Stellaris always turned out to be the game to play when you got bored of Stellaris. I've owned it since release, and it has been essentially reimagined at least 4 times over. If there is anything I want you to take away from this, then that it is the most extensive single-player 4X I've ever played. It manages to offer both an amazing RP experience and challenging empire-optimization gameplay - although not always at the same time.

Playing this game for the hardcore PvE challenge or with a PvP focus has never been great, though. For me, the MP and SP experiences have always been vastly different, and it only managed to unfold its full potential in SP. You can't really force the gameplay to be something else, but you can mold the galaxy to whatever you want, I guess. Speaking of which, the sheer amount of quality mods, ranging from diversifying base-game content to full conversions, is also a huge selling point by itself.

In the end, it still feels like an experimental game. It will continue to change, maybe to the point where it is unrecognizable, and it wouldn't be the first time. It's a Paradox game though, and in my experience most DLCs aren't really optional. Starting from zero is a substantial investment that I wouldn't recommend to everyone, but if you have friends owning the DLCs to immerse yourselves in MP with, or want to get into "Star Trek : New Horizons", it can grow rather quickly on you.

Stellaris always turned out to be [i]the[/i] game to play when you got bored of Stellaris. I've owned it since release, and it has been essentially reimagined at least 4 times over. If there is anything I want you to take away from this, then that it is the most extensive single-player 4X I've ever played. It manages to offer both an amazing RP experience and challenging empire-optimization gameplay - although not always at the same time. Playing this game for the hardcore PvE challenge or with a PvP focus has never been great, though. For me, the MP and SP experiences have always been vastly different, and it only managed to unfold its full potential in SP. You can't really force the gameplay to be something else, but you [i]can[/i] mold the galaxy to whatever you want, I guess. Speaking of which, the sheer amount of quality mods, ranging from diversifying base-game content to full conversions, is also a huge selling point by itself. In the end, it still feels like an experimental game. It will continue to change, maybe to the point where it is unrecognizable, and it wouldn't be the first time. It's a Paradox game though, and in my experience most DLCs aren't really optional. Starting from zero is a substantial investment that I wouldn't recommend to everyone, but if you have friends owning the DLCs to immerse yourselves in MP with, or want to get into "Star Trek : New Horizons", it can grow rather quickly on you.