is    Good, music, good UI, okayish graphics but the diplomacy is just meh.

    And because the diplomacy is the biggest part in a game like Stellaris, it just deservers 2/10.

    So, what is wrong with the diplomacy?

    As soon as you or an AI empires is part of a federation you can't negotiate NAPs or mutual defense pacts anymore. A federation has to fight for their own. Even if there is another federation or empire that do have the same enemy you cant defend yourself together. For a federation there are no options to negiotiate an alliance, a pact or something else with another federation. You are just doomed - or you have to disolve the federation (and the AI won't do this).

    Imagine the USA that refuses to join or form the NATO because they are a federation.

    If you just could turn of feds completely Stellaris would deserve 8/10, but you can't.    … Expand
  46. Sandro86
    May 17, 2020
    9
    Must have for every sci-fi nerd who loves Real Time Strategy games. I has everything,
  47. alanwaketan
    May 2, 2020
    9
    这是第一款让我非常满意的类星战题材的大战略游戏。当然本类游戏其实市场上一个巴掌都数得过来，其他几款年代有些久远已不可考就，而且各有各的优缺点。所以说本作可以说是这个类别里头唯一一款全面没有尿点的游戏。玩这款游戏就是为了实现征途是星辰大海。强烈推荐给每一个喜欢星战的玩家。这是第一款让我非常满意的类星战题材的大战略游戏。当然本类游戏其实市场上一个巴掌都数得过来，其他几款年代有些久远已不可考就，而且各有各的优缺点。所以说本作可以说是这个类别里头唯一一款全面没有尿点的游戏。玩这款游戏就是为了实现征途是星辰大海。强烈推荐给每一个喜欢星战的玩家。
  48. Baltifru
    Apr 19, 2020
    8
    The following was written by a newcomer to the 4X genre.

    Like other Paradox games, it takes a lot of time to learn how to play Stellaris and how to enjoy it. There is a guide (personified by a robot) to help getting started, but the interface seems so rich for new players that it still takes a lot of time to get used to it. At one point I was almost discouraged to go further because it    The following was written by a newcomer to the 4X genre.

    Like other Paradox games, it takes a lot of time to learn how to play Stellaris and how to enjoy it. There is a guide (personified by a robot) to help getting started, but the interface seems so rich for new players that it still takes a lot of time to get used to it. At one point I was almost discouraged to go further because it was taking so long for me to understand the mechanics of the game. But passed a point around 50 hours, I started to fully enjoy the possibilities offered by Stellaris.

    The gameplay includes the management of resources, the expansion of your territory and your planets, politics, diplomacy, wars and research of better technologies. All these aspects have their own importance in the development of your empire. Explaining every function of all these aspects here would take way too much time; let's simply say that whatever aspect of the game you prefer, you can dedicate a lot of time to it and make it count to empower your empire. I praise the devs for coming up with such a complex, yet balanced and enjoyable gameplay. The only element that is not totally on point in my opinion is diplomacy. Interactions with other empires are often chosen from a rather rigid set of possibilities, and all the nuances between brotherhood and total hate are hardly represented in the game. But let's be honest, I have yet to see a videogame where the full complexity of human (or alien) relationships and communication is represented.

    Sound-wise, Stellaris is a masterpiece. One of these games that you want to play just to listen to some of its themes.

    If you are a noob to the genre like me, make sure to change the parameters before starting your first games. Playing against a lot of fallen empires/advanced empires or facing an early crisis can feel very cynical and very discouraging, especially when a typical game lasts between 20 and 30 hours.

    My personal conclusion: the game is totally worth the initial effort required to understand its complex gameplay. A great game with a great personality that fans of strategy can enjoy at its best.    … Expand
  49. Renegade_Zerg93
    Apr 11, 2020
    1
    You have to watch 3 hours tutorial on Youtube to understand how things work in this game. At first, you will enjoy everything until everything stats crumbling apart without you knowing why because there is no in-game tutorial whatsoever. This is not a game this is hard work and a terrible waste of time.
  50. paradoxfail
    Mar 6, 2020
    0
    Genuinely the worst dev team in the business.

    Outright stopped Mac support in 2019, despite selling MILLIONS of games they are LEGALLY REQUIRED to support MacOS for. EVERY SINGLE parafail title has been pulled from MacOS, because the devs couldn't be bothered maintaining their stupid redundant launcher that literally not one single person ever wanted. These devs SUCK. 0/10    Genuinely the worst dev team in the business.

    Outright stopped Mac support in 2019, despite selling MILLIONS of games they are LEGALLY REQUIRED to support MacOS for.

    EVERY SINGLE parafail title has been pulled from MacOS, because the devs couldn't be bothered maintaining their stupid redundant launcher that literally not one single person ever wanted.

    These devs SUCK.

    0/10 outright f**king stole my money    … Expand
  51. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    7
    The concept is great, but it needed a lot of paches, and the ai is still dumb, some concept are too simplistic also. Moreover, the end game gets tedious and boring because there is too much micromanagement and you are just grinding to a victory that you know is coming if you had some wins in the mid game.
  52. Shrik3
    Feb 24, 2020
    5
    Do not buy until the next update is released. Which is supposed to fix the performance. This is not a question of specs it is a case that the mid late game lag goes from huge to unplayable on any cpu.

    I doubt anyone can play a large map playably from mid game. I have heard of no one. Not even the development studio itself from the latest video they posted while using a super charged    Do not buy until the next update is released. Which is supposed to fix the performance. This is not a question of specs it is a case that the mid late game lag goes from huge to unplayable on any cpu.


    I doubt anyone can play a large map playably from mid game. I have heard of no one. Not even the development studio itself from the latest video they posted while using a super charged cpu.

    The recommended system requirements should be increased to "please wait til quantom computing is invented as despite being a billion euro company we can't be bothered to redo the engine" Oh yeah it ran fine for the first year and half then they radically changed the pop system (which no one asked for and I think makes a complicated game even more micro management heavy) causing this mess. How recent reviews on steam can be "very positive" is beyond me. Has not one of these recent reviewers ever tried to finish a game? Will delete this review if 2.6 fixes this but I'm dubious. I don't like writing negative reviews but this broken, otherwise masterpiece has cost me over 150€, yes that's the most I spent on a video game and at present I highly regret it and I believe I'm justified in being angry.    … Expand
  53. Flyingpigm0nkey
    Feb 23, 2020
    0
    The worst 4x game I have ever played. The game could be good if they removed the influence systems and entirely reworked how conflict and diplomacy function.

