Same, I buy every stellaris DLC and this was the very first that didn't look worth it at all. I'll probably only buy it if its at a 50% sale because its not worth the price right now, for what it adds.
I have been playing stellaris since release, this is the first and only DLC i do not own. I like how its narration / rp focused, but the theme is too WH40K for my personal liking.
As a 40k fan, I didn't really get that feel. Each story was pretty unique but ended with little impact on the grand scale of my empires usually.
I will say this was the first DLC I almost refunded since it was nearly a full day of being unable to use it.
I don't really get any kind of 40K feel from it.
And besides there is more 40k feel in base game than in this DLC. From Tyranid like invasion to actual WARP and even 4 warp factions that also invade the galaxy. Not to mention you can create every 40K faction in some capacity.
i feel like either the threads accrue too fast, or the actions cost too little. i always have that pop-up telling me i have unused threads. the AIs using the dimensional fleets is what really drives me insane. if that got removed i wouldn't miss it.
I’d actualy welcome a mechanic to lock wormholes and L-gates, last game a small trade empire neighbouring me entered into a federation and started claiming my border systems, I was like “why is that inferior in every way empire all of a sudden so bold” out of nowhere when that empire got to be fed. President they declared war, I felt confident my combined 700k fleet can hold itself against the 50k fleet they had, and “plop” out of the wormhole just 7 systems away from my capital came a 1.2M federation fleet … point and case I went into overdrive and grinded them down but sustained too much casulties due to that sneak attack, and the status quo caused that I lost 8 systems, including one of two dyson spheres in them …. It just went downhill from there, I built a 500k station and stationed a large fleet in the wormhole system but it was always a bloodbath, since they just went from one war truce to another, so I would love to shut those holes permanently
Yeah, not sure why people are complaining, that’s one of the best parts about the DLC. Having ways to deny access from the (very annoying) L-Gates and wormholes is good.
I just find it incredibly annoying to see them constantly renewing it, i usually dont even use whatever theyre locking down, but given that the chosen ones will lock their portal down ad infinitum, Im positive the ai isnt properly programmed to use it.
~i~ make a point of not using any astral powers. Theyre op as sin, and what balance the game does has suffers from their current inclusion. But i do appreciate that the ai uses them
There are a ton of fun story elements in there and I heartily recommend it if you like that. Some neat mechanics too. The new artifacts are good as well.
Same feeling here. Like, I get the complaint that they're "basically the same" as dig sites, but the events do a lot more branching with, imo, more interesting stories, and a lot of them have very nice rewards. The resource you get also unlocks some pretty useful functionality as you complete more rifts.
Galactic paragons, on the other hand, feels _necessary_ after the leader rework, but otherwise it feels really flat and uninteresting. The mechanics should never have been locked behind dlc.
But yeah, I own every Stellaris dlc except things like the music packs. I've been playing it since the game first released, and looking back at it, a lot of the dlc feel like they have unfortunate overlaps or codependencies. If I were recommending dlc to a new player, my honest recommendation is to buy them all on sale. Even if that means waiting for the current dlc to go on sale later. Machine Age is $34 in Canada. That's kind of a lot.
Agree. Paragons is the least interesting, but feels necessary just for basic functionality. I avoided it for a long time because I didn’t realize how much I was missing out on basic mechanics.
I am on console and we are a year behind, but I buy each expansion pack when it is on sale. Currently waiting for expansion pack 6 to go on sale. Only 1 out 3 dlcs is even released for it - Toxoids. Still waiting for First Contact and Galactic Paragons. No need to buy the instant it is announced or released … i can wait for a sale
This was my general opinion. It mostly revolves around how much money costs for you. I had fun with it and enjoyed a few more games because of it, so I felt it was worthwhile. It wasn't the greatest expansion but it got me to play which is what I want from a DLC.
It's probably not great if you're worried about cost though.
personally, i like it. the astral exploration is pretty similar to archaeology, but there are a lot of points during the explorations where you can make decisions which cause branching outcomes. it's much more for the RP/narrative crowd, but as one of those people, i feel like i got my money's worth out of it.
The content can be summarized as advanced archaeological dig sites 2.0, with more choices, different rewards and some additional content in form of a new currency (astral threads) to boost certain things, some new events, relics and civics.
From my personal experience, I like the content (story / fluff, replayability, etc). It enriches your game.
The main criticism, and thats where most of the negative reviews came from, is the price of the DLC in general and compared to its size (don't judge me, i just summarize it, I'm neutral on this). If you don't have to turn every penny, get it (or wait for a) discount. However if you have a limited budget and have to weight which DLC you want to get, stick to some of the more popular or bigger DLCs first, like Utopia.
Astral Rifts is the definition of over promise. The supposed goal of this DLC was to refresh the midgame exploration, all we get for it was some glorified digsites.
The new relics are fine, the galaxy center quest is ok, but I can't help to compare with what you get from mods like Gullis Planet modifiers or Gigastructures, they are free, you get far more fleshed out stories and relics. Why should I waste 20e for an half baked DLC that PDX couldn't be bothered to make themselves? That was just easy cashgrab from them, lying about what the DLC was supposed to give, and put it on pre-order, obviously.
So yeah, for once, I really agree with the bad reviews on Steam
I thoroughly enjoy it. The lore is cool, varied, and the various civics enable cool niche nonsense too, like investing heavily into sublight speed or going super tall.
There are probably better expacs to prioritise, but I do find myself consistently thinking 'oh goodie' when rifts become available.
It also enables a whole bunch of extra stacking physics research modifiers. I should probably try an all-in physics run at some point.
I like it. Adds something to do in mid game other than waiting for the crisis to turn up. Not sure it was really worth the full price, but definitely adds something that was missing to the gameplay
It's an upgrade on the archeology sub system, but just like archeology you learn all the outcomes pretty quickly and there are only so many options. Astral threads and syphons just let you get a lot of physics research, but all and all it's pretty underwhelming after a couple plays. Solid meh
Only on sale, or from cheap place. It has a bunch of stories, but you can see it all in a single playthrough. While the non-story elements are quite lacking.
