Galactic Civilizations IV

I'm initially worried by the reviews, but upon grabbing this on sale and playing 100h I would say: this iteration (at time of review) is very fun/replayable where it probably matters: early game exploration + initial war (as long as you play on difficulty that is appropriate) Pros: - racial differences: The tech is more samey compared with some earlier iterations, but I find other aspects like culture/racial buildings to still drive very different playstyles/economic setups - early game decisions feel impactful e.g. taking cheaper tech vs taking tech you need right now (asteroid mining being a major example), maximizing control benefits - building up/specializing planets is fun with the core vs colony diff: core worlds are BIG and it's potential input from colony/asteroids matter a lot. - typically in my game initial war is fun: Cons: - Snowball: conquering another civ still gave way too much benefits like double civ unique buildings (like capital), to the extent that winning an early war feel mandatory part of optimal play. This apply to AI too btw: early aggressive AI can snowball to heaven too. - Later game mop up still awful e.g. after winning said early war. If the AI isn't god awful at core world building placement I would find it much more acceptable. Unfortunately, to keep the advantage I have hopefully amassed early/mid game, I have to micromanage buildings/supply ships which is NOT fun. - Map still feel too open without meaningful way to "play the map" unless you are Arcean/Viligant and your early starbase actually do something (honestly these should be default for military bases). Space is supposed to be open? Well Stellaris/Endless Legend etc have choke points since forever, while in this game... even the "hyperlanes" does nothing as enemy fleets just pass by. This make wars much more of a numbers game. Not so major cons but balance can be wonky: - building balance. Some wonders are terrible for their cost to benefit ratio, whereas some cheap buildings like starport are insane value. Farm district add both base and percentage food: you can feed entire empire with 1 dedicated farm world. - starbase balance: economic starbase feel entirely meaningless, while communications startbase is insanely OP (only thing better for influence is divine empath which is harder to setup, not to mention they are also the best "scouts" since you see everything in your influence space) - approval is sooo good that +percentage science/production is often worse - .... so why would i not go 3 free colony ship + 10% approval as first cultural trait unlock every single game? - cash is hard until I discovered tourism (hope you have high diplomacy for tourism minister) Verdict: recommend if you don't feel strong urge to finish every game