Should You Buy Stellaris MegaCorp (A Review) 

Evil Incorporated led by Heinz Doofenshmirtz, here I come.

Video: Should you buy Stellaris MegaCorp Me: *literally bought it the moment it was out* Uhhh...well, great vid there all the same, ASpec. *thumbs up*

I agree - it seems to be a weaker expansion. However the amount of changes delivered for free in 2.2 could almost be seen as a new game. And it is free - this is where the main development was focused I think. I will buy the expansion for a full price if just to say "thank you" for the free part of 2.2 :)

Let's be fair : 20 bucks is, where I am from, 2 tap beers. Am I going to enjoy playing a megacorps, for roughly 5-10 hours, as much as I am going to enjoy those beers ? Probably. It is then worth it. Not to mention you're kind-of financing the next expansion by buying it.

I actually play machine empires almost all the time

your worried about the eugenics in the new update for a game where you can literally genocide the galaxy....methinks you ain't REALLY that worried fam.

The biggest reason to purchase Megacorp is to further the growth and profit of our own Megacorp, Paradox itself! Make a game and then never stop releasing DLC for it. That is one way to keep profits high!

I feel the price for just the DLC content is a little high. But I will gladly pay the money for this DLC because I like to think that I pay for 2.2 too. I am no game dev but looking at all the changes that are coming with 2.2 this seems like a lot of work, which is completely free for everyone who owns Stellaris. BTW I doubt a lot of studios would put in so much effort for something free if they don't love the game. Anyways, if you think about it that way it is really acceptable to pay the full price now.

Should I buy it? Aspec, I already bought it...

At this point Paradox has my firstborn child...

LOL I didn't know that you could play mutiplayer with DLC that you didn't own! that's amazing!

thank you for being honest and by the way, the only reason I play Stellaris is do to a random video I so from some youtuber called ASpec

watching an "should you buy" after you bought :D

Is everything ok ASpec? you sound a bit down today

Wiz really needs to give the EU4 team a smack on the back and get them out of the ditch. Because that’s where the development of EU4 has gone. Stellaris is lucky to have Wiz.

Just imagine what the modders will do with those new megastructure assets ... or the planetary concepts ... this game is sure to rise to new heights

Try and find some friends.... :( I don't come to your videos for biting social commentary of my life aspec!

Thanks for this. I was going to play as the machine exterminators next go around, and I think I’ll hold off on the xpac for a bit, as most of the features I won’t be able to use.

Very excited to get home and play over the weekend

Great review. But to honest, I would have paid for this expansion even if it only contained the base changes of 2.2. Its a new game. A fresh game! Cant wait!

Great honest opinion. Thank you so much for it

I Love how honest he is. This is excatly what the community needs! Thank you Aspec!

It's a purchase for me for sure. I feel that so many people under value entertainment via video games for some reason. What I mean is if I'm willing to pay $12 to go watch a two hour movie that's $6 an hour. Even with only one play through as a megacorp at say 25 hours you've already had less than a dollar an hour entertainment return. As stated in the video there's also a lot of content that is not megacorp empire exclusive so any other play through will have all the other aspects as well. Great video, and yes I agree that this is one of if not the best space 4x game out.

I'm going to buy it to make my megacorp empires more interesting and to finally crush space capitalism.

Glad I watched this video as I was about to buy it, but I was wondering how much content it actually was giving me for that price tag. To me this seems way too little for way too much money so I will wait until it is on a sale next year. By then most of the mods I use will be updated too so I can wait.

Stellaris is my second favorite game out of the big 5 paradox games and i have to say it is becoming such a delight to play now, so different since launch.

a nice and honest opinion and revieuw aspac..!

Same, already got the expansion Stellaris got me hooked. I'll have to check if this expansion has some new tracks or remixes (most likely it does, as did the previous ones), those were always a personal highlight - checked, 4 new tracks, just as good as the other new tracks, still like the Apocalypse tracks the best tho. As for the megacorp government, I'll most likely not play it more than a few times, but it's great for enemy variety.

I really don't like the new mega structures at all. I know I don't have to build them but they just seem... well as you said, science fantasy rather than science fiction. Sure, the shroud has no basis in reality but I could let that one slide for spiritualists... but the matter decompressor just shits all over the science logic used to build dyson spheres imo. Couldn't they have just gone with star lifting or something? and tbf I thought a dysonsphere was enough... just build a habitat with matter replicators (or whatever they were called) next to it. AND CAN WE PLEASE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DESTROY MEGASTRUCTURES?!

