Stellaris

I bought the base game and a few DLCs in the sale. Otherwise the cost would have been prohibitive. It was otherwise just expensive. For that I got what I consider to be the equivalent of an ok game that could have been developed. So the base game on its own would be extremely lacking in depth and detail for its cost.

Many people have said it and it's a major factor: do you get value for money? Not in my opinion. And I would disagree with anyone who does think the model of fleshing out (somewhat) this skeleton of a game at an incredibly high cost demonstrates a good attitude towards a player/customer base.

I wouldn't even recommend it on sale: it really doesn't differ overmuch from any other game of this type and isn't particularly good, while in some ways being ok.

It's just an expensive, mediocre game.

A good, solid game, and the expansions actually expand the game, not just adding visuals.

very engaging with enough complexity but still able to enjoy the game, a bit load of micromanagement but thats about it..... Very recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Great game—still no clue what I'm doing."

After 500 hours , I can confidently say I’ve almost figured out how to play. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from making the exact same mistakes over and over again, just in more creative ways each time.
Every game starts the same. I tell myself, “This time, I’m going to be the good guy!” I dream of a peaceful, enlightened federation, where my alien neighbors and I hold hands and sing intergalactic Kumbaya. And for a while, it works. The early game feels like a wholesome Star Trek episode, all about exploration, diplomacy, and peaceful coexistence. But the game simply rewards my ego and desire to own everything, ask yourself this: "Why have one of it, when I could have all of it?". After a couple decades of boring kindness and aliens settling worlds around me, and oops- I've accidentally colonized my neighbors world! Its okay though, im still the good guy even though suddenly I've transformed my empire of free worlds into a surveillance-heavy police state, complete with mandatory loyalty oaths and a fleet large enough to blot out entire star systems. All it takes is a couple decades, and every game I realize the galaxy is a dangerous place, and the only path to peace is my iron fist crushing everyone else’s.

By the midgame, things take a hard turn into Star Wars territory. Alliances are shaky, fleets are massive, and some smug neighbor decides to declare war because I accidentally colonized "their" holy world. (It wasn’t holy when I found it, pal.) Cue the point in the game where I realize everything is mine, its just being warmed up for me by the xenos.

Fast forward a hundred years into the end game where I realize my computer runs better when aliens are dead. That’s when the mask of diplomacy drops, and I go full Imperium of Man on the xenos. It’s no longer about peaceful coexistence or even pragmatic alliances. No, by then, it’s about total galactic domination, fueled by centuries-old grudges against alien scum who dared to insult my empire. (Did they insult me? Maybe not. But they looked at me funny in 2304, and that’s close enough.) Suddenly, it’s me against the galaxy—a total war where even my own vassals question if they backed the wrong genocidal megalomaniac.

Jokes aside,what keeps me coming back is the infinite customization. One game, I’m a benevolent (sort of), plant-based collective spreading spores of love across the stars. The next, I’m a psychotic robot swarm assimilating everyone into my glorious machine hivemind. The sheer variety means that even after hundreds of hours, I’m still finding new ways to create, ruin, and rebuild empires.

In the grim darkness of the near future, there is only war...

As an experienced gamer, I have always had high hopes for the game Stellaris. As a strategic simulation game that combines exploration of a vast universe, its rich content and complex mechanics have always attracted me. However, after purchasing all the DLCs, my gaming experience has been filled with disappointment, leading to deep frustration.

Firstly, the stuttering issues in the game are unbearable. What was once a smooth gaming experience has frequently turned into frame drops and serious lag after acquiring all the DLCs. While exploring the vast universe, building civilizations, and engaging in battles, this stuttering not only disrupts the game's fluidity but also affects my decision-making and controls, often causing me to lose an advantage in critical moments. This is clearly contrary to what I expect from a strategy game; the rhythm of the game has been thrown off, resulting in a significantly diminished experience.

Secondly, the various bugs that have emerged leave me feeling helpless. Sometimes my fleets mysteriously disappear from the map and cannot be restored; sometimes tasks cannot be completed, preventing me from progressing in the game. There are also UI errors that make saving and loading games unusually cumbersome. These technical issues are simply unacceptable in a game that comes at a considerable price and boasts many DLCs. As players, we invest not only money but also our expectations for quality and loyalty to the game, yet all this seems futile in the face of these bugs.

