Interstellaria
123 hours, just came back for more after not playing for a few months, and had to write a review.
I can not for the life of me figure out the negative reviews (keep in mind though I am more of a ‘benefit of the doubt’ reviewer than a ‘this game is not precisely what I expect/desire therefore I will crap all over it’ reviewer). This game is a blast. I have to assume they are doing the usual ‘reviewing it as compared to some other game they like more’ or ‘reviewing it for what they want it to be rather than what it is’. Either way, my opinion is this game is one of the better unkown space games in existence. All these ‘FTL’ clones, and no mention of Interstellaria, is a travesty, this game needs more PR.
– Real player with 124.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Space Exploration Games.
Short version:
It’s fairly similar to FTL with the added ability to explore planets (with simple ground combat), move your ship freely in deep space (with dynamic tactical space combat) and enjoy an entertaining plot that guides you through the open-world universe.
Is it perfect? No. There are issues and the UX is not the best, but unless that puts you off, you can definitely enjoy the game.
Coldrice seems to be working non-stop to fix any issues and there are also some planned improvements.
– Real player with 77.3 hrs in game
Killer Inside Us
A 3d rendition of a popular 2d game that works quite well. Support for up to 10 players at once and the ability to wear a duck on your head as you spook those who aren’t dead yet… Sus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUAF8gJ95j0
– Real player with 10.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Space Multiplayer Games.
when the killer is questionable
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– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Stellaris
Stellaris is a fantastic game.
I have seen thousands of stories unfold during my playtime. I’ve watched humanity bloom into a galaxy-spanning civilisation. I’ve watched megacorporations be seized by fanatic communists. I’ve seen weapons created that span the circumference of quasars and watched them wipe away entire solar clusters. I’ve unlocked the secrets of the universe again and again, scoured the galaxy for relics and found stories spanning universes in scale, stories that go beyond the beginning and the end of what we would conventionally call a universe. I held the line against an extra-galactic threat while the galaxy crumbled around me, a threat that had followed the Prethoryn Scourge to our local cluster and fed on our galaxy as a cow would a field. My empires proved and disproved the false vacuum theory again and again, and when that empire eventually fell; futurespawns travelled back in time to warn the past against the coming storm. A revolt against fate itself had formed, and after swiftly taking over the galaxy through diplomacy it found itself fronting that storm yet again. This time it was ready.
– Real player with 1967.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Space Grand Strategy Games.
This review is difficult to leave as I have lots of great memories with this game. Its unique approach to RTS Space Strategy is incomparable to anything else on steam at this time. Which is a real shame because Paradox Interactive continues to fail with DLC updates and constant redesigns.
The game has been practically remade at least twice. Entire game feels more like a beta with constant major changes to core gameplay, to fix things that should have been fixed before release. Which ironically, PDX Interactive fails at almost every, single time. Every update that “fixes” bugs only temporarily patches them or just changes them to be slightly more bearable. For instance, every claim of late game lag being fixed might as well be ignored. You can choose a tiny galaxy, and you’ll still have lag in the late game. Pop changes or whatever other crap they’ve put it in hasn’t fixed much of anything. But what it has done is break mods, introduce new & more upsetting bugs, and piss off the community. They also released some stupid launcher so they could shove ads in my face when I launch the game, but in doing so also broke mods by introducing frustrating & upsetting mod order issues. Literally never was an issue before the launcher, now I have to shuffle mods around to hopefully not crash when loading saves. Which you might as well just delete your old saves if the devs release an update, because its going to break.
– Real player with 700.2 hrs in game
Stellar Monarch
If you are familiar with Eurogame style tabletop games, then the abstractions and economic focus (vice military control) will feel very familiar to you. The game’s pillars are not based on American-style wargames.
Many devs who make 4X games seem to have the souls of engineers; Aurora 4x being the archetype. In those games micromanagement focuses on design, production, and use of things like ships. Mastery of those concepts leads to victory.
