Distant Worlds 2

If you like Stellaris and like far more macro games (that you can also automate!) then definitely give this a try!

tis good

Distant Worlds 2 is one of those games that really rewards you for giving it time. There’s a lot going on under the hood, but once everything starts clicking, it becomes incredibly satisfying to watch your empire grow and evolve. The sheer scale is probably my favorite part. You’re not just managing a few planets—you’re dealing with exploration, colonies, fleets, diplomacy, research, logistics, and all the little emergent situations that make each game feel different. The automation systems are especially nice because they let you decide how hands-on you want to be without taking away the feeling that you’re actually running an empire. It can definitely be overwhelming at first, and there’s a learning curve, but I think that’s part of the appeal. The more you understand the systems, the more you start appreciating how much depth is here. If you enjoy grand strategy, 4X games, or the idea of sitting back and watching a massive space empire develop according to your decisions, Distant Worlds 2 is absolutely worth checking out. 8/10 — Give it some time and let it suck you in.

I've been coming back to this game since I got it at release. The devs (though a small team) are attentive to feedback and issues. I appreciate the scale of this game and the variety of ways for the player to focus their attention with the assistance of the automation options. Sometimes I automate exploration, sometimes I explore the galaxy manually. Sometimes I automate diplomacy other times not. You can change the settings during play as the game expands. You can design every ship/base in your empire from the start if you like. I create manual designs ship by ship as my empire expands and more components are researched. What I dislike about this game is that the colonies themselves are rather bland not having much character nor much specialization. Most of the time I find there are too many resource types for how seldom you experience shortages. You do get shortages sometimes but I do wish it was more common. Overall its great value. It's a game I come back to again and again. Now that they've redesigned the playable races, playing again as a different race is very impactful.

Took them a long time to get there, but I think I can finally say that you're good to give it a go if you're a fan of the original. It takes a little while to understand how the automation works, but once you've got it it's really the best in its genre. The AI is reasonably challenging on normal difficulty and can be pretty finely tuned to suit your playstyle. A lot of the game's systems are more opaque than they ought to be or don't seem to be properly balanced, but this is true of the original and the genre at large. If you're a space 4x fan, you owe it to yourself to give it a go.

Cautions recommendation It definitely takes time to learn the game [15-25 hours]. Before that it will be a struggle, likely with frustration. While the game has automated systems, with highly customisable settings, referenced as "advisors"; the level of automation can allow the game to essentially play itself, or permit the player to manage micro details of each planet, orbital, ship, individual character. While this can allow you to slowly ease into the game, learn gradually, & only actively play the parts that interest you, I feel that it inadverently handicaps your understanding & skill development within certain areas, due to poor explanation of mechanisms. There is an in game encyclopedia that is meant to help with these detailed systems. Personally I found it vague, compounded by poor tool tipping. After reading several player written guides, & watching video tutorials, I finally felt I grasped & understood the game at ~20 hours. Eventually I came away able to play, & make sound progress, recover from set backs. I would play, without noticing the hours passing, however I am not sure I enjoyed my time playing the game?