Additionally, while the content is rich, many DLCs don't substantially increase the game's playability. Compared to the fresh experiences brought by major updates, the content of the DLCs often feels repetitive and redundant. In an attempt to pursue greater depth and complexity, some game mechanics have become overly intricate, requiring players to spend a lot of time adapting and understanding them. The overly complex gameplay makes the game feel heavy and tiresome, seemingly losing its initial charm.

For someone like me, who has been following Stellaris for a long time, it is deeply regretful to see the game’s imbalances in technical aspects and gameplay mechanics. As a game with potential, Stellaris should provide a more polished experience, rather than leaving players to struggle through stuttering and bugs. I also hope that the development team will take player feedback seriously and timely address these issues, balancing the various mechanics of the game to truly fulfill the vision of a "vast universe" that we expect.

In summary, I feel deeply disappointed with my purchase of Stellaris and its DLCs. Despite the promising concepts and potential, the shortcomings in technology and design severely impact the overall experience. I hope future versions can bring better optimization, and I wish my expectations can genuinely transform into a great gaming experience.

I would say that this game is one of the best RTS games I have played ever. The feeling of controlling a nation and having huge fleet battles with ground battles (Which I wish there was more depth on the ground fights) is just awesome. Ever game is new and playing with friends can cause one of the most dramatic wars and diplomatic talks. I would recommend this game 100%, the mods are also very good.

way too much! it is fun but seriously they have added way to much stuff to the game and give no real direction. I dont want them to hold my hand the whole time but at least get me started. The tutorial is a joke. 32 hours in the game and 6.5 on tutorial videos, i'll probably put some more time into it but i have pretty much given up trying to learn the game.

Unless you have a friend group with a solid schedule I cannot in good faith recommend this game. I personally love it, however, the sheer degrees of unfairness from the AI, even in the easiest of difficulties is stupid. There are shadow mechanics and rules which are never explained. Fundamental aspects of this game are completely inaccessible without hours of dedicated study to understand its function.
Additionally, its DLC is extraordinarily overpriced for what it offers for players new and old.

There needs to be serious rectification before I can consider recommending this game as a stand-alone experience.

Only fun with mods, only truly playable with unreasonably expensive dlc, multiplayer DOES NOT WORK. Unless you want to spend half the time going through your harddrive to have the same exact file make up as the other players. Also the loading times are abysmal.

I enjoyed my time with this game, however it is sooo expensive! And not well optimized. I haven't touched the game in a few years, and already I'm $100 to $150 behind on all the DLC's. When will it end? Probably never. Hence my reason for this review.

TLDR: Good game, poor people need not apply.

Very nice game, would say it's worth the money especially if you like a rather in depth game and the ease of modding is amazing and makes it much more fun although i have trouble playing with others after modding. Overall 8/10 in my opinion

Watched about 8+ hours of informational and tutorial videos before even attempting to play.
I've only* played for about 41 hours (iron man only) and have yet to finish** 1 game at this point.
The sheer number of things one can do and customise are staggering, and I think I'm only using half of the options available to me if I even get to that amount.

Still watching my little insect spawn infest almost a full arm of the galaxy and ordering an empire wide upgrade of my robot citizens feels great.

If you are a fan of 4x games, space games, tactical games, too many options to count, then Stellaris is for you.
If you just want to create creatures and have them conquer the galaxy; Spore will have your back.

Be sure to pick this game and additions up while they are discounted as even then the'll be a large money sink.


*If you don't have time to invest and just want a quick game, don't start this, it will demand and take your time.
**My game didn't properly cloud transfer from my laptop to my PC so I'm maintaining 2 separate empires at the same time.

Dunno, just one of the better RTS games out there. The micromanagement can seem daunting at first but it eventually becomes muscle memory and there are systems in place to automate everything. The combat can be intense and dynamic. I'll often have to pause and have a thing to myself how best to deploy my forces to fight on multiple fronts. Often with a mobile war fleet on the other side of the galaxy completely cut off from reinforcements and with my finest admiral at the helm.

Resource management is easy enough but it is also easy to get complacent and start neglecting your colonies, which always turns out poorly.

The workshop is both surprisingly well-curated and expansive. All you have to do is make sure the mods are for the current version of the game and you can turn Stellaris into just about any flavor of RTS you want.

Overall, 8/10. There's always room for improvement. But as far as space empire grand strategy RTS games go, this is one of the absolute best.

Write your own story in a galaxy, across different timelines... It's never gets bored when you pick it up once in a while wanting to try something new.

If only the DLCs can be purchased with Unity...