    Actually a joke. If you want a decent old 4x game for single player just find Sword of the Stars. There might be others out there as well.
  54. Corefitz
    Feb 15, 2020
    2
    Game has been unplayable since Le Guin update... tried over and over again.. It's become just another micromanagement game, and I didn't play Stellaris to spend 8/10 of my time just managing my population. ANY aspect of Roleplaying in the game is flat out killed because of the hell that is the micromanaging. I mean.. cmon... changing a core mechanic of a game to fit just 1 DLC, is a REALLYGame has been unplayable since Le Guin update... tried over and over again.. It's become just another micromanagement game, and I didn't play Stellaris to spend 8/10 of my time just managing my population. ANY aspect of Roleplaying in the game is flat out killed because of the hell that is the micromanaging. I mean.. cmon... changing a core mechanic of a game to fit just 1 DLC, is a REALLY REALLY bad move... 400 hours of awesome gameplay, and now there's only the good memories left. what a waste...

    I keep trying to poke the game every once in a while. I still flat out have to give up on it within 7 minutes, solely because of micromanagement. This game had such potential...    … Expand
  55. Gaarq
    Feb 11, 2020
    4
    stellaris is a typical paradox game, with all the good and bad aspects related. it is a complex, vast 4X game with some new interesting concepts in the field. on the other hand, it is underdeveloped, still full of bugs. it is not even worth to start to play years after the release and after the many patches issued, cos it is sold as open beta - modable, but not to the degree you may fullystellaris is a typical paradox game, with all the good and bad aspects related. it is a complex, vast 4X game with some new interesting concepts in the field. on the other hand, it is underdeveloped, still full of bugs. it is not even worth to start to play years after the release and after the many patches issued, cos it is sold as open beta - modable, but not to the degree you may fully rectify some heavy bugs. recently, i resigned to play, cos developer makes new DLCs with bright new bugs keeping the old ones. i fell in love with the game concept, but definitely not with its realisation, no matter how hard i tried (1000+ hours played).… Expand
  56. Dotasarr
    Feb 5, 2020
    4
    The game started great, but with every DLC, they break something, to the point that now the game is almost completely broken
  57. Nerevarinho
    Feb 2, 2020
    9
    This is science fiction porn.
    It has a steep learning curve but you will have a great time.
  58. umbershap
    Feb 2, 2020
    8
    I play Stellaris time to time. When start to play it I put it at least 70 hours. This is a great game with every expansion, dlc game becomes much bigger. I hope they continue to support the game and release bigger dlc's .
  59. ZetaJiffils
    Dec 21, 2019
    7
    El que no tenga logros estando en modo offline, es lo que me ha tocado los cojones.
    Eso le ha restado puntos...
    También aburre con el tiempo.
  60. Analyst77
    Dec 12, 2019
    5
    This review is for version 2.5.1 with all DLC up to Lithiods. I only play in Single Player - I do not play MP. This is a nice game actually, and very much 'influenced' by the old Masters of Orion 2. With 'influenced' I mean there are a lot off things (like Space Amoebas, Space Dragons, ...) from the old MOO2, which is actually a good thing. Lets say Stellaris is MOO2 on steroids. It looksThis review is for version 2.5.1 with all DLC up to Lithiods. I only play in Single Player - I do not play MP. This is a nice game actually, and very much 'influenced' by the old Masters of Orion 2. With 'influenced' I mean there are a lot off things (like Space Amoebas, Space Dragons, ...) from the old MOO2, which is actually a good thing. Lets say Stellaris is MOO2 on steroids. It looks nice, the UI is not too bad, and playing is fun, up to a point...
    The problem with this game is that it has a lot of new ideas and is stuffed with 'features', some of them quite unnecessary. Yet it cannot hide long periods of boredom, except if you want play very aggressive and attack all your neighbors. And it ha neither an end nor a victory condition. It all goes over time, and at a certain year (configurable) victory is just declared, if no 'crisis' is active. The end game crisis is sometimes too long in coming, and the awful micromanagement makes the game in later stages a chore.
    Paradox tried to make this better by 'quests' and 'stories' which you can find and solve, but most of these do not help for long. What this game would need is an end game condition (the game does not need to forcefully end at this point). In MOO2 you always were free to attack the 'Masters of Orion', which were very strong, but beatable. Then you were declared the winner. The game did end at this point, but this would not be necessary in Stellaris.
    Also the game would need more 'crisis' events, i.e. attacks from an unknown source, which you must find and eliminate. The end game crisis (there are several different types, but only one will happen) is mostly OP, and hard to beat. This is fine, but during the game, especially in the second half of the game, there should be smaller crisis events and attacks, scaled to the Galaxies average strength.
    It does not help that I am able to declare my Empire as 'Defenders of the Galaxy' if there is nothing to defend against until the end game crisis.
    The game feels somewhat shallow and becomes boring, since all too soon there is no real threat for your Empire. If you are strong, other (AI) Empires will come to you and ask you to protect them. If you agree, war is impossible for them, and if you are strong (you will be at this point) nobody will attack you, not even one of the 'Fallen Empires', which are inactive until the later game, where they often 'awake' and are set to massive OP. The are gifted fleets and strength which in itself is a bit peculiar, since they mostly have 3 or 4 systems. They have OP technology which you cannot develop, even if you have all things developed. But often they are not very aggressive, and if you come near them in fleet strength they will do nothing. As I stated, the game would need better threats during play, not OP, but during normal mid game, from time to time. The raids in MOO2 gave you the chance to defend your systems and to capture enemy ships which could you bring technology. Stellaris does not allow the capture ships but you can analyze the debris after a battle.
    The game, IMHO, is just not really optimized for single player, and it is very DLC heavy, with features you have to pay for despite them being in the game already. Nowadays they want to part the players from their money for years, and are stinging them along with drops of 'features' which are nice to have, but nothing important.
    The game is quite buggy, there was a storm of complaints lately because of old bugs, never fixed. Also the game has no manual at all! None. There is a Wiki, where players are invited to document Paradox' game. There is a built in help, which is only annoying and no real help at all. Without external sources (posts and the Wiki) you will never understand all game mechanics, which is rather bad for a game like this. This also becomes more frequent and is an affront to the players/buyers of a product.
    So while the game is actually nice and has potential I subtracted stars for:
    +No documentation at all
    +Bugs which I found in the first hours of play, which are long known and unfixed
    +Long boring sequences where you have to micromanage your planets(*) and nothing else
    +AI enemies with unexplained and unattainable technology
    (*)There is an automatic planet management offered, but you have to configure it in a rather silly way, and it does not work very well. You are better off doing it per hand.
    All in all the game sadly has massive flaws, but a lot of potential. It seems to suffer from features which they want to sell as extra DLC, and also suffer from things not well thought through as it often is with such money grab systems. So think well and read a lot before buying!    … Expand
  61. Violett
    Nov 27, 2019
    0
    I rarely disagree with the opinion of majority on Metacritic, but here it goes. This game is awful, I cannot even name it "a game". There is no tutorial besides pick ship A and send to point B - congratulations you won! Very "deep" strategy indeed. A lot of non-understandable options, races, talents - whats all this about? Oxygen Not Included was difficult at first too, but reallyI rarely disagree with the opinion of majority on Metacritic, but here it goes. This game is awful, I cannot even name it "a game". There is no tutorial besides pick ship A and send to point B - congratulations you won! Very "deep" strategy indeed. A lot of non-understandable options, races, talents - whats all this about? Oxygen Not Included was difficult at first too, but really attractive - spent 400 hours there. Here played this "game" for an hour and it was the same dull environment - worse than EA Android games.… Expand
  62. tobivv
    Nov 26, 2019
    9
    Nothing beats seeing your first galaxy and taking your first steps as a space-faring civilization. Learning all the intricacies of ruling a galactic empire of xenophobic religious purists is an absolute joy, but the game does lose a lot of its magic in consequent playthroughs.
  63. fernando8biondi
    Oct 20, 2019
    0
    Build just ONE army, conquer the whole galaxy!
    This game is a piece of s¨¨¨¨¨¨, period.
  64. CountCristo
    Jul 19, 2019
    8
    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
  65. MrWhiny
    Jun 27, 2019
    4
    Very nice buggy game pdx you really did well! With the latest updates game itself become much more buggy mess than before, very nice LOL...

