better than undertale

I'll be honest, I love this game, but with the current state of it, I can't recommend or share this game to anyone, because of the utter mess it is. Late game performance is slow, mid-game gameplay is dull and plodding and the multiplayer straight up doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling several files, folders and eventually the whole game and it still doesn't work. I shouldn't have to go through this effort to play a game with my partner, and even worse is that didn't fix it. This sounds entitled, but we bought a game with multiplayer, it should be a deep focus of the game, and it just doesn't work.

Until Paradox stops trying to push out one worthless DLC after another and actually focuses on improving the base game and fixing these bugs, Stellaris isn't worth your time, or the time of anyone else unless you get it for dirt cheap.

So, I don't normally review things. But this one deserves a good review due to a lot of different things.

First of all, the learning curve and the "need" for a joystick. The l;earning curve isn't as large as many would think, it's just a bit awkward when using a keyboard and mouse. I re-bound three controls, all of them non-essential; headlook, debug cam and cargo scoop just to make them more acessable with my mac keyboard. The actual controls are pretty good and make a lot of sense, with the essential movement and combat controls within a few keys of the WASD triangle, Some other controls, like jump and landing gear are a bit odly placed, but you don't need them particularly often, deoending on the role. All the context controls, such as menu controls, are also easy to get your head around. All in all, I don't find a particular need for a joystick.

Secondly, the scope. yes, this game is huge. Yes, it takes time and patience to get anywhere. If you are one for quickly jumping through the ranks and getting the largest ship/gun/whatever, then this game really isn't for you. But for me, I'm quite happy to spend my time trading, exploring and travelling the 200+ lightyears to my power's capitol. Sometimes it can take you a good long while to get anywhere, but with the music and the visuals, it's easy to spend three hours trading or exploring.

Thirdly, trade. Research isn't required, but tactics are. Or just a handy trading tool on the internet. It can be monotonous over time, but it's actually quite fun.

Fourthly(?), combat. I haven't done much, but combat is often drawn into circling competitions. However, in conflict zones where there's ship trying to destroy each other left, right and centre, that's when combat spices up.

Fifthly and lastly, story/your path thing. There is currently no story, but the Devs are planning on inputting the bad guys from the origional game, the Tharigolds. This will provide a bit of structure to the game in the form of a story, and hopefully should fill in quite a large gap left out.

In conclusion, if you like trading, exploring, taking your time, somewhat repetitive combat and astounding space visuals, then this is for you. If you're someone who likes to get games complete within five hours of purchasing, let me tell you, that ain't happening. But all-in-all, this is a great game with huge potential.