It really does suck you in - you constantly have something to do while in game. The automated planet management is a liver saver. Need to learn a lot of things to play the game but it's not that difficult to get started - the tutorial is pretty clear.
Basically every flaw gets overshadowed by the fact that you can play as space creatures and robots. Got bored of the human playthrough (to learn) - changed to the killer robo, immediately having more fun just with the robotic narrator voice

While it is alot to understand at first, once you understand it its really fun. Its A fun space civ game, explore the stars and try to dominate the galaxy. It does suffer from alot of dlcs but the race and story dlcs help to give new life to games and extra events to see and handle. im not a fan of civ games but i like this one alot (the space theme got me).

I very much like this game, and would love to be able to recommend it. The gameplay is fun, the emergent storytelling is great, but you can't really justify the horrid DLC practice.

Used to be you didn't need DLC, you could just mod the game. Now most mods require most DLC, and there's a LOT of DLC, and they're not cheap. I'm a frog boiling in the pot, as it were. I spent the money on the DLCs over a long time, but to new players it will be a very financially daunting prospect to get into the game with the triple digit USD cost of total DLC. That number is only gonna get larger and larger over time.

Paradox games tend to be more digestible if you get them at launch.

Good Game. Just gets destroyed by too many DLC adding stupid buttons and then they forget to integrate old stuff and then if you don't have all DLC game is being balanced properly etc etc. They need to come up with a new finance model.

If you’re into space games, Stellaris is a must-try! It’s basically a dream come true for anyone who loves exploring galaxies, building an empire, and making big decisions that impact the fate of entire civilizations. You get to shape your own unique alien race, develop advanced tech, and even face some seriously intense crises that pop up randomly and keep you on your toes. The game’s also really good at pulling you in with its visuals and soundtrack; it’s immersive, epic, and somehow still cozy.

One of my favorite things is the diplomacy and interaction with other species—whether you’re making alliances, trading, or going to war, the game lets you choose how you want to play. The updates Paradox releases are pretty regular too, so they keep adding new features and events that make each game feel fresh.

It’s complex, sure, but once you get the hang of it, the depth is super rewarding. So if you're looking for a game where every choice matters and you can genuinely lose yourself in the story you’re creating, Stellaris is where it’s at!

Probably the ideal 4X Grand Strategy for me. It's rich in depth of story, scale and tactics. No two play-throughs feel anything alike. I learnt so much about political ideology and societal structure through this game. It is truly vast and fulfilling, with so much modded content and DLC (I'm serious, there's at least 4 whole games worth of DLC) that you will likely never see everything this has to offer. Not to mention the easter-eggs and nods to other sci-fi pop culture. It is impressive how much love the devs have put into this. My only gripe is the planetary combat and the absolute performance slowdown that happens in the endgame (during Crisis). That said, I haven't played over a year of patches, so a lot could have changed.

My favorite Space grand strategy

buy it. spend 500 hours learning it. get bored for a while, come back. remember nothing. spend 500 more hours relearning it. 12/10

Honestly, I really love this game.

But.. I wont be buying the DLC's.
It takes a game that is $39.99 and turns it into a $300+ game.
Like I love that they keep adding DLC's. But sweet jesus do they all need to be so expensive?
The value add of each DLC does not match the price.

Anyway! Great game, but sadly they made it so it's just outside of everyone's price point.
So if you new to this game, just rather not. Save yourself from constantly waiting for sales and then realising that even with a sale, you need to drop $200 odd to get them all.

I havent played this game in a long time. Each time I remember how much fun me and my friend had on this game it makes me want to play it again so bad. But it isnt the same game anymore. Even back then, there was alot of dlc. But you could manage to get everything for the price of a normal game back then if you waited for a sale. Now the game and all its content costs hundreds of dollars even when on sale. And all of this is after the fact that they changed base game mechanics to make the game more boring and tedious without the new dlcs. They completely threw away the old building system to make you give them more money. The fact that we are at a point where a game has a subscription for dlc is pathetic and this company deserves to go under.

Loved this game but I in good conscience can't recommend it. The amount of content hidden behind DLC should be criminal.

While the game itself is pretty fun, this is yet another game that expects you to pay $60 bucks for it while hiding most of the game behind $200 worth of DLCs, as as someone who owns SOME of those DLCs, their absence is sorely felt.

