Recent reviews by anti

First, know that this game isn't fully cooked. However, despite owning most of the DLC for the first, I keep coming back to this. Simply put, it's a technical marvel. Basically all of the mechanics from the original game are present, but the mechanics are far deeper and integrated. There is significantly less content than the first and many of the mechanics, especially policies, feel like the minimum viable product.

In short, there's less gross content, but what's there is so much better it's difficult to go back. Know what you're getting into though, this should probably be thought of as early access.

Claiming Linux support when you don't release the new content or updates for it is straight false advertising.

Fracturing the available content across OSes post launch is unacceptable, I'd refund if I could.

One of the very few games that I can say "it has good writing" without following with "for a videogame." Great writing, great story, great world building.

Word to the wise though, the game is hard and has no qualms about killing you. Save often, make your build specialize. These are good things if it's what you're looking for though.

I literally bound quick save and quick load to the bumpers on my Steam Deck.

Stellaris expansions are about adding interesting new mechanics. Mechanics get more interesting the more they allow for emergent and unique situations. This is probably the most mechanically interesting expansion they've released so far, not including free updates, since it allows for way more depth and variety of empire relationships.

As others have noted, there are plenty of problems with the expansion at the moment. However, these are almost all things that can be solved by adjusting AI weights and adding simple checks. The framework those mechanics work within though seems good, and that's the long term important part.

Would I prefer games to be released without bugs? Yeah. And customers are totally within their rights to make that a requirement for purchase. Stellaris devs have regular internal games they play for testing, but realistically a full play through takes hours, and there aren't all that many devs relative to the mechanical complexity.

To me, this is a reasonable launch. I expect a couple patches in the next couple weeks to iron out most of the corner cases and balance issues. In fact, the devs have acknowledged and said as much on Reddit and Twitter.

I like the game, I like the new mechanics, and I like new, even if slightly buggy things. I recommend this, but be informed and use your own judgement.

If you're inclined towards puzzle solving, engineering, and challenge this game is exceptional. It may be a total miss for other people, though.

Developers responded to community feedback and fixed the anticheat issue; is now a very fun and challenging game. Shame it had to deal with that controversy.

A strangely compelling combination of farming and socializing. One of a kind, if you can get sucked in by it.