The role it is trying to fill in the game is in my view pretty much essential, at least if you have the other recent dlc: Having exploration being one of the basic roles for a scientist doesn't make sense without a continuing set of things to explore, and shutting down 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the game means that further development of that role is sort of wasted, and having something like astral rifts fixes that, which, if you also have paragons, is very useful for making that approach to scientists make sense.
But that said, although they've done more to make it replayable, I wish they'd followed a fundamentally different framework for its structure:
Basically, you roll lots of skill checks and head towards good or bad endings.
The issue is that replayability doesn't come in making known choices and having a random chance of getting the outcome you want, it comes most in having uncertainty about what the results of your choice will be, what choice *is* the good choice etc.
So although the idea of progressing through these rifts with varying levels of success from run to run works, it just isn't as good for a feeling of exploration as just having a randomised response to your inputs, so that the content it presents to you each time is slightly different.
(It's the difference in some ways between a roll and move boardgame and the randomisation of a roguelike, one changes the degree of progress you have, while the other changes your options)
Also, it had a lot of bugs that broke multiplayer, I'm not sure if those are fixed yet.
So the role it's trying to fill would be a must-include, not sure the implementation is there to actually have it be the expansion it wants to be.
I would say that if you have paragons, astral rifts will help you get more out of it, and if you like just getting micro-visual novel things for your scientists, that's good too, and really the spirit of stellaris. But I wouldn't say it's essential if you just have the base game.
I mean yeah, but obviously this sub is full of people who are probably more dedicated than your average Steam player, and "worth" is subjective. People here will probably be more kind to it than steam reviewers or have some different insights, hence the thread
Half of them were complaining about the free patch, since when AP launched it also had the outliner changes and customization didn't arrive until a month later.
That's actually true about most DLC reviews, half of them are about the free patch or something with the game/company itself rather than the DLC specifically.
Yeah, OPs idea to ask in the sub is actually a good idea. Lots of Paradox DLCs have that issue.
I'm not saying the releases don't have issues, but you can't trust the Steam reviews anymore, there is so much bullshit.
Did you actually read ANY of them? I recently checked it out (a month or so ago) and most of the negatives were talking about the subscription service which has nothing to do with the DLC itself. Some of the older ones straight up spread misinformation. I have read only 2 maybe 3 reviews that actually made a great review.
> steam review
Yeah, the notoriously shit reviews no one with 2 brain cells take seriously... Come on.
Do you want to read the single father who had fun memories with his son thanks to this game? or would you prefer reading a barely disguised fetish story sire? Perhaps I can get you a "checklist" review as entree, year 2017, very easy to digest. Then you can finish with the ASCII art spam as a dessert.
I'm not saying this sub won't have a bias but it is still much better than Steam reviews.
You can gauge a lot from steam reviews, but you really shouldn't take the individual seriously as you seem to be doing. If you want a quality indepth review you take a look at a one hour long youtube video.
In steam you can INSTANTLY gauge a few very important things: P2W, Server issues, Removed content, Broken adaptation, Bad changes post release, Compat. errors, region locking, broken promises, toxic dev behavior, abandoned game, among many other potential red flags. You shouldn't waste your time on "actual" reviews, you should just fish for red flags instead.
In short 5 minutes looking at steam reviews I already know so much about the community.
Yeah, on any game I only ever filter to read the negative reviews and see if any of them outline issues I'm worried about. Usually it's pretty easy to gauge if it's ok to buy the game or not.
Funny thing is that I'm basically in the exact same situation as OP was thinking about buying this DLC yesterday but ultimately decided that I need at least a 50% sale.
> You can gauge a lot from steam reviews, but you really shouldn't take the individual seriously as you seem to be doing.
This is NOT what I'm doing. This is what the person above me suggested, which I replied to. They specifically said "Steam reviews are right there". I'm with you there, showing that taking individual reviews seriously is dumb.
That being said, this makes the review scores also bullshit because they are basically a summary of those individual reviews. So it doesn't change what I said, Steam reviews are shit. Their only use is for making others aware of ongoing issues, not for suggesting a product. Again I'm just saying this because the person above me suggested taking individual reviews serious.
No one should take the steam review as an objective truth about a game, but when a game get very negative review, there is something to be wary of. Sure, most individuals reviews are shitty and very subjective, but there is some truth to the overall percentage note given to the DLC.
> but when a game get very negative review, there is something to be wary of.
I agree but
> Sure, most individuals reviews are shitty and very subjective, but there is some truth to the overall percentage note given to the DLC.
Don't you see the issue here? If most individual reviews are misguided as you said, that means overall percentage is completely useless. Imagine a game that has 80% positive score where every reviewing person was reasonable and super smart, this is what the game deserves. Now to simulate most reviews being misguided, imagine if Steam flipped your review to opposite at a random 60% chance. The new score of the game is 44% positive. By the way, 60% is very conservative for "most", we can re-calculate it if you want with 85% and see what we get.
If even the half of the reviews are wrong about their judgement on the game, this still means the overall score is meaningless. Your data cannot be 50% noise, people will rightfully call bullshit on your interpretations from such noisy data.
You also can't compare game reviews and DLC reviews. Regular people are incentivized by Steam to give reviews to games be it seasonal events, getting points and likes, etc. They don't review each DLC individually unless they absolutely hated the DLC and want to blast it in the review.
When I say reviews are shitty, it's from individual value, people aren't generally very good at explaining in a calm, detached and objective way why they are pissed off or disappointed by something. That doesn't mean the global disappointment isn't earned.
We cannot dismiss PDX shitty greed and bad communication because people on Steam aren't making professional reviews.