Game is intended for whales only.

i do recommend this but with ta very big asterisk and this is for the fact that it may be well maintained it also is very much a cash grab like any other of paradox interactive games as they keep releasing dlc that is way too expensive for what it adds most the time.

I would not recommend this game. Its slow and the start is very RNG and enemies all all overpowered. Its horrible. I have 4000 hours oh god why can't I stop.

But seriously. Great space fantasy simulator. I love building new empires, thinking about what life for the citizens might be like. Still often new events I haven't seen or only rarely. For me at least, it runs so much more smoothly even through endgame than it did back in the day even with a lot of DLC.

I was About to Exterminate the Galaxy, and the Galactic Council voted to repeal Minor Military Sanctions.....

I cannot give this game A lower than 10/10 for Correctly Simulating The UN.

This game throws a lot at you -- starting a civilization's journey into space, colonizing plants, managing population jobs to keep the economy afloat, researching new technology, managing your society's focus -- and it's extremely fun. The game can be paused and saved, preventing this from becoming overwhelming. Depending on how much you pause or fast forward, a single playthrough can easily take 30 hours to complete.

If you're going for immersion, Fear of the Dark is my favorite origin. On the logistical side, remember that districts and buildings only make more jobs available; until your population grows enough to fill them, it won't have any economic effect.

Even though Paradox's monetization model annoys me, this particular game is so good that I was willing to shell out the cash for various DLCs. Even without these, the basic game is still quite good, but I'd recommend picking up at least Utopia for the ascension paths.

Imagine Minecraft decided to sell the End Update, the Caves and Clifs or the Combat update as DLCs.
That is exactly what stellaris does. If you just buy the base game you will alays bump into some section of the game that is paywalled by the DLC. For example: You get a ton of options to research orbital ring modules. However to build an orbital ring you need the overlord DLC.

Furthermore the game is heavily leaning towards prejudice and discord due to poorly balanced mechanics. It is for example not feasibly possible to expand and have relations with your neighbours since those use the same resource. It is however without issue possible to fight them, subjugate and enslave them while expanding.

Sometimes a peacefull or coexistent option is mechanicly just missing. There are multiple events where you will not gain anything unless you go for violence. For example its impossible to get a better hull plating unless you rot out an entire spaceborn species. A peacefull option exists but does absolutely nothing - mechanicaly this option is worthless.

Before I played this game my only contact with stellaris was a certain Video "Lets be xenophobic", and a few comments on how fun it is to enslave the entire galaxy and blow up home planets. I was under the impression that stellaris just is a game with more people with this kind of hatred. However while playing this game my opinion changed. This game breeds bigotry. Differences between your race, your empire to others are without fail made an issue. Tricking some alien then stabbing their back is always easier and more fun then coexisting with them. Noones getting paid to play this so of course youre gonna play the fun way. This game changes you if you play too long and I cant blame anyone for it.

Political sim strategy game where you have the niche "future space technology colonisation (in ""realistic"" setting) with massive loads of content" that you will be scammed out of your mind for.

step 1. be a driven assimiliator
step 2. join the galactic community
step 3. be friendly for centuries as trick
step 4. snap and purge political opponents
step 5. become emperor
step 6. profit

This is literally the most complex game I've ever seen or played. The best part is that no two rounds are ever the same. DLC comes with no regrets this game is a great investment for gr and strategy gamer's.

This game is amazing. Though it can be very hard, so civilian difficulty is a fun option for beginners. So yes absolutely recommend

ive played this game for nearly 500 hours, more than some, less than others. sometimes i feel like i have to have a full blown Master's degree to play this game well, but i love it and how satisfying it is

Scratches my sci-fi nerd brain, but the DLCs are absolutely outrageous, don't get me wrong, the content they add is great! But they are all like $10-$20 for things that should've been in the base game or be like $5. This is something that Paradox is really known for, but unlike CK3 or HOI4 the DLCs are actually completed and run well and add really interesting things, so you know the devs care, it's just the higher ups marking the price up.

Buy base game, just pirate the DLCs

(To Steam and Paradox, I have not done this, I've bought all of the dlcs I use. Promise)

It's been a long way ... getting from there to here .... ;-)

Stellaris 2024 is a very different game than what launched in 2016. Almost every aspect of the game has been overhauled, redesigned, expanded or tweaked. However, it is the only sci-fi sandbox IMO that throws pretty much every sci-fi trope you can think of into its mix and lets you play as any space empire you can think of. From feral devouring hive minds to interstellar crime syndicate to undead death cult, it has it all.