This game requires micromanagement and is numerically obtuse as well, but it focuses on the qualitative values of game elements (i.e. cards) instead of design, production and use of things.
– Real player with 30.3 hrs in game
There’s a lot left to be desired in this game. The UI is clunky, the artwork is amateurish (think early D&D), and there are some strong biases (no female officers, everyone is Caucasian). Maybe there’s a button to change that - but if there is, I havent dug it out from the UI yet (oh, that tiny button on the map pulls up a list of worlds? Which cannot be ordered to tell me most populous, most rebellious, etc?).
For all that, however, the game does two things well. It lives up to what it says it is - you’re the Emperor, not a warehouse clerk. You dont deal with the minutae of the empire, you have People for that - who are, admittedly, often trying to kill you. Or skim off the top. Or are just idiots. But you’re the Emperor, you have People for those People too; people with sharp, pointy objects - my purges havent reached Stalinist levels, but every once in a while, I do feel the need to prune my court of the more corrupt or stupid couriers or officers (‘fire’ all corrupt governors except the loyal ones? Meh heh heh heh).
– Real player with 23.5 hrs in game
ENDLESS™ Space - Definitive Edition
I fell in love with Master of Orion II when it came out first (1996) and since then I look for a worthy successor. Played several 4X games and they had their pros and cons. Endless Space is one of the better 4X games and absolutely worth buying, in my opinion. Wouldn’t have played 300+ hours else, heh. I am reviewing it including Disharmony expansion.
Galaxy: Endless Space offers some variety of galaxy shapes and sizes, some favoring defensive players, some favoring offensive ones. Additional finetuning of the galaxy is possible. I miss the opportunity of creating a REALLY huge galaxy, but maximum size with just one opponent works ok as a sandbox mode. During exploring you will find nice bonuses, a few pirates, wormholes (basically dividing the galaxy until you can travel through them) and finally different wonders, so exploring is actually fun.
– Real player with 352.8 hrs in game
Review: Endless Space
_“Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world. . . .
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson_
The universe with it’s endless amounts of galaxies, stars and planets was born out of what we call “the big bang”. It took billions of years before the first life was given and further billions for the new rulers of space to conquer every star they could reach: The Endless. They traveled through wormholes, became masters of time and space, built outstanding monuments and structures and oppressed every lifeform that stood in their way, all with the help of a special gift called dust. The only ones who could make them fall were the Endless themselves with inner conflicts and arrogance. Millions of years later other empires arose from the stars. The Endless were gone but their technology, wisdom and Dust is still there, waiting for new conquerors. Which faction will dominate the others with science, war and dust? Hopefully yours.
– Real player with 196.1 hrs in game
Rising Constellation
Rising Constellation is an awesome game which is mixing strategy and role play at a perfect level.
It offers many distinct gameplay based on factions and its agents mechanics - however, remind it’s strongly depends on team play!
Indead, this game is part of those who are perfectly designed to work in cooperation with your mates, but definitely not alone.
Use Siderians and rule your teamates, just because you’ll get the economy power - or perhaps you’ll prefer bite everyone using large fleets lead by Navarques.
– Real player with 933.3 hrs in game
Rising Constellation is 4x RST game still in developpment.
Created from a small team of Swiss developper, I was a player of thier first MMO RTS 4x game: Asylamba.
I see RC (Rising Constellation) like an MMO RTS 4x game based on Agents (Navarques – Ereased – Sidérians).
I really enjoy the game for is background story (lore can be added by players participation) , B&W graphic style and is MMO possibility !
There is now 1 mod to play : fast flash 2H gamemode , this is quite small with 1 or to 2 games per week with a small cummunity.
– Real player with 837.1 hrs in game
Star Sonata 2
I cautiously recommend this game only if you can look past its shortcomings. I have been playing since ~2008 when I was only 12yr old.