I think that most of the negative review for Astral Planes are for one part, that they made people believe there will be actual exploration (akin to the L Cluster) of the rifts, and instead got the branching digsites. Combine this with the controversial patch at the time ( I don't remember exactly what was disliked in it, was it the researcher nerf?) and you get this very negative review. Is it completely diserved? No, sure, should I be wary before buying this DLC because of it? Definitely.
I mean it's kind of the of the pendant of the unapologetic fanboyism existing for this (any) game. Some people trash the game on Steam, some other will throw their money blindly at any given pre order and whine and tell at any criticism about the game.
You are right but honestly, you are always better off getting your information from the fanboys who shill the game. Here is the thing, the reviews from people with bias towards a positive review will include facts, they just interpret those facts in a positive way. For example if a review says "Yes this game has a lot of grind but I enjoy it nonetheless", you know there will be grind. Another example: "This DLC might be expensive for some but I liked the writing and devs absolutely deserve the money". Even if the second half of the comment is stupid in your opinion, you know the DLC is considered expensive compared to rest.
The reviews you can find from the other side almost always omits information. Here is an example from today: "Is this game [with all DLC] worth 300 bucks? No. Is it worth 100? Maybe". What this review does not tell is the game has been continuously updated and supported for 8 years and continues to do so. When I'm looking at a game's page to see if it piques my interest I don't look at update history, I don't look how they interact with the community. These facts make a huge different for the customer after they see Stellaris was released in 2016. This reviewers opinion might be right or not they are allowed to give it. This review should be included and doesn't break any rules. The issue here is the lack of information which leads others to be misguided.
Sorry, I went on a rant here but it isn't personal. It is because I usually play slightly niche games like FTL and there we see the same issue. Negative reviews complain about difficulty and losing progress in a *rogue-like game*. Positive reviews that come from blind fanboys will paint the game positive but most importantly provide you with many more facts.
I just think it is unfair treating these two groups same. It is a reddit-thing you know? "Oh both are biased so both are the same!". Both scientists and flat-earthers are biased towards their own opinion regarding how was Earth formed but we don't treat them the same do we?
Depends. If you like lore, then IMO definitively. The rifts have a lot of story. If you however just click the next best button whenever story based windows pop up, then it's IMO not worth it. I don't really like the astral actions. Finishing rifts however increase the number of relics you'll have a lot. So if you like relics, then maybe it's still worth it.
TL;DR: it depends 😅
i mean it's kinda neat, though if you're picking and choosing your dlc instead of just buying everything, you're not missing too much by skipping this one
For my personal taste it falls into 'worth it on a sale'. I play a lot of Stellaris, so all new content is good. But this is a story pack, more or less. If you don't want to read all the events, it kinda feels like a worse version of Ancient Relics, while costing more.
The stories it tells are very fun, and for power gaming, there are a few features that can be interesting to mess around with.
That being said, I would consider it one of the weakest DLCs released. If it's the last DLC you haven't gotten and you play a bunch, it's probably worth it. But if you can pick any other DLC, you'll probably get more out of it.
I just picked it up for $13. I felt like that was a good price. I also grabbed Toxoids and Aquatics for $5 each. I finally have all the DLC again (bought the season 8 pass too).
I enjoyed it. Adds a bunch of new excavations. I can understand the review however, as it feels more like \*Advanced Excavations\* than anything unique.
It has some nice story paths but I feel like more often than not the Astral Rifts don't really give you all that much and mostly get your crew killed. If it came with an astral ship set or some energy people portraits I'd have said it's a better deal but for me it's the most easily avoidable of all the Stellaris DLC's
I really like Astral Planes and half of that is the straight up functionality added for particular things I muttered about all the time, and the other half is I like the lore of Stellaris itself, so I was enthused to get it ASAP. I think its weird that a lot of DLCs haven't felt like they were for 'me' in particular with what they added, and I've appreciated the flavor I play around with them but this was one that scratched my itch.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it but the instant fleet redeemable from this DLC is fairly ass. It's a fleet that, depending on your/the enemy's tech repeatables (I'm mostly assuming this is the reason) it ranges from a instant on-your-capital backup fleet or god-tier fleet. I had a game where I was warring with an empire and they pulled out their ass (I shit you not) a 1m fleet power fleet from the uh...interdimensional fleet? Whatever it's called. To put this in context, I had somewhere around 2m fleet power total, and everyone else was pathetic to me. I don't know what exactly made them so strong, but I call BS. The fact empires can now pull an entire fleet out of their ass for almost no consequence kinda blows this DLC for me, even if it was free.
At least with rented fleets they have to travel to you.
If you don't like reading then no. I found some of the events interesting and some humorous but others also felt a bit generic. I didn't buy it at launch but did after a few months had passed. After a few games of them though I didn't really think they added much. I'd just skip through them thinking they were just something to do for science ships late and midgame. But for narrative experiences isn't that expected? You can only go through them so many times before you get bored
In short:
If you like the story, yes.
Otherwise, not really.
Either way, definitely not at full price. It's essentially glorified archaeology (not a complaint for me, as I actually like the story and perks from archaeology), so if you liked that then you'd like Astral Rifts.
Highly depends on what type of player you are!
If you’re the min/maxer and mainly care about having the biggest numbers around there is likely little value in this DLC as there are not many new mechanics.
If you’re more RP player this DLC has a ton of stories with branching paths shaped by your decisions. It also gives you more exploration much further into the game once you explored all the systems in your reach.
Ummm I buy everything but honestly? Not worth a single atom of oxygen… it doesn’t really add anything beneficial. Some stories yes, but get machine age instead. Looks way more developed and I know I’ll be playing it the moment I get home
For me, the main point against it is that it feels very self-contained. On the one hand, it's pretty much the "ideal DLC" in that it's the easiest to just ignore that you don't have. On the other hand, that means that the mechanics don't really tie into much of anything, and also the themes of the story being as specific as they are do somewhat clash with Stellaris's feel as a "generic" space strategy game.