When I started playing Stellaris, I primarily played Hive Mind/Machine Intelligence empires. The lack of faction mechanics and simpler population management appealed to me at the time. As I've learned about the game and gotten better, I branched out and played other empire types more, but the Hive/Machine empires still remain some of my favorites.

ARMCO shall now truly shine with this expansion. Honestly I've played almost exclusively as Machine Empires since Synthetic Dawn came out but I'm actually looking forward to trying out the different Mega Corp builds and Civics, especially the Criminal Syndicates.

It's the most expensive dlc so far but at this point, I'm just buying it at launch to given them the maximum support. I have almost 5000 hours played in this game, just under a 3rd of that being afk. XD I really enjoy Stellaris, and I can't wait to see what it is a year from now. And I also can't wait to play it on PS4.

This update makes building up a planet and customizing it so much more satisfying. Also, the new endgame menu actually makes me feel like I'm making progress and competing with other species. Also, do the new mega structures come with the free update.

I can't even start to count the amount of money and amount of money I've spent on Stellaris. And I love it. I might have spent a little more then I should, but it's worth while. At first I had my doubts about 2.2 and megacorp. You know it's like kinda makes sense, but after 2years of Stellaris it just feels wrong. In all I think devs are doing a good job on the game and I actually want to buy there content, even if on the pricy side. And I the devs continue working stellaris has a lot of promise. 8/10 Would use Xeno comparability on "unpaid interns" again.

Its almost funny, ASpec honestly just said what i was thinking, i can't wait to play 2.2 but i will wait on a sale for mega corp Thanks ASpec

Xeno compatibility is an awesome addition. That being said with technological ascendancy your 2 species ascension perks and 1 or 2 of the mega structure perks I really only effectively have 3 empty slots. If I add the new archeology one and colossus you effectively only have 1 free slot to work with. Personally I'm glad they didn't add to many more and I find the ones they did to be awesome additions.

The only thing I fail to understand: why is the Slave Market DLC-exclusive when the regular market is not?

I just bought it. I love the new trade mechanics

If Stellaris isn't already the biggest and most engrossing sci-fi game, then which one is? Just curious

Hi ASpec, any idea why they seem reluctant to add espionage systems to the game? I'd have thought a system like what was in Haegemonia: Legions of Iron would be a good fit for Stellaris.

To be honest, when an update adds in a new government authority type or just a new race anything, I like grabbing it not specifically to play myself (I'll do that for sure) but mainly because I love adding to the menagerie of custom races I've already created for the game. So far I've got races tailor made to my enjoyment for near every unique government type in the game, having another to run across in game or play against would be great. A modded fallen megacorp empire is a concept that also sounds incredibly exciting for me. Also I find it interesting they opted for something to crack black holes for resources rather than something that could only be built in nebulae in order to function as a man-made star nursery for those mineral gains.

Are strike craft fixed in 2.2? Because of terrible pathing they practically don't participate in battles at all, specially in late game ship designs.

could you make a guide on which dlc to buy first? for example someone has no dlc's which should he get first to enjoy the game the most? Some kind of Ranking?

Its definintely going in the direction of Martins tweet but it still has along way to go. What its missing in my book is espionage mechanics, couple it with engineered evolution ascension perk and take it to whole new levels. But MegaCorp I bought because of the Modding Potential there are some great mods out there that are going to be made better.

I actually barely play anything but machine empires. I have a heavy preference for the immortal leaders, starting out with a leader race and then creating modified versions for specific resources. They do suffer from a slower start and less varied endgame though.

This is one of those DLCs I buy to keep development going. It is more like I'm donating for 2.2 and getting the Megacorp stuff as a thank you. The thing I love about Stellaris is that even if I never play as a machine empire or plant all those things now add to my games. It's like games as service done right.

I'll wait for a bit, perhaps it will come down in price a bit closer to Christmas.

I never play as the other species said from when they’re first launched I personally love this ducking game and too see the amount of tweaks and overhauls they put into it I’ll buy all their expansions. They’re not over priced and the amount of free updates that really changes the game are astounding. I just like to support paradox.

Hope there Will be a expansion that fills out more tech rutes for weapons, armour and THINGS like that, i want more usefull costumation to my ships and stationes.. Aswell as more ship types.

Is there any flow chart for how to build these new resources?

Have a criminal syndicate in my game now and it is really punishing me if I don't build enough enforces, but enforcers also spawn defensive armies and give unity so they force me to focus more on defense and get a lot out of it. I feel you are really underselling the new tile system with regards to your conclusion, sure the DLC is just flavor on top and might not reflect the price, but the entire update all together makes it worth it.