    - Terraforming bugs, you can no longer terraform barren or nanite worlds! (Fixed on 2.3.2) - Invasion bug, your soldier's just disappearing without any f*cking reason on ground combat?! - Army disappearing on map, my army just vanished while    Very nice buggy game pdx you really did well! With the latest updates game itself become much more buggy mess than before, very nice LOL...

    - Terraforming bugs, you can no longer terraform barren or nanite worlds! (Fixed on 2.3.2)
    - Invasion bug, your soldier's just disappearing without any f*cking reason on ground combat?!
    - Army disappearing on map, my army just vanished while staying on my home world?? Very f*cking annoying!
    - AI dumb as f*ck, even much more dumber than before! It can't handle the new economic system, don't know what the do and most of time ai rely on cheats! Without cheats ai can't do sh*t! So this dumb ai mechanics and cheats sweep away the "strategy" from the game! Because you can't really hurt the ai economy with war or taking over their systems!
    - So much calculation going on in the game! So that means performance loss (A LOT!!) Because this "ancient relic" *cough clausewitz engine can't handle too much calculation... Now with lot of population be prepare the worst! Especially in very large galaxy with more than 10 ai empire. Why the game need to calculate every pop rather than just a planet itself? Pop number should be just statistic number on planets so the engine itself no need to calculate every pop, just calculate the planet and run the pop numbers as simulation on background... With this method game need to calculate max 100 or 150 planet on large galaxy instead of calculating thousand of thousand pop. Just an another poorly implemented game mechanic! Unacceptable!
    - UI some time freaking out like a maniac LoL. (Most of time in trade menus)
    - Still, there is no diplomacy overhaul, diplomacy just so bland and boring!
    - Don't join the federation or ai will ruin your empire! Like declaring war on fallen empire LMAO. Also ai just spam corvettes for federation fleet, be prepare for 200 corvettes on federation fleet, this is so stupid!
    - Scourge (end game crisis) still have bugs, infestation bug! Somehow you can't clear infestation from planets with bombardment! So you need colossus, all hail the mighty colossus LoL. (Yeah you need to buy DLC for fixing this sh*t lmao)

    And list goes on and on, and pdx really like the threat their customers as beta testers! I don't want to be beta tester i want to enjoy the game but no! Test the game find bugs and glitches report back to pdx and hope for the patch, patch will release and new bugs will appear in the game, so you need repeat to process, again and again! I paid this game pdx you suppose to deliver full product with least amount of bugs! I'm not your beta tester paradox! Period!....    … Expand
  66. Haveaseatson
    Jun 20, 2019
    8
    One of a kind space 4x game built with passion, let down by the engine which cant handle the calculations mid and late game, and way too many bugs introduced with each patch, but the game itself is really a gem, i've got over 500 hours which is a saying something for me because most games i enjoy i burn out on or get bored with after 50-100 hours
  67. ILoveCraftBeer
    Mar 15, 2019
    10
    Отличнейшая стратегия с прекрасным стилем, красивой графикой, отличнейшими сценариями и сюжетами и НАИКРУТЕЙШЕЙ музыкой.
  68. megabear
    Feb 28, 2019
    0
    Alien diversity? No, more like humanized zoo animals. How are they so not imaginative?
  69. toxyk
    Jan 13, 2019
    9
    Mezcla de RTS y 4X, que me encanta, de lo mejores juegos espaciales que puedes jugar, muy bien hilados las minihistorias con un cierto ``realismo``
  70. Renzokuken
    Dec 26, 2018
    4
    Stellaris in 2018 is actually a pretty good game, it's an engaging 4x/grand strategy combo with cool visuals, engaging writing and a ton of stuff to discover and play around with. So why the low score? Well Paradox sell this game as a finished product when in reality it's more of a perpetual early access title. Their development methodology goes something like, release patch > patch is aStellaris in 2018 is actually a pretty good game, it's an engaging 4x/grand strategy combo with cool visuals, engaging writing and a ton of stuff to discover and play around with. So why the low score? Well Paradox sell this game as a finished product when in reality it's more of a perpetual early access title. Their development methodology goes something like, release patch > patch is a buggy mess > have users report issues and fix them > repeat. This leads to a ton of time spent playing a version of the game that has issues. Right now they're pretty severe with the latest expansion release they broke the enemy AI, End-game crisis AI and caused horrendous performance issues.

