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.
Shameless bump.
Shameless bump
>>380805039
Stellaris is decent with expansions, like most Paradox games.
Endless Space 1 and 2 are both garbage
Distant Worlds is great, but tough to get into
Unending Galaxy I have no knowledge of
Polaris I have no knowledge of
Gal Civ II is better than III, get that one unless they've massively improved it. Also, the dev is insane
Master of Orion 2 is the best and for good reason. It has not been surpassed in the Space 4X genre.
Shameless bummp.
>>380805398
I just answered all your questions, fuck head. Get bent.
>>3808053
>ES2
>garbage
Elaborate, please.
>Master of Orion 2
>has not been surpassed
I'd like to hear more on this. What does other 4X games do wrong that this one does right?