The price for the DLC is eyewatering if you come in fresh - but check out the basegame if you have a chance to see if it is for you. And if it is, check the DLC subscription for a month to decide which DLC you actually want to buy. Remember: you don't have to buy everything all at once.

This game is a lot of fun for those that are really into the details of space colonization. There are many layers to this onion and a great story to go along with the exploration. A lot of fun!

Price point for these so called DLC's should be criminal.

Games been out forever and there seems to be zero effort/drive by the devs to fix late game performance.

I'd get it if these was a new release or something, but this game dropped eight years ago. I'd scream "Fix it" But I guess all they hear is "Milk it"

I do like the game, for the time I get to play. I bet I'd love Stellaris with all my heart if I didn't have speed run every game or watch it become an unplayable slide show.

I bought this at launch and it has gone through so many revisions, it's essentially a completely different game. From multiple different FTL methods to just one, to an ever increasing cascade of dlc (which is normal for Paradox, but getting annoying), to completely altering play-styles (Void-born is basically worthless now), and yada yada yada.

The only way I encourage people to buy this game is to wait until they release "Stellaris 2"; by then they should know what the final product will actually be.

As long as paradox keeps evolving the game you don't just buy one game. The stellaris of 2 years ago is not even the same game. Tactics change, priorities change, diplomacy changes. Like real life, you learn from the past but duplication of past successes is impossible. Resting on your laurels is utterly impossible if you want to be the galactic emperor.

pretty fun game, gameplay is fun , its easy to comprehend and ships look cool. The amount of customization makes for a enjoyable experience and replayability. The game is also fun without dlcs because theres a lot to do , and needs only some dlcs to massively expand upon that. Also the game is very well optimized, unlike ck3 and vicky 3.

I can't recommend this game anymore, Paradox is not doing this any justice.
Major Updates/patches should be less frequent, with more content, with longer mean-time between each one. This would be far more reasonable for the modded community, so that they have time to patch the game without exhausting themselves every couple months, sometimes less.
I CANNOT emphasise enough how stressing it is that I cannot play my modded play-set after each Major Patch, so frequently that its turning me away from one of my favourite games. It's just unplayable. Mods add so much flavour to the game for me, I rarely touch vanilla as I only play multiplayer with friends.
Most of these DLCs are covered by mods, usually better in more ways than Paradox has, although I still give credit to Paradox for the graphical integration of their own take.
Don't mistake this as hate, or disregard for patches and updates in general, as they're very much necessary, they're just TOO frequent, in my opinion.
Edit: No reverting to a previous version doesn't always help, especially when they change the defines of certain events and the like in the code, meaning that some mods that get updated, aren't backwards compatible. I can confirm this crashes my game when reverting to 3.13.1, It just doesn't work (modded). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overview

Actual Overview for People who Actually Care About Reviews and not Low-Effort Nonsense

The Good:

• Gameplay first and foremost. It has a very steep learning curve, but has a ton of depth (and hidden depth) for you to figure out. Plus, no two playthroughs are going to be exactly the same. You can play as box-standard Humans one game, a race of cybernetically enhanced rat-people the game after that, or a pile of psychic rocks the next. And even if you find out you rather enjoy being a pile of psychic rocks, you can always adjust what civics and traditions you'll adopt, and the host of randomly generated AI empires will never be the same twice. You never know what you're going to get with Stellaris, but odds are, at least one of them will be mining drones.
  
• Graphics and sound design: Graphics and artwork are quite good in my unrefined opinion, but the soundtrack is phenomenal. The mix of orchestral and synthesizer works incredibly well; the OST is easily in my top 3 video game soundtracks to listen to even when not actually playing the game. (The other two are Human: Fall Flat and Civilization V, in case you were wondering).
  
• World-Building (I guess Galaxy-Building is more apt in this case) is extraordinarily rich and detailed. It's fairly bare-bones in the base game, but the DLCs (particularly the aptly-named Story Packs) raise it to a stunning degree, comparable to a full series of novels. You can delve in as deeply or shallowly as you please.
  

The Bad:

• DLC Extravaganzafest. If you're looking for a game that's cheap to get into, you're looking at the wrong publisher. DLCs range in price from as low as $5 USD, to as high as $25 USD. In total, the DLCs alone will run you a whopping $359.74 USD, unless you get them on sale. The base game by itself is average at best, so if you want to get the most out of this game, be ready to shell out at least a few bucks on DLC. Wait until a sale like I did to stretch your money furthest.
  