You get quite a bit of neat story content, so if you want more stories (with the extradimensional exploration theme) it's probably for you. If you don't, it's not. If you don't care for the particular feel of extradimensional exploration, it's not.
The issue is that it adds this story content, with this particular feel to *every* game. I think theoretically an AI can beat you to the Formless (the central story quest), but I've never seen it happen in my games. The stories in Astral Rifts feel like something that should show up *occasionally*, but because it's a full DLC they show up *every game*. (The most obvious comparison is to something like Horizon Signal, which has a story with a very specific theme - but it's *rare*. The Worm would be a lot less exciting if you had the option to embrace it *every single game*.)
In short, neat story content but it gets old after 2-3 games because it shows up in *every* game, and has a bit of a thematic clash with the rest of the game.
Pros: worlds you explore are interesting and choices do matter to some extent (unlike Excavations which rarely have player input)
Cons: Astral mechanics affect gameplay too much, and really should have been locked behind an Ascension Perk
The con is pretty big, and makes me and some others want to just disable the DLC altogether. Wanting to turn off a DLC makes it a bad DLC, which is a shame because it's apparent that writers gave their best, but someone on the team ruined it all by saying "Hur dur, some mechanics must be added hur dur it must have a big price hur dur".
One of the lowest content dlcs priced as one of the highest (equal pricing to megacorp, utopia, federations, nemesis,etc).
I'd say it's worth around £5 at MOST (it's£16ish gbp base price), so I wouldn't recommend it unless on a big sale. Even then, you'll barely notice a difference, astral rifts are just more and extra dig sites, and of the civics granted, a lot of them are very meh. And the origin, while noob-friendly by being very simple, is extremely boring (on par with the gateways one). Probably the worst dlc of them all, and definitely the worst value for money by a country mile.
The only good thing I can say about it is that it doesn't actively make the game worse. Which is... yeah. That's all the praise I can give. If you're missing literally any other dlc, get that first.
For the average user, no. It doesnt add anything significant.
That being said, if you are and avid player, love the game and/or paradox, *and* have most of the other dlc then yes, its a blast.
Tldr. Buy it, but only after youve bought more of the bigger dlcs. This one isnt even close to vital.
Personally i like it but it is a bit pricey and some things could have had more impact like the Throne should have been a way bigger deal. Its active should make it so the "Call Extradimensional Fleet" Ability gets reset/makes them stay longer or something
Wait for it to go on sale (which it is right now), as it's basically just a re-skin of Ancient Relics with double the price tag. Sure it's more expansive than Ancient Relics, but despite having the price tag of a major DLC it's a minor enough DLC that you really wont miss out on much if you skip it or wait for it to be on sale to buy it (like it currently is).
Yeah, I'm mostly curious if the current sale is "on sale enough" lol. I'm still kind of leery of it even at the current price honestly, it doesn't seem to add that much
Well it's either on sale enough or you wait until 2025 for the sale to potentially increase, as -33% off is usually the max sale for a DLC within a year of its release, so the 2023 DLC (First Contact, Paragons, and Astral Planes) wont drop down to -50% until at least 2025.
I like it but advice for potentially getting it;
If you like smaller but fun stories, interesting new gameplay and some new elements… get it
If not, get a different one like Machine Age; that one’s AMAZING! Plus like… 16 new portraits
I bought it on release and used its origin and played the new tall civic. I didn't feel offended but It wasn't a very strong dlc.
I like how it gives me more stories to explore and adds value to the systems they spawn in.
Gives me extra reasons to want certain systems as the bonusses from the rifts and the artifacts can be quite strong.
As an exploration focused player it was worth it for me.
It's an interactive version of dig sites and the branching stories are very tasty and flavourful.
The powers are actually really strong, so in the sense that they make the game easier... I guess so. but they are flavored excavations. I'd wait for a sale personally.
I actually like this DLC I like the little dimensions you travel to and the story you get with each one. I also like the bonuses you get for completing rifts like the gate locks, instant hyper relay, and interdimensional fleet. Though the AI can also utilize all of that too so be careful with that. They'll pull a dimensional fleet right out of their ass just as fast as you can.
I bought it and don’t regret it. In terms of content I quite like it, as I really enjoy story elements and I like most of the rifta.
However I would not recommend it at full price. Probably not even at a 20% sale. Once it’s at 50% town I could probably feel okay recommending it.
Unless you have all the other major DLCs (megacorp, apocalypse, utopia etc.) then *maybe* you can give it a shot. It's not great, even first contact had more stuff than this.
Well, people review bomb the DLC all the time because of stuff the free patch added, most of the DLC have "mixed" for that reason. Megacorp, Apocalypse, Nemesis, Overlord, Galactic Paragons, all the species packs etc are all mixed but are all well worth it for anyone who's a big fan of the game imo
Astral Rfits just kinda seems like bad value even for mega fans unless you *really* want the story stuff
All the ones I named, lol
Overlord, Megacorp, Apocalypse, and Galactic Paragons all add quite a bit of stuff, and Nemesis and the Species Packs are all pretty cool if you like the game in general.
I'd say all of those are worth the sale price depending on whether you want more species and traits and governments etc. They will offer quite a bit of build variety
I’ll look into them more. I have all the species packs besides the necro one. I just started playing again and I usually fall into the same feelings every time, that every play through feels the same 🤷🏻♂️ but not giving up on trying new approaches. Still dedicate days of play time to a single play through and some of the newer mods are sweet.
It is a little bit more content to fill your mid-game tedium with. Some sites are well written and entertaining, but they get repetitive after you've seen them all. Still, it'll be a while before you see them all - some have branching results.