    So, it's a good game, but impossible for me to recommend based purely on the anti-consumer practices of the developers.    … Expand
  71. Darlf
    Dec 16, 2018
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. nowa aktualizacja dodała więcej chaosu i dysbalansu niż trudność wynikającej z dobrze zrobionej mechaniki bez aktualizacja najnowszej 6 bo gra miała mnóstwo głupich małych błędów ale tera to ledwie 3 bo gra to 1 wielki błąd… Expand
  72. yobrotom
    Dec 12, 2018
    10
    This game keeps going from strength to strength. The developers are actively improving with quarterly updates that always improve the game, never take away from it. I've been playing this game for 2 years straight with few complaints, only a lot of good memories.
  73. Leeeeeeeel
    Dec 8, 2018
    0
    is relativ whack joa... fragt mario ich tu echt nicht haten.... aber das spiel ist halt legit einfach nur bullenpisse!
  74. clayesterling
    Nov 26, 2018
    10
    Best space strategy game available hands down. More accurately it's a simulation game like other Paradox titles. Lots of tweaking and adjusting small variables, seeing how it plays out, trying to predict what will happen and prepare for the worst. Lots of long term planning required.
  75. SoakerCity
    Nov 4, 2018
    1
    This game is not fun, at all. There are so many labrynthian rules, that you cant even attack an enemy planet after a prolonged war because you didnt know how to set the war goals ten hours ago- even though they weren't available. This game is a total piece of **** Its like having a school teacher tut tut tut you the whole time. NOT FUN.

    This game will gobble up your life, with no    This game is not fun, at all. There are so many labrynthian rules, that you cant even attack an enemy planet after a prolonged war because you didnt know how to set the war goals ten hours ago- even though they weren't available. This game is a total piece of **** Its like having a school teacher tut tut tut you the whole time. NOT FUN.

    This game will gobble up your life, with no decent payout. Very far from the accessible MOI type games. Just a series of increasingly bizzare rules. Very ****ty "game". It was better before 2.0. Now its total dog crap.    … Expand
  76. Robobob
    Oct 31, 2018
    10
    Best 4x space strategy game of all time at this writing. I used to give that title to the very dated Masters of Orion 2 but this game now takes the title. It has so much depth it is ridiculous and I can see how it might be intimidating to some. However I loved that I was learning more and more the further I played. Even though I rarely do it anymore, it's fun to zoom in completely toBest 4x space strategy game of all time at this writing. I used to give that title to the very dated Masters of Orion 2 but this game now takes the title. It has so much depth it is ridiculous and I can see how it might be intimidating to some. However I loved that I was learning more and more the further I played. Even though I rarely do it anymore, it's fun to zoom in completely to see the beauty of the planets of space battles. No complaints about this game. It's worth the learning curve.… Expand
  77. JaPeLi
    Oct 10, 2018
    8
    Stellaris is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. It also has a great deal of flaws. The game itself is vast, and in typical Paradox style, it has several expansions which add more content to the game. However, even without all the DLC’s, the game is expansive.
    Stellaris focuses heavily on strategy and exploration, and it does these things very well. You start off the game as a space-faring    Stellaris is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons. It also has a great deal of flaws. The game itself is vast, and in typical Paradox style, it has several expansions which add more content to the game. However, even without all the DLC’s, the game is expansive.
    Stellaris focuses heavily on strategy and exploration, and it does these things very well. You start off the game as a space-faring empire, which has just discovered interstellar travel. Your empire is heavily customizable – for example, I started off on a frozen planet run by a deeply religious xenophilic race of blue humanoids, led by an elite group of priests, which co-evolved with a species of servile tortoises. The game does customization very well, and this offers a great deal of replayability to the game.
    The game can be loosely divided into 3 sections – the early, mid, and late game. These correspond to – in a default game – 100 and 300 years after you begin. Each section from the mid-game on, has its own special events, which can occur depending on several factors. I won’t spoil any of them, but they are generally a lot of fun and provide a brief respite from the otherwise bland portions of the game.

    And that is one of my main issues with Stellaris – the “bland” portions of the game. Once your empires borders and opinions of other empires have already been established, they do not change much. What remains is “bland.” Whilst the early game focuses on exploration and colonisation, and establishing borders and strategic points, which is enjoyable; the mid game offers very little in comparison.
    The problem is that the mid-game does away with what Stellaris does very well – exploration. During the mid-game, you generally have explored every system in the galaxy, and encountered every other empire. There is no more exploring to do, and thus no anomalies to find. Thus, you focus on things like research, or (the very limited) diplomacy. Perhaps you become more powerful, your numbers get bigger, but what of it? Until the late game, there is nothing to do, no events to occur, and I have sat through decades (in-game) waiting for something to happen. I generally just left it on in the background whilst I did other things.
    Whilst it does many things well, the game lacks in several important areas, such as the depth (or lack thereof) of diplomacy, the economy, warfare, and of course, the mid-game. Regardless, I still enjoy playing Stellaris, and would recommend it in the hope that these issues are fixed.    … Expand
  78. BGM
    May 24, 2018
    8
    Its nothing special, boring at times, but there are no other games like it. It also recives constant free updates with actually good content. Ai is bad but with mods its way better. Grab it at sale and enjoy. But it is even worth it at full price.
  79. Mxm0
    Apr 12, 2018
    10
    I've played a lot of 4x and RTS (those are prerequisites to not sooking when this game floors you for not thinking ahead).

    This is my 4X of all time. There's not a lot of games that make you come out and look at the real world with more wonder, feed your imagination, and develop so many areas of brain cognition.
  80. K1ller
    Feb 27, 2018
    1
    Patch 1.9 and earlier - 8 / 10, patch 2.0 and later 1 / 10. Nice example of how to kill a good game with a totaly moronic gamechanges. Good job Paradox, you are now another company on my "Never buy their games" list.
  81. Shawndroid
    Feb 26, 2018
    10
    This game takes sci-fi conventions from across the broad history of books, television and movies for a great sci-fi experience. A great experience that really gets the imagination going.
  82. Astalid
    Feb 22, 2018
    4
    I do not understand why developers delete wormholes and left only one FTL style. But without wormholes globalm map strategy is sux, cause too easy - u can block entire ways to your empire
  83. Helmenkalastaja
    Jan 27, 2018
    10
    After palying several 4X games i do like this the most. There is still some things that are way to simple, for example diplomacy. Graphics looks good to me and the fleet battles is great. Goes with the same style as all other paradox games.
  84. Heraldofmyself
    Jan 11, 2018
    5
    The development of this game can be summed up thusly:

    Completely remove features that were awkwardly implemented from previous cycles.
    Add more magic power buttons.
    Never revise the core gameplay.
    Entice casuals with pretty(ish) graphics and trailers without gameplay.

    Repeat.

    Seems like Paradox has a weird idea about who wants to play a highly detailed space empire builder .
  85. StrongHarm
    Dec 4, 2017
    1
    I bought it after they screwed it up (12-2017). Wish I would have made my purchase before the DLCs and bad updates.

    I completed an initial 'test playthrough' while reading articles and watching videos about game mechanics and tactics. I then spent about 200 hours on a map and was staying at the same pace as the AI. First, although diplomacy was even across me and all AI, every time I    I bought it after they screwed it up (12-2017). Wish I would have made my purchase before the DLCs and bad updates.

