This game is easily one of the most unique grand strategies I've ever played. It really captures the hopelessness of fighting a technologically superior enemy in a way I haven't experienced since the original XCom except instead of the danger being the seemingly loaded dice it's the oncoming aliens and the calendar.

The Earth phase of the game does a great job simulating the kind of alignment and social engineering that would have to occur to unite a divided world behind a singular ideological response to the aliens. This is where you feel the other factions the most other than the Servants who can be a real threat the rest of them you can feel the drain they are on your resources and time as you try to whip the planet into fighting (or escaping) shape. Even on brutal don't necessarily expect them to beat the brakes off of you but they aren't toothless and they can turn Earth into a quagmire of division all the while the clock is sticking and the threat is coming closer....

In space the plethora of places to put outposts and (simulated) orbital mechanics creates an excellent system of consideration to where to place assets to respond- along with having to balance that consideration against resource collection. The research tree is massive and it reflects a certain reality- we would have no idea what avenues of research would be most beneficial to pursue. While I agree some techs do feel a bit like noob traps- there are others that start off bad but later tiers become good or they feed into another technology that is very viable. Where the "issue" of the expanse of the tech tree perhaps does rear it's head a bit is propulsion tech perhaps we could have cut that by a couple of tech lines but it's not nearly a nightmare of "there is one optimal path and it is the only way to win" that some have described.

Yes. The aliens are *hard*. One way this is very different from XCom is they are truly lightyears ahead in every respect technologically and are an immediately organized force. The devs clearly wanted to capture the idea of "When two peoples meet and one is significantly technologically superior to the other the technologically superior one tends to wipe out the other." The aliens are consistently hard on all difficulties and it becomes more than abundantly clear that the other factions were just distractions pulling you down.

As far as the learning curve goes...I would liken it to the first time you ever played a grand strategy game ever. Crusader Kings felt Byzantine and systemically impossible to understand the first time I played it. However, I got better. Now I enjoy it and other grand strategy games very much. This game is almost like having that experience again, but it's not due to poor translation or necessiarily bad decisions it's due to the game actually being complex as opposed so say Stellaris which feels like a streamlined skinned crusader kings. UI wise it could be better, heck I've never seen a perfect UI in anything, but honestly it's fine. I find it more informative and easier to deal with than a lot of grand strategy games.

So yes, everything said is true- the game is brutally difficult, the devs have a history of going after strategies they have decided are "cheese", games are long, the tech tree, and everything else about this game for that matter, is dense. However it's my jam and it might be yours too. I don't do Dark Souls because that kind of difficulty doesn't appeal to me but this does.

Short Version: There are definite criticisms that can be leveled against the game and it is not perfect. However, the vibes are immaculate and if you are a fan of Dune, the films or the books, it is a wonderful place to spend your time.

The melee combat is a lot less jank than people say that it is. It's actually very thematic to the source material in that you look for parries or try to overwhelm your shielded enemies. Resource gathering is not so onerous it fails to be fun (except perhaps Cobalt Paste...) due to a fairly quick respawn of nodes so you feel like there's a little bit of competition for them but the respawn is not so long you can't find anything. Water, in specific, feels very well thought out because you start with it being very challenging but as you ascend the hierarchy of needs you eventually find yourself "swimming" in it because it's needed for every high end process in the game, in addition to your very survival. It never becomes irrelevant or so abundant you don't need to be thinking about it but you can become "comfortable" so to speak.

I personally haven't spent much time in the deep desert yet but there's plenty to do in Hagga Basin that the response "It's a peaceful life" from Rogue One comes to mind. I don't feel like I am missing anything I would want by being in the deep desert. At this time, I am simply enjoying building my bases gathering resources, doing quests, and the various sites around the map. It creates a situation where there might be large guilds battling in the deep desert and you have to rat around there as a solo player, but you don't have to, you can find a place to exist in without it.

Would get eaten by a sandworm again/10

Edit: Also I play on Arch Linux (a PC not the steam deck) and the game works nearly flawlessly. The anticheat doesn't lock out linux players and I hope this continues.

Guys, just say the licencing deal with Gold Rush ran out...it's okay. Game is pretty fun and decent you made a good tie-in to a pretty terrible show. Be proud of yourselves.