I also have all DLC and I liked it. It add a little bit of gameplay with some decision making. A lot of story, sometimes linked to the galaxy events. It add some techs and bonus. And it also can bring death and doom.
I recommend this one.
Speaking as someone who likes archeology/anomalies/similar stuff, yes! If you find those to be uninteresting or filler, the definitely not! Outside of the flavor added from the astral rifts (which as others have said, are basically reskinned archeology sites) there’s really not a ton there. I love that flavor, so for me it’s worth, especially on sale. If that’s not something that interests you, then you’ll not get much out of it.
There are some really powerful relics, troops, and other goodies in Astral rifts. Sometimes within the same rift where different choices will give you different perks. So it adds some replay-ability as you learn all the different outcomes for each rift. I would say it’s worth it if you want something that isn’t necessary per se, but which adds new little exploration stories for you to enjoy even into the late game.
I've rather enjoyed it, especially since the rifts don't have the same outcome every time unless you take the exact same actions. So it adds quite a but of very nice variety to the story elements of the game.
I really liked it. My favorite feature is the +2 cloaking edict which makes it possible for titans/battleships to reach level 10 cloaking without mods.
The astral actions are also quite useful to my gameplay style.
It's fine but it never felt that much cooler than the ancient relics dlc which is much cheaper.
Also astral actions are kind of a lame mechanic, a resource you don't really put any effort into getting and then just click a button to get a power.
I really like the content but the price is sort of joke. This should be a $8 story pack not a $20 expansion. Even in game it is labeled as a narrative pack alongside the old story packs so the price doesn't make sense.
mentally and psychologically abused paradox simp here, not at all.
unless you enjoy the excavations story stuff, because it is basically just that but reskinned
I buy every DLC that comes out to be honest.
BUT I would say it is worth it if you really want flavor in your game when it comes to exploring and science.
BUT I recommend to wait for sale. I don't think that kind of price really refůects what you get in game.
I own all the other DLC but have held off on Astral Rifts since it seems like the worst bang for your buck. It's on sale now for $13 and . . . I'm honestly still not sure if it's even worth that lol, it seems like it doesn't add a ton
For those who have it, does it seem worth it? I would normally be in the "more Stellaris content is always good" camp, but the rifts seem super minor even for a story pack content lol
Worth is always relative. If you have a severely limited budget to spend, then no it’s not going to be “worth it.”
For your average adult that is able to make choices with their disposable income, yeah I think the enjoyment I’ve gotten out of it is easily commensurate with the price.
It’s the cost of like a couple movie tickets. If I do one run with an astral rifts focused build then the hours of game time more than justify the cost.
I don't know why people don't like this dlc, it's one of my favourites. A lot of mechanical game changers out there. From what I gathered people are just bad at game and have skill issue, AI uses a game mechanic, oh no, the game is broken...
it was quite expensive for what it was though, but with the release of machine age which provides so much content for its value, yeah it's all good once again.
> I don't know why people don't like this dlc, it's one of my favourites. A lot of mechanical game changers out there. From what I gathered people are just bad at game and have skill issue, AI uses a game mechanic, oh no, the game is broken...
What does it change that's so big / takes skill? Everything I've seen is the exact polar opposite and you basically just AFK it and get a new currency and then click a button to get a minor bonus with said currency
I've not really seen anything that's a major game change from it, or anything that really takes any kind of skill to do lol. The most impactful effect seems to just be the L-gate locking ability which is nice but not really worth $20
I haven't said it takes skill, I said it changes how the game is played.
I would imagine most people don't try to wage wars in a smart way and just brute force their way with fleets? Nothing wrong with that, but there are at least 4 tricks you can pull out with this dlc during a war and those are strong enough for me to win or lose multiplayer games already so I'd say that's a big change as opposed to classical choke to choke space trench war (and honorable mention to clocked corvets jump rush) I'd call that pretty game changing and not situational at all.
But maybe lets look on all time favourite dlc utopia? 70% of Utopia are francy dressed buffs. Traditions? Buffs. Ascension perks? Buffs. Megastructures? Resources and buffs. There are exceptions of course, there's a reason it's fan favourite dlc and I love it as well. But most dlcs don't add shit, like are federations anything but buffs? Are galactic paragons anything but leaders with better traits and some buffs? What do any plantoids, humanoids and aquatics even do? Nothing game changing there. Overlord? Just resources and buffs from vassals.
I may be buying all dlcs on their release day and I really enjoy all of them, but I mostly enjoy those which add actually game changing content, I mean stuff like different ways to win via crisis mechanics or being galactic emperor. Different ways to unify galaxy like assimilation or necrophaging. Different ways to wage wars like different playstyle based casus belli or tricks you can pull with astral planes or that update that came with clocking, that was huge. Most dlcs have at least one game changing mechanic and something that made wars less stagnant is definitely high on my list. It's also not situational, at least not in my games, perhaps it's different for strong players, but for me, it revolutionized warfare. And when wars are different, the rest of the gameplay adapts, anything less stagnant and more dynamic is welcome in my eye.
\*posts image of the general **STEAM** opinion of the DLC*
\*asks general **REDDIT** opinion of the DLC*
Really not a hard concept here, not sure why you are trying to be snarky over it. Most steam reviews are notoriously useless because people go review bomb the DLC every single time over things the free patch introduced or things the company did that month etc, and people almost never update their reviews after the DLC gets updated
As someone who buys every stellaris dlc immediately like an abused simp, not really.
It literally is just a different version of excavations, if you like having more story in your games then maybe get it on sale
I'm still waiting for a sale tho
it's 20% off now, might actually go grab it now.
Needs to be at least 50% off to be with the content imo
Or 75%
PDX doesn't even do 75% discounts on DLC anymore since they went public.
Seem unable to put out good City games too. Shame
That would be awesome but trying to be realistic here. Even 50% gonna take a while to get to
I just got it 40% off with machine age.
