If you love 4x games, this one is worth a try. The factions presented for the player's empire have interesting gameplay and lore concepts; from the vanilla, "I'm good at research (but am a bit of a mad scientist)," to the exotic, "I'm from an alien dimension that doesn't even operate as a conventional lifeform." The custom ship design feels a lot like something from Stellaris, but is interesting and also involves spoils from exploration, and not just from conventional science research. It does attempt other iterations on some of the conventions of the genre, as well. Some of these attempts at improvement are a breath of fresh air, while others seem arbitrary and/or poorly thought out. This game has a learning curve, and many critical things in it are not covered by the tutorial; some are also difficult to figure out through trial and error. The wiki online is not very much help for the more obscure (but still important) concepts. Endless Space 2 suffers greatly from the, "just one more turn" disease, at least partially because of later game turns taking even longer than others of the genre. You may find yourself taking an entire hour to take one of these late game turns, and that can lead to play sessions that feel unsatisfying, as you may not be able to make meaningful progress in a reasonable number of hours.

Now while I got the whole game on sale.
You know, they say space is the final frontier, right? Well, this game? This game is like... like a cosmic sandbox! You're building your own little galactic empire, like a little kid with LEGOs, but instead of plastic bricks, you're using planets! And the systems! Oh, the systems are like... like little snow globes, each one with its own swirling, twirling, zinging little world!

This game, it's like Civilization, but IN SPACE! You're researching techs, building cities, expanding your borders... but instead of chariots, you've got spaceships! Pew pew! And it's got that Humankind vibe too, you know? That feeling of guiding your people through the ages, watching them evolve, making choices that ripple through the galaxy! It's like being a cosmic puppeteer, pulling the strings of destiny!

Now, I've been tooling around for 13 hours, and let me tell you, the Vaulters? They're the perfect starting point, folks! Like training wheels for the spaceways! They're tough, they're resourceful, they've got that whole "underdog makes good" thing going on. You'll learn the ropes with them, trust me. And the visuals? Forget about it! It's like someone took a Van Gogh painting and turned it into a video game! Just gorgeous!

Learn by doing, explore, experiment! Just like Humankind, you'll figure it out as you go. And trust me, it's worth it! This game is like... like a cosmic adventure, a journey of discovery. Now, I'm still on the hunt for those elusive space whales do they exist IDK

Haven't played in a while. I went to load into the game today and every time it immediately shuts down after starting. I have all of 12 hours in the game and I can no longer play it. I will not buy another of their games.