Hands down, this is the best galaxy sized strategy game out there. The graphics are brilliant for how they have stood up so far. (Love the suns!) Many various random events, but they do get a little repetitive for the more common ones. Combat is a little simple, and could be helped if you could do more in ship to ship, and especially ground combat! With this being a Paradox game, it's DLC galore, so to say one thing. The base game is great, but you can certainly tell a big (Good) difference between the base game and the DLC's being included. (Diplomacy and spying I'm looking at you two) But the clear biggest plus is the total support for mods.

Plus:
- Graphics quality
- Game play time scaling
- DLC's (If you own them)
- Base game gets free parts of each DLC
- Random events
- Play with friends as long as you hold only the base game!
- The amount of options for different governments that you can create

Minus:
- Lags when getting a lot of populaces during the mid<late game
- Can get rushed very easy without knowing who is near you (It's just luck from the fog of war)
- Sightly large game learning curve

I would say if you're going to get this game, then try to get the DLC's to make the most of the game. Then your friends can join you and you can all role play your dominion/empires! :D