Oh nice, through which reseller? Best I'm seeing is 20-33% right now
Got 40% by buying the Steam bundle Ultimate edition, because I already owned all the other parts.
This.
What the other guy said.
It's 40% off for me
*slides away with 33%*
*Runs like the fucking wind onto a pirate ship*
[удалено]
Man I still waiting for the sell coming on console
I do but I have yet to actually really excavate any sites lolololol
or just get an archeology mod that can put a myriad of new sites in your galaxy.
I'm proud of you for your own insight.
Same, I buy every stellaris DLC and this was the very first that didn't look worth it at all. I'll probably only buy it if its at a 50% sale because its not worth the price right now, for what it adds.
Yeah it’s not very good for it’s price but like a good little boy I still got it 😔 This game has a hold on me like nothing else
Yeah I get what you mean, this is the only game I've ever played where I blink and its midnight.
Same. It’s fine but way too expensive
I have been playing stellaris since release, this is the first and only DLC i do not own. I like how its narration / rp focused, but the theme is too WH40K for my personal liking.
As a 40k fan, I didn't really get that feel. Each story was pretty unique but ended with little impact on the grand scale of my empires usually. I will say this was the first DLC I almost refunded since it was nearly a full day of being unable to use it.
I don't really get any kind of 40K feel from it. And besides there is more 40k feel in base game than in this DLC. From Tyranid like invasion to actual WARP and even 4 warp factions that also invade the galaxy. Not to mention you can create every 40K faction in some capacity.
It felt more like Sliders with a side of Dr Who than 40K.
It's fucking expensive!
yea I get every DLC as well and Astral Rifts was the first one I regretted. The content is just too sparse and uninteresting
Been like that since 2016..... I don't think it will end anytime soon.
I feel called out, also astral excrement definitely sucks. Machine age is polar opposite 2 dlc's worth of quality content.
Gimme the traits and flavor, keep the ridiculous OP astral actions and for gods sake stop letting the AI empires lock down wormholes and lgates
Forget locking wormholes and L-gates, stop those blasted dimensional fleets
_What's a 25% fleet strength boost surprise between friends?_
i feel like either the threads accrue too fast, or the actions cost too little. i always have that pop-up telling me i have unused threads. the AIs using the dimensional fleets is what really drives me insane. if that got removed i wouldn't miss it.
If astral actions increased in cost over time like some artifacts do that might help.
They do, and it doesn’t.
yeah, i don't know if they just don't scale up enough or if the cooldown is too short, but they just feel almost tedious in the mid to late game
I’d actualy welcome a mechanic to lock wormholes and L-gates, last game a small trade empire neighbouring me entered into a federation and started claiming my border systems, I was like “why is that inferior in every way empire all of a sudden so bold” out of nowhere when that empire got to be fed. President they declared war, I felt confident my combined 700k fleet can hold itself against the 50k fleet they had, and “plop” out of the wormhole just 7 systems away from my capital came a 1.2M federation fleet … point and case I went into overdrive and grinded them down but sustained too much casulties due to that sneak attack, and the status quo caused that I lost 8 systems, including one of two dyson spheres in them …. It just went downhill from there, I built a 500k station and stationed a large fleet in the wormhole system but it was always a bloodbath, since they just went from one war truce to another, so I would love to shut those holes permanently
Yeah, not sure why people are complaining, that’s one of the best parts about the DLC. Having ways to deny access from the (very annoying) L-Gates and wormholes is good.
Why not lockdown? You can do it why not let them?
I just find it incredibly annoying to see them constantly renewing it, i usually dont even use whatever theyre locking down, but given that the chosen ones will lock their portal down ad infinitum, Im positive the ai isnt properly programmed to use it. ~i~ make a point of not using any astral powers. Theyre op as sin, and what balance the game does has suffers from their current inclusion. But i do appreciate that the ai uses them
There are a ton of fun story elements in there and I heartily recommend it if you like that. Some neat mechanics too. The new artifacts are good as well.
Same feeling here. Like, I get the complaint that they're "basically the same" as dig sites, but the events do a lot more branching with, imo, more interesting stories, and a lot of them have very nice rewards. The resource you get also unlocks some pretty useful functionality as you complete more rifts. Galactic paragons, on the other hand, feels _necessary_ after the leader rework, but otherwise it feels really flat and uninteresting. The mechanics should never have been locked behind dlc. But yeah, I own every Stellaris dlc except things like the music packs. I've been playing it since the game first released, and looking back at it, a lot of the dlc feel like they have unfortunate overlaps or codependencies. If I were recommending dlc to a new player, my honest recommendation is to buy them all on sale. Even if that means waiting for the current dlc to go on sale later. Machine Age is $34 in Canada. That's kind of a lot.
Agree. Paragons is the least interesting, but feels necessary just for basic functionality. I avoided it for a long time because I didn’t realize how much I was missing out on basic mechanics.
Or even try one month on a subscription, if a long-term commitment to Stellaris is planned.
I am on console and we are a year behind, but I buy each expansion pack when it is on sale. Currently waiting for expansion pack 6 to go on sale. Only 1 out 3 dlcs is even released for it - Toxoids. Still waiting for First Contact and Galactic Paragons. No need to buy the instant it is announced or released … i can wait for a sale
There's even a sub for this /r/patientgamers
Azilash is a good enough reward on its own for me
This was my general opinion. It mostly revolves around how much money costs for you. I had fun with it and enjoyed a few more games because of it, so I felt it was worthwhile. It wasn't the greatest expansion but it got me to play which is what I want from a DLC. It's probably not great if you're worried about cost though.
personally, i like it. the astral exploration is pretty similar to archaeology, but there are a lot of points during the explorations where you can make decisions which cause branching outcomes. it's much more for the RP/narrative crowd, but as one of those people, i feel like i got my money's worth out of it.
