Help me, /v/. I want to get into the 4X genre and need to find

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Help me, /v/. I want to get into the 4X genre and need to find the perfect 4X game for me. I want to see star systems, good-looking space ships and planets. I want to claim and colonize the pristine, wage war with and conquer hostile factions and/or races, immolate defiant worlds by a sense of self-righteous tyranny, set aside random sectors as no-develop reservations, and hold meaningful diplomatic relationships with other factions and/or races. I also want to explore, and gawk at the enormity of all that I can reach and develop. I want to terraform, mine, tax, assign governors, the whole she-bang

I've been researching 4X games on Steam and feeling kind of exhausted with it at the moment

Stellaris
>Paradox looks like shit because of that earlier thread
>All those Stellaris expansions I have to buy and install.

Endless Space 2
>Only apparent downside I'm aware of so far is that three out of eight playable races have ships that all look like shit.

Distant Worlds: Universe
>Maps reportedly get pretty huge.
>Don't know much else other than what youtube shows me.

Unending Galaxy
>Free to play.
>Know barely a thing about it other than this.
>Only reason I haven't tried it yet is because my current PC is too old. I'll be upgrading it soon, so disregard this fact.

Polaris Sector
>Looks good, but reviews say it's garbage compared to some others.

Galactic Civilizations III
>generic name ('Civilization') worries me
>But I don't want to just dismiss it because it might turn out being the best 4X.

Master of Orion 2
>pretty old, but rumor has it that it's still damn good if not best
>could be anon with nostalgia goggles

So, what do you think? I'm open for any other suggestions not listed.
Also, the closest thing to 4X games I've played
Alpha Centauri
>but it's only on one planet
Homeworld 1 and 2
>great game, but not really a 4X
Eve Online
>don't want to play 9999999 hours to feel like I've accomplished something, only to have it destroyed or taken from me. Never again.