The Good:
There is something about this game that can get you addicted like no other. The player base is very close (admittedly also rather small) and everybody knows everyone else and that makes the community very strong. You can create your own team join a team (aka clan, faction, country) and take control of start systems and use the resources within them to build ships, weapons, space stations, and become an industrial powerhouse. But you better be prepared to defend what you own. Much like a country in real life, your team could become a true superpower with all the fame and infamy that comes with it. You can exercise your hard and soft power as you see fit. Politics are very real in this game and I love it. Likewise, if you upset too many players they may declare war against you. Every solar system you own and space station you build is at risk. In a worse case scenario you could lose all of your territory, all of your industry, and be forced to surrender which almost always results in the death of said team. This is something I really like about this game. You have a lot of freedom and the choices you make can make you insanely rich, respected, and powerful. But you could lose it all.
– Real player with 4273.5 hrs in game
TLDR - A decade+ after the game’s initial launch there is still nothing else quite like Star Sonata on the market today.
The game is heavily influenced by the Star Control series and combines 90’s style arcade action with MMO character development and an almost limitless item progression that rivals many modern MMOs. It has in-depth base building that is basically a whole different game unto itself where you can make money doing colonies, making gear, selling industrial commodities and more. The PvE content is typically fun and offers a variety of solo and group style engagements.. The PvP and team vs team combat probably needs the most improvement but the game doesn’t really revolve around those.
– Real player with 3859.9 hrs in game
Aries
Full disclosure: If you couldn’t tell by my number of product reviews and seeing how I received the game for free, I am a backer of Aries from when it was on Indiegogo. Despite this, I feel it necessary to be completely honest while writing a review for it.
The game is in early access and has many features yet to be implemented and plenty of bugs. However, after playing the game for awhile, I can confidently say that in its current state, Aries is still fun and scratched that 4X strategy itch that I had for so long. I love the Total War series and Warhammer 40k and this game is like the combination of the two. I enjoyed both the space and the ground battles. I am also digging the steampunk-like aesthetic the game touts.
– Real player with 25.3 hrs in game
i cant recomend this game.. it is an ok game i guess..
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Star Dynasties
Infinite potential, incredible progress.
I started playing this game during the indiecade demo mid-2020, and the evolution this game has been through in just one year is massive.
Pros:
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Dev very responsive to Player Feedback
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Lots of Character Drama
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Interesting Events (Expeditions specially)
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Interesting Systems (Secrets, Justice, Gatherings, Favors and Negotiation)
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Powerful Modding Tool (Seriously, one could create a full DLC-worthy experience with it)
– Real player with 996.3 hrs in game
Addendum
Have changed review to - Would recommend.*
Only about a third of my gamer friends are big head enough to truly enjoy this game, but I know they will enjoy it immensely. I can see this one sinking hundreds if not thousands of hours into, and I’m already hopeful they go series with it.
I have a great deal of hope, if only because of how quickly the developers are acting on feedback and making solid changes. Meaningful save files now exist. There’s still a lot going on, so I’m not yet done with this review, but the nature and flow of the game are starting to make more sense.
– Real player with 122.9 hrs in game
Sublunar
YOU WILL BE THE GUY , IN FUTURES , IN SPACE I MEAN SUBLUNAR. AWESOME.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
The interface makes the text-based Sublunar more confusing than it needed to be, but once you know your way around it’s a pretty average ‘risk management’ game. In order to complete the level, you have to dominate the region with your faction by completing quests, and as you progress the game will introduce more randomized elements. The tutorial is not very helpful which is part of the problem, I would recommend highlighting the buttons for the player because they are hard to find on your own. Generally speaking, to play the game you have to go to any city, select a quest, and then you have to make sure that your crew meets the stat requirements, including potentially mandatory gear and weapons. Some of the missions have an element of “luck” because you can’t see the secondary phase, but you can eliminate it by asking people in towns for information, assuming the city is under your alignment. When you start a mission you will have a choice of a faction, it’s not purely cosmetic, it affects the frequency of certain events and items in the store.
– Real player with 4.7 hrs in game