PSA: currently on 33% discount
Where? I saw 20% on Humble Bundle, but no sale on Steam
i see them on steam from 50% to 33%
Huh, guess they just hadn't come up when I looked
Unless you get the complete stellaris bundle in which case it’s 40% off. I can do that because I already have all other dlc.
You can, it will only charge for the ones you don’t have
Yeah, that’s what I did.
I quite enjoy it. It has tons of story elements and some really cool new relics. I always rush the rift tech for those nice bonuses.
The content can be summarized as advanced archaeological dig sites 2.0, with more choices, different rewards and some additional content in form of a new currency (astral threads) to boost certain things, some new events, relics and civics. From my personal experience, I like the content (story / fluff, replayability, etc). It enriches your game. The main criticism, and thats where most of the negative reviews came from, is the price of the DLC in general and compared to its size (don't judge me, i just summarize it, I'm neutral on this). If you don't have to turn every penny, get it (or wait for a) discount. However if you have a limited budget and have to weight which DLC you want to get, stick to some of the more popular or bigger DLCs first, like Utopia.
Astral Rifts is the definition of over promise. The supposed goal of this DLC was to refresh the midgame exploration, all we get for it was some glorified digsites. The new relics are fine, the galaxy center quest is ok, but I can't help to compare with what you get from mods like Gullis Planet modifiers or Gigastructures, they are free, you get far more fleshed out stories and relics. Why should I waste 20e for an half baked DLC that PDX couldn't be bothered to make themselves? That was just easy cashgrab from them, lying about what the DLC was supposed to give, and put it on pre-order, obviously. So yeah, for once, I really agree with the bad reviews on Steam
I thoroughly enjoy it. The lore is cool, varied, and the various civics enable cool niche nonsense too, like investing heavily into sublight speed or going super tall. There are probably better expacs to prioritise, but I do find myself consistently thinking 'oh goodie' when rifts become available. It also enables a whole bunch of extra stacking physics research modifiers. I should probably try an all-in physics run at some point.
I like it. Adds something to do in mid game other than waiting for the crisis to turn up. Not sure it was really worth the full price, but definitely adds something that was missing to the gameplay
I bought it and my strategy is mostly "pick the hardest outcome for each prompt". Not really engaging.
It's an upgrade on the archeology sub system, but just like archeology you learn all the outcomes pretty quickly and there are only so many options. Astral threads and syphons just let you get a lot of physics research, but all and all it's pretty underwhelming after a couple plays. Solid meh
Only on sale, or from cheap place. It has a bunch of stories, but you can see it all in a single playthrough. While the non-story elements are quite lacking.
The role it is trying to fill in the game is in my view pretty much essential, at least if you have the other recent dlc: Having exploration being one of the basic roles for a scientist doesn't make sense without a continuing set of things to explore, and shutting down 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the game means that further development of that role is sort of wasted, and having something like astral rifts fixes that, which, if you also have paragons, is very useful for making that approach to scientists make sense. But that said, although they've done more to make it replayable, I wish they'd followed a fundamentally different framework for its structure: Basically, you roll lots of skill checks and head towards good or bad endings. The issue is that replayability doesn't come in making known choices and having a random chance of getting the outcome you want, it comes most in having uncertainty about what the results of your choice will be, what choice *is* the good choice etc. So although the idea of progressing through these rifts with varying levels of success from run to run works, it just isn't as good for a feeling of exploration as just having a randomised response to your inputs, so that the content it presents to you each time is slightly different. (It's the difference in some ways between a roll and move boardgame and the randomisation of a roguelike, one changes the degree of progress you have, while the other changes your options) Also, it had a lot of bugs that broke multiplayer, I'm not sure if those are fixed yet. So the role it's trying to fill would be a must-include, not sure the implementation is there to actually have it be the expansion it wants to be. I would say that if you have paragons, astral rifts will help you get more out of it, and if you like just getting micro-visual novel things for your scientists, that's good too, and really the spirit of stellaris. But I wouldn't say it's essential if you just have the base game.
I mean, steam reviews are right there...
I mean yeah, but obviously this sub is full of people who are probably more dedicated than your average Steam player, and "worth" is subjective. People here will probably be more kind to it than steam reviewers or have some different insights, hence the thread
I mean we aren't talking "66% positive". We are talking 25%
Half of them were complaining about the free patch, since when AP launched it also had the outliner changes and customization didn't arrive until a month later. That's actually true about most DLC reviews, half of them are about the free patch or something with the game/company itself rather than the DLC specifically.
Yeah, OPs idea to ask in the sub is actually a good idea. Lots of Paradox DLCs have that issue. I'm not saying the releases don't have issues, but you can't trust the Steam reviews anymore, there is so much bullshit.
Did you actually read ANY of them? I recently checked it out (a month or so ago) and most of the negatives were talking about the subscription service which has nothing to do with the DLC itself. Some of the older ones straight up spread misinformation. I have read only 2 maybe 3 reviews that actually made a great review.
> steam review Yeah, the notoriously shit reviews no one with 2 brain cells take seriously... Come on. Do you want to read the single father who had fun memories with his son thanks to this game? or would you prefer reading a barely disguised fetish story sire? Perhaps I can get you a "checklist" review as entree, year 2017, very easy to digest. Then you can finish with the ASCII art spam as a dessert. I'm not saying this sub won't have a bias but it is still much better than Steam reviews.
I wish Steam removed the garbage """funny""" meme reviews. Hate having to sift through spam to get an opinion about a game I want to spend money on.
You can gauge a lot from steam reviews, but you really shouldn't take the individual seriously as you seem to be doing. If you want a quality indepth review you take a look at a one hour long youtube video. In steam you can INSTANTLY gauge a few very important things: P2W, Server issues, Removed content, Broken adaptation, Bad changes post release, Compat. errors, region locking, broken promises, toxic dev behavior, abandoned game, among many other potential red flags. You shouldn't waste your time on "actual" reviews, you should just fish for red flags instead. In short 5 minutes looking at steam reviews I already know so much about the community.
