Endless Space 2

After years of being DLC abused by Stellaris I needed a new space strategy to scratch that itch. I craved something more in-depth and story focused than Sins of the Solar Empire, yet less bogged down in diplomatic bs than Stellaris, and ES2 found me.
The game is very satisfying to build an empire and is very dynamic, with anomalies/events/starting locations/faction bonuses all leading to varied experiences throughout play-throughs. The game is still familiar enough not to be overwhelmingly different between runs, still sharing the same overarching tech trees and major factions, yet faction bonuses allow you to fully lean in to certain empire strategies easily.
It isn't a perfect game though, one of the main reasons I think this game isn't as popular as other 4x space games is the tech tree, which is an endless stream of decisions with more branching choices the more you make. With each tech having up to 4 different bonuses it can become a dizzying affair to sort the best paths early, the only real solution is to muscle through it and figure out which techs are best for your scenario, with a few choice techs always being a good idea to rush. The AI also bugs out quite often even years after release, saying they are going to war with you when they do not actually declare war or systems that can't be colonized because a quest was never patched, the game can be pretty rough around the edges sometimes.
Despite all that the game is a solid 4x space strategy that has tons to offer in terms of interactivity and replay-ability. It is absolutely worth picking up on sale because the full game off-sale is a hard sell at $95(drops down to ~$20 on sale).
PSA
Even if you buy the definitive edition do not play your first game or two with dlcs enabled, disable all of them. Awakening is a horrendous DLC at the time of writing this review and while Penumbra/Supremacy add an extra layer for players who enjoy the game it is not a well crafted experience for beginners, since you may be surprised with invisible fleets/planets or system killing weapons in your first game.

Nice, schizophrenic atmosphere. Hypnotically Autistic. The DLC is both strikingly overpriced and at the same time very easy to pirate: another of god's little tests.

It's Stellaris for people who don't want to pause the game every four minutes. Although I recommend it, I recommend only the vanilla game. The DLC adds complexities and annoyances that are huge hindrances with little to no payoff, especially for new players.

This remains one of my all-time favorite turn-based strategy games. Indeed, one of my favorite games of all time. It's got great gameplay, really deep interesting stories and characters that come out of the Endless universe, and incredibly good gameplay. Each faction has its own characteristics and encourages different play-styles and the mission system gives each play-through its own character and unique feel, not to mention an effective forward drive that makes it constantly playable. Also, this game, even 7 years later, still looks amazing. I've played this game for 500 hours and I'm not stopping.

Since installing ES2 I have completed four games with four different factions winning four different ways. It is rare that a 4X can hold my attention for even one full play-through. I am eagerly eyeing game five.
What's different? Well for starters, the UI is exquisite. The layout, color-coding, iconography, searchable tech tree, and intuitive control scheme are all best-in-class. Combined with the excellent in-game tutorial, Amplitude have created an elegant accessibility that I just haven't experienced in any other strategy game. Right in those first few turns I felt like I was "getting it" and making decent choices. Four wins under my belt I am sincerely min/maxing. I AM NOT A MIN/MAXER.
I'm also not simply playing a given empire, I'm roleplaying them. The factions are outstanding (where else in sci-fi can you find Horatio?). The writing is profound and sometimes hilarious. The quests provide rich context and immersion that take everything well beyond spreadsheets in space. Nothing wrong with space-spreadsheets, it's just nice to feel like the universe is alive too. Quests come in all sorts of neat flavors as well: faction, solo, cooperative, and competitive.
Ships are neat. Blowing up planets is wickedly satisfying. The music is a perfect fit across the board. Normally after this many hours I'm ready to turn off the in-game tunes and rock my own thing. Not so this time, especially with the addition of the easy-to-recommend soundtrack DLC.
Speaking of, my first couple plays I went vanilla and that was perfect. I have since been gradually adding DLC and it does add a lot to an already excellent game. And if you've read this far you probably know that Amplitude just put out a major balance and bug-fix release that, according to the pros, fix some longstanding balance issues and bugs, particularly with their later DLC. in other words, it's a perfect time to jump in.
And jump in I have. In fact, this review's taken too much time away from the important things. I have a galaxy to rule!

So I've played this game a lot and haven't really bothered with the DLC's but now after downloading the "Reawakening" update the game no longer functions and freezes at the load screen. Hope they fix this soon. Penumbra looked interesting but the hacking just wasn't implemented correctly. It's damn near impossible to hack a major CIV, yet they seem to hack you just fine. That's the DLC they should have fixed.

Re-Awakening Update's a bombshell. The best surprise anniversary update I've heard for any game. Fixing a game that I believed was very broken (battles) and unbalanced. This update doesn't just fix the dlc that it's named after, but also every other aspect of the game (including all dlc's).
I'm forever a fanboy now of AMPLITUDE studios.
As of March 2024 this is a confident must buy!