    I completed an initial 'test playthrough' while reading articles and watching videos about game mechanics and tactics. I then spent about 200 hours on a map and was staying at the same pace as the AI. First, although diplomacy was even across me and all AI, every time I attacked someone, everyone else attacked me (no, they didn't have any diplomatic ties). I still held my own. Next, I received a message saying an AI won by owning over 40% of planets, although it clearly showed I had 71/1235 to their 63/1020. I decided to play it through as I had a drake and about a 400k fleet to play with. I went up against a 105k and two 50ks. I paused and checked our loadouts and I was surprised that they were nearly exact, except I had scale armor. The AI fleet had no leaders, and I had two high level admirals. The AI destroyed my fleet and lost only 50 corvettes and 18 battleships. Now, before you start thinking 'this guy must have done something really stupid'.. understand that I've been playing strategy games since before the PC was invented, I worked on fighter jets in the military, and I'm a data intelligence architect; I'm not stupid. I do understand that software updates occur and unbalance the game and it's hard to find every bug, but Stellaris is broken like non-alcoholic beer.. it's cold and tastes good, but then nothing happens... it's a big buildup for nothing but disappointment. I might wait for a few patches and try again, but at this point I would tell anyone who asked that this game had great potential, but turned out to be a waste of time and money.    … Expand
  86. LegendsmithAU
    Nov 2, 2017
    3
    Stellaris is not a game that I would recommend. While it seems to offer a wide universe to play in with many different options, this is not really the case.
    There is a really fundamental problem in the game's design. The uninteresting big number vs big number "doomstack" fleet battles are just a symptom of this.
    But why? Lets look at where the game's complexity. It appears to be in its    Stellaris is not a game that I would recommend. While it seems to offer a wide universe to play in with many different options, this is not really the case.
    There is a really fundamental problem in the game's design. The uninteresting big number vs big number "doomstack" fleet battles are just a symptom of this.

    But why? Lets look at where the game's complexity. It appears to be in its in ethics and government system, you have factions and influence and such. But apart from that?
    Military, economy and even diplomacy are extremely simplistic and homogenised. Is it any surprise fleet combat is such? It's big numbers v numbers because that's all that matters. Only things that either have a big number or are in large numbers matter. Look at planets, losing one doesn't matter that much in mid or late game. Planets are only valuable based on the fraction of your empire's energy, minerals, or science they produce. Large empires can easily absorb the loss of multiple planets without really much consequence as they represent a small fraction of their 500 mineral per second income. There's no depth. For such a large game Stellaris is actually rather shallow. Things like the endgame crises and War in Heaven (DLC) are fun, but what are they hanging on? Nothing much really. They are there there to distract from the blandness of the normal gameplay.

    There were some major complaints with the game a number of patches ago. There was nothing to do. There were no mid game events worth talking about. The game was really hollow apart from the early game rush to colonise, the late game crisis, and final empire steamroll.
    That shows how the game is so shallow that it needs such events to remain interesting. The developers have said that they're not interested in making the economy deeper. That has really dampened my interest in the game, as it should yours, because it means this problem will never be fixed.

    Other paradox titles like the Europa games game mechanics that aren't massively complex but there's other non-event features that provide depth. In the EU games just having terrain creates actual choices because you need to choose how to deal with it. While income is just ducats you do have choices in how you acquire and spend it. Trade, production, and taxes are all different ways and are still important. You can focus on one, make choices in how you spend your resources to enhance it. Even if you're not focusing on say, trade it's still a good idea to put a little bit of effort into interacting with that system during the game. You can take into account things like the trade goods of resources, how they change in value. You can interact with it with armies, you can scorch the earth and loot places. Trade values change over time.

    Stellaris has none of this. Planet colonisation is very simple; you colonise, you build one of the three production buildings over the entire surface plus a unity building. In the early game you might take tile resources into account but later in the game the production bonus buildings, and things like assist research mean that you should make your planets produce one resource so you can apply the planetary bonuses to as many production buildings as possible.
    You have a farm planet(s) too of course but those barely need touching and in any case sectors will ensure that you have more than enough food. Energy credits are near worthless past early game, they exist to be converted into minerals and that's basically it. I'm quite sure you could remove energy credits from the game entirely and there wouldn't be a fundamental shift in the gameplay of Stellaris.
    Diplomacy is very simple, and has little choice. There's standard pacts, there's federations, but can you demand a planet diplomatically? Can you demand anything, or offer something in support? Can you buy or sell ships? No.
    Combat is quite simple as we know, but even worse than that is the meaninglessness of ship designs. There are a few designs that are the best and we all know, or soon will, what those are; mono-composition fleets of corvettes or artillery/lance battleships (or whatever the current hotness is). Why build anything else? Why research anything else? Fleet combat is so simple to boil down; just like the rest of the game.

    There's very little actual choice in Stellaris. There's no terrain, so you don't need to chose which way to reach your enemies. There's no trade routes so you never choose where to provide value, or what trade good to take control of, and you can never raid trade routes unlike other Paradox games. There's no economy to speak of so you can never choose to focus on this product/component/whatever over another. Even Hearts of Iron has that. Ship design is an illusory choice. You think you have options but you don't really have meaningful choices. Planetary management has very little in the way of choice, and "Sectors" take even that away from you.
    Shallow gameplay, do not recommend.    … Expand
  87. Maverik
    Jun 14, 2017
    7
    El juego es muy adictivo al princpio y la estetica musica y la interfaz estan muy cuidadas, se nota que han puesto empeño en eso pero cuando llevas un tiempo con el juego te das cuenta de que se vuelve monotono y plano, y se convierte en una tarea mecanica en la cual repites siempre lo mismo y desaparece todo el interes. El juego me a dado unas horas entretenida pero esperaba mas.
  88. akarnokd
    Jun 12, 2017
    8
    I pretty much enjoyed this 4X space strategy game, despite a few game and UI shortcomings.

    Pros: Scanning, mining, building, auto-polulate ship designs. Semi-voiced tutorial. So-so: research being random (may take some time for the auto-explore to show up) Cons: - Lack of a few conveniences, such as the need to select a ship then right-click on a system to get it scanned/mines    I pretty much enjoyed this 4X space strategy game, despite a few game and UI shortcomings.

    Pros: Scanning, mining, building, auto-polulate ship designs. Semi-voiced tutorial.