[*]Could be a good thing or a bad thing, but game duration. Each game takes anywhere from 6 hours (if you never pause) to upwards of 50 (if you pause a lot like me). I don't mind really long games, but I know some people don't so... do with that what you will.

Conclusion

An Absolutely Perfect 4X Game that delivers everything we ever wanted in a Space Exploration Simulator. There's a deep exploration system which has you performing a whole lot of Stellar Archeology to learn about Star Empires past, there is a robust diplomatic process with a lot more options than "Peace" and "War", First Contact proceeds as a science project where you slowly decode the alien languages - which can be complicated by the aliens making themselves difficult to contact - and once you have contacted them, it is possible to build just about any kind of relationship imaginable, including peacefully subjugating and later annexing other star empires, which can massively increase the size of your empire without firing a single shot! (Peaceful Integration is everything that Annexing Conquered Vassals in any other Paradox Sim should have been - a simple decision that takes awhile and brings the subject into your empire - perfect for reintegrating, say, a Splinter Colony back into the fold with the Homeworld!) There are hyper advanced stagnant empires (don't wake them up early, unless you like playing on super hard mode) and lost precursor civilizations, galactic federations to be formed, crises to be fought and so much more, that gets bigger and better with every new DLC.

Fair warning - you can lose entire weekends and more to this game. Be aware that it is a joyous, blissful time sink with a pause button but no stop button . . .

Great game with tons of exploring. If you're into space like I, and thousands or millions of people do, get it. Music is wonderful.

The only problem I see is that Stellaris doesn't properly shut down after exiting to the desktop. Could be steam. Could be the game. Weirdly enough from what I read, restarting my PC could fix it.

Base game Stellaris is good if you can get the AI to take you in OR go Xenophobe and early game zerg rush.
however id actually recommend just playing with mods off the bat. Ive gotten some of the dlc not for the new mechanics but for the new stuff
Fed/Apoc. for Colossus and Titans and Jugs(forgot the name of that dlc)
Overlord for orbit rings, hyperlane relays, and Quantum catapults.
I very much Recommend Machine Age though, and all it brings is actually very good 10/10 dlc
BUT READ THE REVIEWS ON ALL DLC FOR YOUR OWN SAKE AND NOT TO WASTE MONEY

Definitley a fun space strategy game. Like all paradox games though there is a BUNCH of DLCs.

This game is a glorified spreadsheet where the core mechanic is manually comparing and then changing pop values of cells in the spreadsheet to make a bigger number. Each DLC adds a couple rows to the spreadsheet and costs $35. If you want an optimised or competitive build you are going to need lots of those DLCs.

The UI is awful as its designed for low resolutions with huge buttons and low quality images taking up the build menus. Scrolling through lists to select a building or ship is pain. important menus are hidden away behind buttons with no description. This can be fixed with multiple UI mods to become efficiently usable, these mods break every time there's a minor update.

Stellaris is hilariously badly optimised. I highly reccommend you don't let any faction or galaxy get to the lategame or your GPU will heating your whole house just for 10fps, even on a good spec machine.

Its also not something you can play comfortably, because any viable or fun build you find will enevitably be nerfed into the ground in order to sell whatever the next DLC is pushing. If you stop playing for 6 months, expect to come back to a completely different game. This is like taking a break from Age of empires and coming back to find food, gold, cavalry and barracks units gone, and the game is now a third person artillery shooter with only wood stone, and a new resource called "aim".

If you do accidentally buy some DLC, the game will still randomly block options out and tell you you are missing the required DLC even if you have all of DLC because they were all developed by different offshore studios for cheap and none of the devs talked to eachother.

Overall : Genociding your friends' planets population whilst they moan in discord is fun but the game's only a 5/10 once you see its kinda shallow and mostly just a cashgrab spreadsheet sim.

If a good and complete game is a nice house, base game Stellaris is a good foundation, hollow and lacking many things, but you can build upon it something good. It's just another Paradox game, the lacking base game that requires many, usually most, DLCs to enhance the experience and replayability beyond an "it's alright". Eitherway, wether you plan to only buy the base game or want to get some DLC, buy them all while on sale, this base game ain't worth more than the 9,99€ that it costs during sales. As for the DLCs, I usually wait until they are at 50% discount to not feel like I'm getting robed. I do recommend it, but only during sales. It isn't a bad game, but it's a Paradox game.