This DLC is not aimed at me, Paradox lost all future purchases with removal of FTL choice in 2.0.

I actually played machine empires just about every time since they released. They were very strong (haven't tried them as of 2.2) and I enjoyed playing them because they were strong haha

A "What Not" Spec

As is usual for me when a new expansion, major patch happens I ended up having a few restarts. There were more than a couple where I tried playing as a megacorp only to be surrounded by machine and hive mine empires which are useless. The only normal empire near me happened to be a fanatic spiriturist...not that great when you are the opposite, the rest were too far away to get a commercial pact with. The pact being a major part of a megacorp….if you can't actually get many/any empires to get one with....it does become a bit useless. The criminal megacorp however doesn't have this problem :) ….enter the wormhole in my territory that happened to link up with a fanatic xenophobic fallen empire that wasn't at all happy to have me on the other end. Suffice to say that was a restart as well! Megacorp is nice there are some good features but in my experience you need a good roll of the dice when it comes to what empires are near you.

I feel the art installation should be a giant mobius strip or a terrasect or.... anything but the hockey pucks.

maybe I won't be playing the megacorporations so much, but them existing as AI empires made the game very interesting in the game I played, having a criminal syndicate on the other side of the galaxy establish branch offices all over my empire was a fun challenge to deal with

gotta respect Aspec telling it like it is, nothing but his honest opinion, not everyone would do that

Anything that adds variety to the types of empires you can build seems like a win to me.

I would like to buy a cannonboat corvett balance dlc. everyone uses them. nothing can defeat this spam. i hope the next patch after 2.2 takes away -their G weapon slot or buffs pointdefense or -makes that electric X type weapon to a chain lightning that hits every ship in the enemy fleet with a little damage. so this spam has a counter spam at least. -or makes the corvetts hitable. i would like to see the evasion cap at 50%. thats still very good

Other good examples of sci-fi corporations might be CHOAM or The Guild from the Dune series, or Comstar from the Battletech universe. Or the Hutt Cartel from Star Wars.

I love playing as mega corps, but I always like playing as tall economic powerhouses in my paradox games.

I'll buy it just because I hope the New Horizons mod gets updated to use some of the mega corp options for the Ferengi. I actually like the idea of playing as the Ferengi quite a bit. Spread the rules of acquisition to the entire galaxy and let the latinum flow.

I think it's worth it. I play machines almost all the time and so far into my playthrough with friends it's been a lot of fun.

i love stellaris to the very core, and i will buy megacorps for sure. however, endless space 2 is my personal favorite.

"You can crossbreed different species in this expansion" >looks at thousands of anime Waifu mods installed I think this will be a pretty good expansion yeah

Don't forget Dark Matter, tv series. Brings more a feel to a galaxy controlled by megacorps but with independent empires as well.

I'm waiting for Trevor's review.

I'm still on the fence. I really liked the old planet tile system. I could change entire planets into a massive powerplant or research planet. But now I got to worry about crime, planetary economics and a bunch more? Can I still even do those things?

I don't mind the cost of expansions as they come out. At the very least it is a way for me to show Paradox that I appreciate then putting out awesome content. My issue is that the prices stay so high. The huge number of expensive DLC for Paradox games becomes a massive barrier to entry for new players. I've lost count of the number of friends I've tried to introduce to Paradox games who looked at the huge number of DLC and never even bothered with the core game. On topic, I'll probably play Megacorps a ton. Most civs I've made have had a megacorp theme to begin with. This just makes it much better.

Main reason i'm waiting on a sale is that the trade system they implemented is ultimately pretty underwhelming. You can't build trade ships or anything. It's just connecting space stations to set up a tax route essentially. Thus while the economic update over all is pretty cool this didn't feel like the big trade revamp we were all waiting for. I think it's neat though how Megacorps can build on others planets to assist them to play tall. That makes it way better value than Apocalypse.

I have not played any other species other than Robots since Synthetic Dawn ASpec. They fit my play style very well and I do very well with them as well. So saying when is the last time you played Robots is kinda.... well.

Had chance to play it and yes Megacorp is must have for playing tall.

Why did you not mention the shared burden civic and worker comentator. Literally the best part of this DLC

I haven't bought Distant Stars yet, should I get that or Megacorp?

Time for another Cadia fortress world video

Stellaris and its support is amazing. Gotta love Paradox.

Too late for this video :P already pre-ordered when I could.

