It's far more snowbally than Civ (though not quite as bad as Warlock), and that's not a good thing in a 4X. In particular, the way that unit upgrades and the combat mechanics interact mean that the more powerful army doesn't just win it absolutely crushes. Game mechanics should never be frustrating. In particular, it gets frustrating if your orders are invalidated and the default behaviour takes over. I still really like the way that armies move together and split apart for the tactical battles, but the way battles are controlled gets a bit annoying.

After my initial raving about the combat system.

It's a solid game, perhaps even excellent, but I must admit that I don't think it's going to capture my attention in the long-term the way that Civ IV or V did.

I bought on release day (on the back of my admiration for Endless Space), and have now put in about 40 hours with three completed games.

If you like fantasy settings I'd say it's worth a buy now - but otherwise, I'd way for Beyond Earth and pick Endless Legend up during the inevitable Steam XMas Sale. The world is pretty and the minor factions can offer quests, but if you are focusing on dust you'll end up just bribing them anyway. Combat and troop design is interesting, but does not have the same depth as the ship design did in Endless Space. There are also serious balancing issues in the tech tree and resource balance in general (dust seems overpowered as it can be used for crafting armor/weapons as well as just about everything else, so it's almost always ideal to rush dust production rather than focus on strategic resources which is counter intuitive and just silly). Diplomacy is kinda weak in that it's possible to bribe any faction into an alliance. The AI on harder difficulties almost certainly cheats. I feel that this game is going to be 'completed' by a DLC just like Endless Space was by Disharmony. I own the game and have sunk 20h into it - and I'd say it's certainly worth playing now - but it's not 100% finished in my opinion.

Having a hard time deciding to buy this, beyond earth or Galactic Civ III (early access) next. There were somethings I liked about Endless space somethings I didn't, but over all I was pretty impressed with it and still play it from time to time. I've been on the fence on this game myself.

Endless space disharmony cheats