    So-so: research being random (may take some time for the auto-explore to show up)

    Cons:
    - Lack of a few conveniences, such as the need to select a ship then right-click on a system to get it scanned/mines built; I'd like to right click on the system (no ship selected) and issue "scan this..." or "build mine & research stations here" and the nearest capable ship to do the tasks. Same is true for special projects.
    - Message boxes break the flow, sometimes pausing the game (sometimes not). Also messages are too verbose and with large galaxy and long game time, they tend to repeat. I'd really like an option that only shows a bare minimum about them in a non-intrusive way when no decision has to be made in the situation.
    - Less clicks when researching. There are limited research options per category and I have to click twice (once on the "select research" and once on one of the options) to start the new research.
    - Reduce anti-expansion measures upfront. One of the design decisions often taken by such games is the introduction of approval or anti-expansion effects into the gameplay to "balance" out the possibility of exponential expansion. For example, having a couple of frontier stations drains the approval, preventing colonization of planets that happen to be in that station's range. I consider this a systematic flaw in such games and I don't know how the underlying issue could be solved by other means.    … Expand
  89. ShapeLayers
    Jun 5, 2017
    4
    +
    1. Крутые возможности по созданию своей империи.
    -
    1. Ужасная анимация в UI
    2. Дизайнер UI точно ничего не курил перед тем как создать это детище?
    3. Очень посредственные 3D модели

    Вывод: Хочется бэкнуть игру.
  90. Klewer
    Jun 2, 2017
    7
    Overall I really enjoyed Stellaris, fans of other Paradox games of Grand Strategy will as well. The theme and settings is enjoyable, solid game play and nationempire management. It just lacks some of the event interaction, probably just due to it not being historically based and that for me just made it grow a little tired and a touch repetitive.
  91. CrimsonMarshall
    May 19, 2017
    5
    PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS.

    Initially dazzling but gets old really fast when you realize how front-heavy the depth of this game is. Civilization creation and customization is rich and enjoyable but once you've determined your values, strengths, and politics, you will soon find yourself in an indefinite rinse and repeat cycle of monotonous expansion. Unfortunately there is not much to    PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS.

    Initially dazzling but gets old really fast when you realize how front-heavy the depth of this game is. Civilization creation and customization is rich and enjoyable but once you've determined your values, strengths, and politics, you will soon find yourself in an indefinite rinse and repeat cycle of monotonous expansion.

    Unfortunately there is not much to discover, and alien factions will cease to surprise or interest you quite soon. Also, weak and almost entirely passive AI (after many tens of hours, none of my allies or enemies invaded anyone my empire or anyone else's) make this apparently complex game disappointingly facile to the point of boring.

    I can just about guarantee a very engaging first 10-15 hours but campaigns take WAY longer than that and the dev's just haven't filled them out; if you crave any kind of challenge or novelty, you'll quit every game you start long before whatever it's conclusion is. I actually don't know how these games are supposed to end - I couldn't bring myself to sleepwalk through any more of this game after about 40 hours. Played it at launch though. If they released any more story content or elements of dynamism to progression, they got my money first.    … Expand
  92. ChikatiloZ
    May 17, 2017
    9
    Review version 1.6.1
    Game was an 8 at release, it's a 9 now because more content.
    Would have been a 10 if there was more balance to endgame crisis, events & great wars. Because right now, if you're unlucky on your playthrough, the endgame content can (RNG) end your game. Example, if the unbidden spawn early, in your nation and the great war starts at thesame time, you lose all your    Review version 1.6.1
    Game was an 8 at release, it's a 9 now because more content.
    Would have been a 10 if there was more balance to endgame crisis, events & great wars.
    Because right now, if you're unlucky on your playthrough, the endgame content can (RNG) end your game. Example, if the unbidden spawn early, in your nation and the great war starts at thesame time, you lose all your vassals, you're wiped out by the unbidden and the AI fights a silly war while unbidden consume the galaxy.

    Basically endame content is hit or mis, it can be interesting, or frustrating because it's unwinnable. Depends on your luck, too much luck involved in endgame.

    Everything else is brilliant.

    I suggest you turn OFF endgame crisis to avoid the unbidden spawning in your capital and ruining your game, also limit the amount of fallen empires to ONE, so you can get their tech but they can't start silly war. Crank the difficulty up to high to compensate and give you a challange that way, it'll be a fair challenge.    … Expand
  93. TsukasaHiiragi
    Apr 17, 2017
    2
    :updated: Ended up lower my initial review, essentially this game will piss you off, it'll make you curse at your monitor and enrage you 90% of the time, the other 10% you're endlessly scanning planets and building resource bases, until the AI decides it's time to screw your civilization over.

    Stellaris is that game that couldn't capture the psudo 4X crown from Galactic Civilization,    :updated: Ended up lower my initial review, essentially this game will piss you off, it'll make you curse at your monitor and enrage you 90% of the time, the other 10% you're endlessly scanning planets and building resource bases, until the AI decides it's time to screw your civilization over.

    Stellaris is that game that couldn't capture the psudo 4X crown from Galactic Civilization, mostly due to the fact even nearly a year later - the game is still horribly buggy with many issues, some even gamebreaking not to mention, very obvious cheating AI issues and terrible mid/endgame experience, the biggest problems is related to how Influence and RNG research ruin the game.

    The way influence is handled is one of the biggest crutches in the game, it prevents you from spreading out rapid because it uses up valuable influence, but at the same time - when you don't need to spread out, you'll always have it maxed out...but when you actually 'need' it, you can never get enough of it, this is one of the gameplay issues that affects the game and personally I think the system doesn't work very well.

    Another bad....no HORRIBLE system in the ridiculous RNG system for researching tech, it is quite possible to get royally screwed by a some poor card draws literally possible preventing you access to bigger ships, the entire tech system should be scrapped and redone with a proper tech tree, this is just lazy and bad...half the time, the best method for research is by waging war and scanning the wreckage left behind...heck, ironically sometimes you can scan your own wreck for tech boosts..

    It's kinder sad because what Stellaris attempts to do is over an almost mixture of Command and Conquer mixed with Master of Orion style gameplay, whilst its all highly strategic and obviously has the 4X emphasis, the game falls flat on it's face as soon as the bugs appear. This could have something special if more time had been spent on development before releasing in a very obvious "Alpha" state, I wish steam would honestly stop with the 'early access' because you end up with potentially great games that takes years before they can live up to the potential.

    Another note; players who love 4x // empire building strategy games be careful with this title as it can become quite frustrating, especially early when your trying to get a foothold and you discover your sandwiched between several aggressive species who...magically will almost always hate you and force you to scramble, often turning the game into a no-win situation for the player forcing a restart.

