Recent reviews by Tashus

Stellaris is still the space grand strategy benchmark in 2025. After nearly 2,300 hours, I’ve yet to see another 4X where a rogue servitor robot empire politely vassalizes space cow neighbors, converts their homeworld into a sanctuary arcology, and still gets elected Galactic Custodian by the organics it pampers.

What’s good
* Regular patches still move the needle. The coming 4.0 “Phoenix” update rewires population and economic math; early beta builds already feel snappier past year 2400, but the final verdict waits for release.
* The empire creator is a multiverse in a menu; hatch a hive slug commune or a death cult penguin navy. Every ethic, civic, and origin bends diplomacy, factions, and story events. Extra origins and civics unlock if you own their matching DLC.
* High level galactic politics exist, but you need the Federations or Nemesis DLC to unlock the full Galactic Community feature set. The base game still lets empires form defensive pacts, federations, and trade leagues, just without the galaxy wide senate.
* Espionage brings skulduggery to every campaign. Spy networks, intel gathering, and basic operations arrived in patch 3.0; headline stunts like “Stage Coup” or “Sabotage Starbase” require Nemesis.
* End game fireworks. Awakened empires, marauder raids, and galaxy ending crises; are part of vanilla. Megastructures and ascension perks such as Hive world planets or Synthetic Godhood sit behind specific packs, but you don’t need them for an unforgettable run.
* Steam Workshop mods range from quick UI tweaks to total conversions; one click can turn your space sloth democracy into Warhammer 40K and keep the sandbox fresh long after your vanilla galaxy goes quiet.

What’s bad
* The Paradox tax is steep. Filling your cart with every add on now breaks the 300‑dollar barrier; the Expansion Pass at 9.99 per month softens the blow, but wallet shock still fuels most of the salt mines.
* On huge galaxies the outliner mutates into a mile long grocery list of planets, sectors, and fleets; newcomers can drown in micromanagement long before the end game crisis knocks.
* The AI keeps getting tune ups yet still fumbles late war logistics and lets end game horrors pick it apart like space vultures.
* Pre 4.0 builds are infamous for late game slowdown. Once a max size galaxy hits peak population roughly year 2400; even high end rigs can dip into slideshow territory.

Verdict
The Paradox tax is real, but it says nothing about the game’s craft. Pick up the base edition on sale, bolt on the expansions that fit your science fiction kink, and kiss your weekend goodbye. If the 4.0 “Phoenix” patch delivers the performance boost it promises, Stellaris will finally shake its longest running pain point and keep its crown as the uncontested emperor of playable space opera for years to come.