So. can you role play in Stellaris? I think I love CK2 because of the role-playing opportunities, rather than the strategic aspect.
IMO right now you kinda need to roleplay in stellaris for the game to be challenging because, usually, the AI can't keep up with the player. For the game to be challenging you need to roleplay and not "min-max" your empire.
But the type of roleplay in stellaris is very different from CK2. In stellaris you control an empire. The empire you create has at least 2 of the following ethos:
- spiritualist or materialist
- pacifist or militarist
- egalitarian or authoritarian
There is also a special DLC ethos:
- gestalt consciousness/hive mind.
Each of the ethos can be normal or fanatic. Each ethos gives different bonuses, for example militarist gives increased fire rate. If you have a certain DLC some ethos also have special "storylines", for example spiritualist can become psionic while materialist can abandon their bodies and upload their minds to perfect synthetic bodies.
You can also customize the type of government (democracy, empire,etc.) and the traits of your species.
If you combine all of this you can create, to my knowledge, almost any sci-fi empire from most media. The federation from star trek? that is possible; the empire from warhammer 40k? that is also possible you can create your own "space marines" by genetically modifying your population. The empire from star wars? mostly possible but you would require some DLC to be able to build a death star type of ship.
Where does the game fail below expectations, you might ask?
- diplomacy is currently very barebones so it is hard to get attached to your friends with so few interactions
- the AI has a hard time handling every mechanic so it normally ends behind the player If the player doesn't make major mistakes
Where does the game shine?
- Lots of cool little events that make you feel you are exploring an "uncharted" galaxy. For example, you might find energy beings that live in gas giants, pre space faring civilizations, a server with the brain maps of an extinct civilizations, a shielded planet, space whales, a perfect planet (these are called gaia) for you to colonize, etc. There are even very advanced, very old, very powerful empires that have stagnated and stopped their development, focusing on their borders and making sure the "baby" races on their outskirts don't make the same mistakes they once did... but who knows maybe they just need the right motivation to turn their focus from their borders to the rest of the galaxy! That said, perhaps the true challenge to your existence may not come from our very own reality, could we even face such a threat?
IMO stellaris is my favorite paradox game because it gives wings to my imagination but it is not for everyone.
https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/crusader-kings-2-dlc-buying-guide/
Paradox Publisher sale right now on Steam so I'm looking to buy some CK2 DLC.
Unless the OP and the writer of that article are the same person, is it a common opinion that those 5 DLC are the essential ones?
I have Legacy of Rome and Way of Life, but was not even thinking of the other three until now.
MY opinion on the 5 DLC
- The Old Gods - unless you want to play as a pagan, I prefer the Charlemagne start date.
- Legacy of Rome (Specifically for the Retinues feature) - This is cool for the byzantine empire but, for me, the retinues are not "essential" to the game.
- Way of Life - One of my top 5 DLC, it makes the game much more imersive
- Conclave - This is also one of my favorite DLC for 2 reasons. It makes peace much more challenging since you need to "control" half the council to get it to do what you want, this means that during peace time you will try to collect favors and leverage on your council so that you can pass the reforms you need/want. The other reason is the children overall, this DLC makes children harder to "guide", this way you can't create a powerful leader each generation.
- The Reaper's Due - This is also a top 5 DLC. It makes diseases very interesting and thus makes the game more immersive.
For me the top 5 DLC are:
- Way of Life
- The Reaper's Due
- Charlemagne - I enjoy the new starting date as well as the story/events for charlemagne
- Conclave
- Monks and Mystics - I enjoy the society system + the new artifacts. IMO this makes the game much more role-playable
Honorable mentions: jade dragon and horse lords- these add the nomadic tribes, the silk road and china. IMO these 3 mechanics make the eastern part of the map more unpredictable and fun. If you play in eastern europe, india and the steppes these DLC will make those zones much more roleplayable.