Distant Worlds 2

This game is Bascially Stellaris with automaion. However, after some time you feel like you are just sitting back and approving everything. Just like it would be in real life. You dont get as much control as you get in stellaris. Also you can't really play a single speices empire. You are forced to expand and take over other planets that have other speices on it. Again, not bad. You can control how much you micromanage.

Fantastic 4X game that is a universe simulator with independent private economy, resource management, etc... the most alive 4X game I have every played.

It's an excellent 4x game. A must for all who want to play out a truly grand space opera.

AI Management sucks never auto terraforming or building admin facility.

First DW was was perfectly fine for me (3d shinies good, but they are secondary or even tertiary for such games) with one exception, it reached it`s software\harware limits and here we have DW2 with multi core and huge amount of ram support, DW2 is probably the only one in class and just have not competitors with such deep economy and warfare altogether (Stellaris? hell no, not even close) so if you intrested in 4x stratagies this one definetly worth a try

This game made most other space 4X games unplayable for me. The scale is unmatched, and once you taste the sweet nectar of physicalised logistics there's no turning back. The devs are a small, but dedicated team that actively listens and engages with the community and deliver consistently. Cherry on top, modding is actively supported too, though it is still nascent. Would recommend if you're looking for more depth with less micro in your 4X games with some caveats: - Having a beefy CPU matters if you want to experience the full scale the game is capable of. - If you like role playing or focus on immersion/faction customization features at the moment you're still better served by Stellaris. Same if you're looking for more in-depth domestic politics. - Taking full advantage of automation requires being comfortable with some degree of inefficiency, if you're a rabid min-maxer you will probably be frustrated by this. Though it is worth noting that there is still plenty to enjoy depending on what you're willing to compromise on. - Managing the automation effectively has a steep learning curve for newcomers. Especially if you're more familiar with less complex experiences like the Endless Space or GalCiv series of games, and less-so with more complex wargames and sims like, say Aurora for an extreme example. It's very easy to cross wires and end up doing things that may look like bugs/glitches/"bad AI". - To expand a bit more on the prior point, this game sits somewhere between the noted two types of strategy games in a way that can easily frustrate people looking for something that leans more to, but still doesn't quite hit, either end of said spectrum depending on what you're looking for. For example, I love the logistics angle of the game but often find myself wishing for more personnel management elements in the military side of things like ship crews, and value and supply chains in the industrial logistics side. - Going back a bit to the automation point, if you're unwilling to take full advantage of said tools the game will feel like micro hell, especially in the late game. Many of the negative reviews seem to be because of this, and it confuses me. The automation is a key mechanic of the game, and it is scalable depending on how much micro the player wants to engage in. It has quirks and rough spots, but not to a game breaking extent and the devs are responsive and always making tweaks and additions/changes as needed. Not engaging with it and complaining about issues is like refusing to use cover mechanics in a tactical third person shooter and then complaining about the game being too hard.

Love 4x games, sadly this one didn't do it for me. It didn't age well.