    Summary; Stellaris has (had) potential but being almost nearly a year after launch and many issues still remain, and highly doubt they will be fixed anytime soon. I'm going to assume this title will remain a 'cult' classic, meaning if you really enjoy space empire building games and are willing to put up with many hours to learn the complex structure of the game, and willing to put up with glitches and even gamebreaking bugs, then I'm sure you would enjoy Stellaris, for the rest - I'd be cautious.    … Expand
  94. MrsHjort
    Apr 13, 2017
    8
    A great game once you get the hang of it, though, I have to admit it's a bit tough on newcomers such as myself, who haven't played the developer's games before. It has a lot of customizable options though (which makes for great replayability), and it's well balanced. It's one of those games that you can get back to over and over again to try new things and tweak the setup in various waysA great game once you get the hang of it, though, I have to admit it's a bit tough on newcomers such as myself, who haven't played the developer's games before. It has a lot of customizable options though (which makes for great replayability), and it's well balanced. It's one of those games that you can get back to over and over again to try new things and tweak the setup in various ways to get closer and closer to that one "perfect game". It's extremely addicting too, you can always play one more hour, and it's very hard to stop. I only wish for a bit more story missions to make it a bit more interesting.… Expand
  95. XavierAgamemnon
    Mar 28, 2017
    10
    This game is the best ever. I love it so deeply that I look forward to every DLC that is released with childlike enthusiasm on the eve of Christmas. It is an RTS that makes someone who grew up watching Babylon 5 jump with glee. I want to in the future role play this game with friends and act like the civilisation that I am. I will support this game just like I have for Star Citizen and sayThis game is the best ever. I love it so deeply that I look forward to every DLC that is released with childlike enthusiasm on the eve of Christmas. It is an RTS that makes someone who grew up watching Babylon 5 jump with glee. I want to in the future role play this game with friends and act like the civilisation that I am. I will support this game just like I have for Star Citizen and say shut up and take my money. every cent is worth it and I would love to meet the dev someday just to say thank you and make more of Stellaris and boldly go where no game has gone before.… Expand
  96. Laer
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    Y después de varios meses, por fin se puede analizar este juego de una manera correcta, ya que, esto es lo que en un principio tenia que haber sido.

    Empecemos por comentar que en su salida, el juego tenia huecos bastante grandes en cuando a jugabilidad (sobre todo en las fases finales de partida), pero tras varios parches, por fin han solucionado parte de estos huecos. Por supuesto aun    Y después de varios meses, por fin se puede analizar este juego de una manera correcta, ya que, esto es lo que en un principio tenia que haber sido.

    Empecemos por comentar que en su salida, el juego tenia huecos bastante grandes en cuando a jugabilidad (sobre todo en las fases finales de partida), pero tras varios parches, por fin han solucionado parte de estos huecos. Por supuesto aun tiene rango de mejora, y ello me recuerda mucho a EU4, una base solida dispuesta a ser ampliada para llegar casi hasta la perfección (veremos si con el paso del tiempo, queda como un buen juego, una obra maestra, u, ojala no pase, como un pozo sin fondo donde tienes que tirar la cartera para poder jugar, cosa que le esta pasando a EU4).

    Pasemos a "analizar" todo ligeramente:

    Personalización de imperio: Bastantes opciones, tanto en aspecto (lo menos importante), como en formas de gobierno, ideologías, características, etc. Todo esto te dará una forma de jugar distinta, sobre todo si eres rolero y tiendes a cumplir aquello que te propones como raza. Puedes ser agresivo, comerciante, amistoso, liberal...

    El comienzo es sin duda donde más brilla esta obra, comenzaremos como una civilización que ha conseguido poder viajar entre estrellas, explorando los nuevos sistemas, averiguando más de todo aquello que nos rodea y expandiendo nuestro imperio a nuevas fronteras. Los primeros eventos, como extraños sucesos en planetas, la aparición de piratas, el contacto con razas milenarias, otras que se están alzando a la misma vez que tu y algunas en edades inferiores (como la edad media), son sin duda espectaculares, y dan muchísimo juego.

    Cuando las fronteras se hayan mas o menos establecido en la partida, la cosa seguirá siendo interesante, pues es cuando comienzan las primeras riñas fronterizas, la declaración de rivales, la búsqueda de aliados, la posibilidad de formar o unirse a una federación, la expansión dentro de tus fronteras (asegurando tus dominios), son algunas de las cosas que te mantendrán ocupado en esta fase. He de añadir, que aun que la diplomacia se haya mejorado bastante desde la salida del juego, creo que hay ciertos puntos a mejorar, pero se podría decir que apenas tienen importancia.

    El final de las partidas fue muy criticado tiempo atrás, pues era de lo más vació, y he de decir que lo han solucionado bien, y a día de hoy no es injugable/aburrido, pero sin duda es la parte que más sigue cojeando del juego. Hay varios eventos interesantes, la formación de grandes bloques federados monta verdaderas guerras frías, donde cualquier chispa puede ser el inicio de una guerra donde se perderán montones de vidas, materiales, naves, aliados, planetas... Ademas de que siempre hay algún evento importante que pone en serios apuros la galaxia (no nombrare ninguno, pues parte de la gracia es no saber cuando ni que sera lo que se vendrá).

    Y de toque final, las formas de victoria es sin duda de lo mas soso que tiene este juego, Conquista, dominación o diplomacia, son los tres únicos modos que hay de finalizar una partida, y ambas se basan en lo mismo, tener controlados mas planetas que los demás. Deberían añadir alguna victoria científica (avanzar tanto que puedas llegar a otras galaxias), cultural (ser la civilización mas influyente de la galaxia), religiosa (expandir tus creencias por todos los rincones), inmortalidad (que tu raza se haya expandido tanto, que cubra un montón de planetas, propios o no, y por ello seas la más numerosa de la galaxia)... hay muchísimas posibilidades a explotar, pero solo se han centrado en la expansión pura y dura.

    Ademas, estaño un sistema de logros más elaborado, parte de mi amor por EU4 es buscar un reto interesante en los logros he intentar conseguirlo, pero en esté, todos, son extremadamente fácil conseguirlos (solo son "difíciles" los tres últimos logros, y en general su reto consiste más en llegar al final de la partida fuerte, tener suerte/que te toque ese evento, y conseguirlo antes que nadie).

    Añadir también que yo sigo esperando una buena expansión/dlc, pues los actuales me han parecido bastante flojos.
    Uno añade razas en forma de plantas, puramente estético, y otro añade dragones, que a pesar de que he leído algo de su historia y no parece mala.. ¿Dragones? ¿En serio? Con la posibilidad tan inmensa que te da la ciencia ficción, ¿Y metes dragones? Razas errantes, otras que se aprovechen los huecos ocupados de los planetas de una manera distinta (selvas, animales salvajes, etc.), la posibilidad de jugar con una facción guardián del universo, ampliar las facetas rebeldes, nuevas investigaciones, más eventos... tantas opciones.

