I bought this originally because I saw it recommended to me and after 900+ hours of game-time, I can safely say that this game is one of the best purchases I've ever made. With a Dev Team that cares about their community and a gameplay style that lets you craft your own story, be it minimal or in-depth, this is a must-have for strategy buffs. The addition of the Music Player was also just about one of the best ideas the Devs had. I could go on for hours about how much fun I have had with this game and how much fun I still have it with.


Unfortunately, it's not a proper review if all I do is spout off the good things about the game and ignore its flaws. There are occasional bugs, such as ship-models not appearing, AI Pathing issues, event chains either not finishing or outright stopping. For me, none of these bugs occurred frequently, and were often fixed by restarting the game. I've also had the occasional UI issue, but once again, not something I was particularly plagued by after I fixed it. The only major complaint I have concerning the game is the loading times: the game itself can take maybe 10 minutes to load and my saves, or even new games, can take at least 15; I once waited 40 minutes for a game to start. However, that might be down to individual specs etc.

Concerning the 2.0 Patch: as a whole, I was excited for it, and overall, I enjoyed it. There are things i miss from pre-2.0, such as army attachments, FTL Choices and Weapon Tech-Trees. But I soon learnt that in implementing Hyperlanes as teh only choice, it made certain aspects of the game such as War, far more strategic: finding those crucial Hyperlan chokepoints and dumping a Fleet and decked out Starbase in the system it was attached to suddenly became a viable strategy all round. I found that the War Exhaustion Mechanic made sense, as a society that is constantly at war cannot economically sustain itself for very long, and the Casus Belli implementation meant you had to have an actual reason to want to declare war beyond "I want that planet" or "Xenos Scum", although these are technically still option
Most fans are divided over the 2.0 changes, with a lot of those who despise it being those who bought and loved the game when it was released: I bought the game a few months after it released and loved it, and each update brought something new; something I either loved, or something I warmed up to eventually.
It takes a lot of balls for a Dev Team to practically reinvent the core mechanics of their game that released 2 years ago, especially considering that gamers are one of the hardest crowds to please. In the end, I see 2.0 as an Overhaul combined with a Streamlining of the game, and I'm fine with it. If I love Pre-2.0 so much, I'll find previous versions of the game and play them instead.
In the meantime, I will continue racking up hours: this is a game I enjoy both having in front of me and in the background and would recommend to all Sci-Fi strategy buffs. Nothing like watching tv and it being interrupted by the Advisor that yet another Science Ship entered a system with a hostile creature in it because you weren't listening to the warning sound.

TL;DR it's Endless Space 2 but bigger, less detailed and more simplified mechanics.

I bought this originally because I saw it recommended to me and after 900+ hours of game-time, I can safely say that this game is one of the best purchases I've ever made. With a Dev Team that cares about their community and a gameplay style that lets you craft your own story, be it minimal or in-depth, this is a must-have for strategy buffs. The addition of the Music Player was also just about one of the best ideas the Devs had. I could go on for hours about how much fun I have had with this game and how much fun I still have it with. Unfortunately, it's not a proper review if all I do is spout off the good things about the game and ignore its flaws. There are occasional bugs, such as ship-models not appearing, AI Pathing issues, event chains either not finishing or outright stopping. For me, none of these bugs occurred frequently, and were often fixed by restarting the game. I've also had the occasional UI issue, but once again, not something I was particularly plagued by after I fixed it. The only major complaint I have concerning the game is the loading times: the game itself can take maybe 10 minutes to load and my saves, or even new games, can take at least 15; I once waited 40 minutes for a game to start. However, that might be down to individual specs etc. Concerning the 2.0 Patch: as a whole, I was excited for it, and overall, I enjoyed it. There are things i miss from pre-2.0, such as army attachments, FTL Choices and Weapon Tech-Trees. But I soon learnt that in implementing Hyperlanes as teh only choice, it made certain aspects of the game such as War, far more strategic: finding those crucial Hyperlan chokepoints and dumping a Fleet and decked out Starbase in the system it was attached to suddenly became a viable strategy all round. I found that the War Exhaustion Mechanic made sense, as a society that is constantly at war cannot economically sustain itself for very long, and the Casus Belli implementation meant you had to have an actual reason to want to declare war beyond "I want that planet" or "Xenos Scum", although these are technically still option Most fans are divided over the 2.0 changes, with a lot of those who despise it being those who bought and loved the game when it was released: I bought the game a few months after it released and loved it, and each update brought something new; something I either loved, or something I warmed up to eventually. It takes a lot of balls for a Dev Team to practically reinvent the core mechanics of their game that released 2 years ago, especially considering that gamers are one of the hardest crowds to please. In the end, I see 2.0 as an Overhaul combined with a Streamlining of the game, and I'm fine with it. If I love Pre-2.0 so much, I'll find previous versions of the game and play them instead. In the meantime, I will continue racking up hours: this is a game I enjoy both having in front of me and in the background and would recommend to all Sci-Fi strategy buffs. Nothing like watching tv and it being interrupted by the Advisor that yet another Science Ship entered a system with a hostile creature in it because you weren't listening to the warning sound. TL;DR it's Endless Space 2 but bigger, less detailed and more simplified mechanics.