When does the expansion come out in europe?

I've Played as a machine species for all my games basically

Megacorps been my most fun playthrough so far. I liked shrigma male hivemind but this one feels special. I love the announcer when you colonize a planet too lmfao

Machine empires are the most OP in game. Well IDK if they are after this. I'll have to see if I can still customize my pops for every task.

All I use is mechanical species. I love not having so much boring maintenance of stuff that organics require. Like consumer goods and shit

Does it worth it if am playing version 2.1.3?

I have not played this game since a couple months after it released. I had fun, but the mid game was completely absent and end game was kinda boring. Has the game gotten good enough to warrant purchasing the DLC's yet?

I have played over 290 hours (acc. To Steam) and i enjoyed every minute. With MegaCorp, there will countless hours in the future to play with. And to pay good money on a good product is for me no question. They deserve this for they're hard work. Greetings from germany ^^

Just bought it and tried megacorp. Some issues is that playing wide is way more punishing than other empires. The market is broken you can essentially buy all the other resources for credits and sell/buy resources to replenish your credits again. Basically infinite resources. Branches are quite nice little extra benefits. The planet UI needs some more work however planet management is a whole lot better for sure. Megacorp punishes playing wide way more than other empires. Overall worth it I'm enjoying the game all over again.

I feel like Ecumenopolis and especially Xeno Compatibility should have been in 2.2 but oh well, I'll be when it goes to sale. Like every Stellaris DLC since I just use my Christmas money lol

I have played a lot of mechanical species, I really enjoy them.

we play in a group and buy all the DLCs together since only the server needs them, gives them a totally different value. wouldnt it be for that i wouldnt have bought any DLCs (same goes for EU4)

I used to be a Galactic Civilizations 3 player but moved over to Stellaris earlier this year because it just seemed more fleshed out and dynamic. Anyone else feel this way? Pros/Cons?

Not keen on the UI changes, it's first day and I'm already getting frustrated in getting to the research and leader screens. There's no shortcut that I've yet discovered so I have to keep mousing to the side of the screen which half the time throws the scrolling of the screen flying to the left. I think policies, edicts and factions should be moved under the government window and the shortcuts should be assigned to windows which have none.

0:00 Most true statement ever just like how Aspec is lit

already preordered.

Aspec: it took until now for your to declare it space fantasy? It was space fantasy at "warp drive"... ;0

Yeah I like playing as a mechanical empire quite a bit as well, I just can't put my toys away forever after all. :) Honestly I highly appreciate the new additions, everything thatr can add more scifi flavor into the game is welcomed. Even if it is sometimes trivial or limited. All that needs to be done is add biological and Ai ships, and work on the devouring swarm empires. There is so much story potential with living ships for your fleets, and even having a colossus that eats planets/fleets for example. As for your "moral quandaries" I see no issues what so ever. ;)

I noticed you didn't say anything about performance. My PC is not the best and I have problems with with 600 stars galaxies in 2.1. Watching your let's play it seems that the game is a bit slower. When you fast forward in 2.1 at least in the first century time was ticking very fast but now on 2.2 in noticeable slower. I think that maybe the next expansion should be about updating the engine to 64bit and increase performance in the late game. Stellaris is not a game that should need a very powerful pc to be able to enjoy it to the max. What is your opinion about this?

I can understand your point on "are the features of the megacorp DLC worth 20 euro", but I'd like to add one more point: Developing a game isn't cheap and maintaining it isn't either. sure. the new addon will pull a few more sales, but I guess it won't pay the whole team by itself. I love stellaris and I want it to be maintained, and that includes features everyone gets for free like the new tile system or the hyperspace rework of 2.0. Other companies might use these features to release a Stellaris 2 full price title(I am looking at you, EA, Ubisoft, Activision...), but Paradox doesn't. The Vision you have mentioned is a great one, a Vision to deliver the best space strategy game and there is a steady progress. I want to be a part of that vision and I want to see the game become better and better, return and enjoy new features, new reworks like other enjoy the content patches e.g. of HoI4, CK2, EU4 and so on and to give the developer the funds to do so, I gladly pay the DLC and I am happy that there are no explotative lootboxes for real money in game as it seems to be bussiness standard. Paradox, shut up and take my money and make stellaris greater than before.

I like the dlc, it’s expensive and doesn’t add a whole lot. Their update, now that added a lot! But the dlc gives some nice options. All in all, it ties into my corporate empire build, I am playing tall and these new mega structures help a lot.

I'm actually having fun playing the Corpus.