    En definitiva, un juego con buena base, pero con amplias opciones de mejora, muy recomendado para los amantes de la ciencia ficción/estrategia.    … Expand
  97. xxxSMDxxx
    Jan 26, 2017
    8
    The game is amazing. It's really immersing you in a galactic emperor's perspective. And the interaction between the different empires is very clever made. The graphics are very well made. The empire builder and the way each empire acts differently depending on traits was brilliant although there is room for improvement. The 2 things that this game fails are victory types and the combatThe game is amazing. It's really immersing you in a galactic emperor's perspective. And the interaction between the different empires is very clever made. The graphics are very well made. The empire builder and the way each empire acts differently depending on traits was brilliant although there is room for improvement. The 2 things that this game fails are victory types and the combat system.

    The victories limit you to an aggressive play. And the combat system makes it worse. The combat system often feels like smashing a vase with either a hammer or a brick. "It doesn't matter the vase will end up smashed anyway" which makes the 2 current Victory types just a big chore. And said victory types are of little diversity. The only way you can actually win the game is play aggressive which makes non-aggressive plays dead on pointless. And with the well made diplomatic and research system. It really is a shame.

    If Stellaris was a book. It would be that story that is really well made, with interesting characters and a good plot, but has a poorly executed forced ending.    … Expand
  98. SomeName
    Dec 31, 2016
    5
    It starts with a great early game, continues with an uneventful midgame and an ends with one of the grindiest numbercrunchers in gaming history. Would I recommend this game? Maybe after many many content enhancements (played version 1,4.1).

    EARLY GAME +You get to design and configure your own space race with a good range of appearances, names, traits and ethics. +You start on a    It starts with a great early game, continues with an uneventful midgame and an ends with one of the grindiest numbercrunchers in gaming history. Would I recommend this game? Maybe after many many content enhancements (played version 1,4.1).

    EARLY GAME
    +You get to design and configure your own space race with a good range of appearances, names, traits and ethics.
    +You start on a single planet with an initial mission and are free to explore/expand as you choose.
    +The early expansion is a balancing of resources and risks to achieve good growth, making for fun play.
    -The developers thought it was great to /always/ spawn you with multiple AI opponents around you, to force interactions (which are pretty boring, but more on that later).

    MID-GAME (you met most of the other AI players and have a dozen planets under control)
    -Very few new quests, with the exception of leviathans (where most of these are just a really powerful mob).
    -Your interactions with the AI are limited to trades, insults and forming alliances. They don't really do anything other than grow. (100+ hours and it has never once declared war on me, even if they /really/ hated me).
    -The game tries to avoid micromanagement by forcing you to make sectors (which are AI-controlled areas in your empire). Not only does this rob of you of things to do, these are also impossible to manage truly efficiently.

    LATE GAME
    -Your victory conditions require either the endless colonising of planets in the system (which is neither efficient, nor enjoyable) or to defeat all other players. The problem with defeating them is that combat is flat and dull, with the only way being to win is literally to have the stronger army and nothing else.
    -You can only become stronger by constantly researching repeatable technologies that add minute stat bonuses to your production and fleets. There is literally no point in doing anything else.

    MISC
    -There is no "strategy" in combat. While you can design and customise ships in your space fleet, you have no control over them in combat. They engage with an enemy fleet, fire lasers and the likes and all you can do is watch their number and yours shrink. Also having a better fleet pretty much just requires having more combat power.
    -Due to the above, the success of expanding and conquering is pretty much dictated by the above: is your military stronger or weaker. Strategy or tactics play no role.

    CONCLUSION
    The game just has too simplistic mechanics to stay enjoyable. While there is the initial breadcrumb trail of scripted quests, it eventually becomes obvious that diplomacy, combat and empire management are far too simplistic to provide entertainment for any prolonged period. I don't even understand why they made some of these design decisions as they clearly do nothing for the player.    … Expand
  99. Jaehaerys61
    Dec 31, 2016
    9
    Franchement ce jeux est énorme même si je ne maitrise pas tout ce qui est conquêtes.

    Le jeux s’étoffe avec les différents DLC qui sont sorties et sans doute les prochains.

    JE RECOMMANDE POUR LES STRATÈGES
  100. SH1
    Dec 25, 2016
    4
    I am in two minds about Stellaris so I settled for a score of 4. I feel that it is a good concept, but it is somewhat ruined by the implementation.

    The good points: * Very addictive concept * The science ships remind me of Star Control 2 and could have been a separate game. The bad points: * Badly optimized: I get stuttering on my new cutting edge computer, and this is    I am in two minds about Stellaris so I settled for a score of 4. I feel that it is a good concept, but it is somewhat ruined by the implementation.

    The good points:

    * Very addictive concept

    * The science ships remind me of Star Control 2 and could have been a separate game.

    The bad points:

    * Badly optimized: I get stuttering on my new cutting edge computer, and this is months after release. In a way it feels like I am playing on a WPF interface.

    * Cheating AI: When I wanted to fight my first battle, the computer had more resources than it could have had with the available infrastructure.

    * The science ships: Science ships requires constant babysitting. Sometimes it encounters a hostile fleet. Instead of flying around it, it just stops. It is not uncommon for me to have science ships sitting idle.

    * The game pace: I am not sure if I should play Stellaris "offline" by setting up science ship exploration/research/build queues, and then come back later, or whether I should look after it all the time. When I look after it all the time, entire months go by where nothing happens and it is a waste of my time. If I leave it running in the background while doing other things (ex. go outside for exercise) I will come back to find that a bunch of stuff happened that needs my attention.

    * Game stagnation: It is possible to loose a game in Stellaris, but the computer will never tell you that you lost. This could happen through a combination of things, for example there are 4 empires left on the map. They are all in alliances. There is no way to further grow your empire. You can build ships and do research indefinitely and never win.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PC Game of 2016
23
#23 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
31
#31 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 57
  3. Negative: 1 out of 57
  1. Games Master UK
    Jul 25, 2016
    90
    A stunning first step into space for strategy's superstars - and a great gateway to their other games. [July 2016, p.76]
  2. CD-Action
    Jul 21, 2016
    85
    It was really hard for me to break away from Stellaris’ grip to write this review. It’s one of those gems you launch in the evening for a moment but quit at dawn. [07/2016, p.50]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jul 11, 2016
    65
    Stellaris feels like two games of completely different quality. One game offers boring linear stand-offs against a tame AI, the other is an excellent multiplayer platform.
    Read full review
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