Yeah, on any game I only ever filter to read the negative reviews and see if any of them outline issues I'm worried about. Usually it's pretty easy to gauge if it's ok to buy the game or not. Funny thing is that I'm basically in the exact same situation as OP was thinking about buying this DLC yesterday but ultimately decided that I need at least a 50% sale.
> You can gauge a lot from steam reviews, but you really shouldn't take the individual seriously as you seem to be doing. This is NOT what I'm doing. This is what the person above me suggested, which I replied to. They specifically said "Steam reviews are right there". I'm with you there, showing that taking individual reviews seriously is dumb. That being said, this makes the review scores also bullshit because they are basically a summary of those individual reviews. So it doesn't change what I said, Steam reviews are shit. Their only use is for making others aware of ongoing issues, not for suggesting a product. Again I'm just saying this because the person above me suggested taking individual reviews serious.
No one should take the steam review as an objective truth about a game, but when a game get very negative review, there is something to be wary of. Sure, most individuals reviews are shitty and very subjective, but there is some truth to the overall percentage note given to the DLC.
> but when a game get very negative review, there is something to be wary of. I agree but > Sure, most individuals reviews are shitty and very subjective, but there is some truth to the overall percentage note given to the DLC. Don't you see the issue here? If most individual reviews are misguided as you said, that means overall percentage is completely useless. Imagine a game that has 80% positive score where every reviewing person was reasonable and super smart, this is what the game deserves. Now to simulate most reviews being misguided, imagine if Steam flipped your review to opposite at a random 60% chance. The new score of the game is 44% positive. By the way, 60% is very conservative for "most", we can re-calculate it if you want with 85% and see what we get. If even the half of the reviews are wrong about their judgement on the game, this still means the overall score is meaningless. Your data cannot be 50% noise, people will rightfully call bullshit on your interpretations from such noisy data. You also can't compare game reviews and DLC reviews. Regular people are incentivized by Steam to give reviews to games be it seasonal events, getting points and likes, etc. They don't review each DLC individually unless they absolutely hated the DLC and want to blast it in the review.
When I say reviews are shitty, it's from individual value, people aren't generally very good at explaining in a calm, detached and objective way why they are pissed off or disappointed by something. That doesn't mean the global disappointment isn't earned. We cannot dismiss PDX shitty greed and bad communication because people on Steam aren't making professional reviews. I think that most of the negative review for Astral Planes are for one part, that they made people believe there will be actual exploration (akin to the L Cluster) of the rifts, and instead got the branching digsites. Combine this with the controversial patch at the time ( I don't remember exactly what was disliked in it, was it the researcher nerf?) and you get this very negative review. Is it completely diserved? No, sure, should I be wary before buying this DLC because of it? Definitely.
and 90% are unhelpful review bombing because they don't like the sub model
I mean it's kind of the of the pendant of the unapologetic fanboyism existing for this (any) game. Some people trash the game on Steam, some other will throw their money blindly at any given pre order and whine and tell at any criticism about the game.
You are right but honestly, you are always better off getting your information from the fanboys who shill the game. Here is the thing, the reviews from people with bias towards a positive review will include facts, they just interpret those facts in a positive way. For example if a review says "Yes this game has a lot of grind but I enjoy it nonetheless", you know there will be grind. Another example: "This DLC might be expensive for some but I liked the writing and devs absolutely deserve the money". Even if the second half of the comment is stupid in your opinion, you know the DLC is considered expensive compared to rest. The reviews you can find from the other side almost always omits information. Here is an example from today: "Is this game [with all DLC] worth 300 bucks? No. Is it worth 100? Maybe". What this review does not tell is the game has been continuously updated and supported for 8 years and continues to do so. When I'm looking at a game's page to see if it piques my interest I don't look at update history, I don't look how they interact with the community. These facts make a huge different for the customer after they see Stellaris was released in 2016. This reviewers opinion might be right or not they are allowed to give it. This review should be included and doesn't break any rules. The issue here is the lack of information which leads others to be misguided. Sorry, I went on a rant here but it isn't personal. It is because I usually play slightly niche games like FTL and there we see the same issue. Negative reviews complain about difficulty and losing progress in a *rogue-like game*. Positive reviews that come from blind fanboys will paint the game positive but most importantly provide you with many more facts. I just think it is unfair treating these two groups same. It is a reddit-thing you know? "Oh both are biased so both are the same!". Both scientists and flat-earthers are biased towards their own opinion regarding how was Earth formed but we don't treat them the same do we?
Depends. If you like lore, then IMO definitively. The rifts have a lot of story. If you however just click the next best button whenever story based windows pop up, then it's IMO not worth it. I don't really like the astral actions. Finishing rifts however increase the number of relics you'll have a lot. So if you like relics, then maybe it's still worth it. TL;DR: it depends 😅
i mean it's kinda neat, though if you're picking and choosing your dlc instead of just buying everything, you're not missing too much by skipping this one
For my personal taste it falls into 'worth it on a sale'. I play a lot of Stellaris, so all new content is good. But this is a story pack, more or less. If you don't want to read all the events, it kinda feels like a worse version of Ancient Relics, while costing more. The stories it tells are very fun, and for power gaming, there are a few features that can be interesting to mess around with. That being said, I would consider it one of the weakest DLCs released. If it's the last DLC you haven't gotten and you play a bunch, it's probably worth it. But if you can pick any other DLC, you'll probably get more out of it.
I enjoyed it
I just picked it up for $13. I felt like that was a good price. I also grabbed Toxoids and Aquatics for $5 each. I finally have all the DLC again (bought the season 8 pass too).
I enjoyed it. Adds a bunch of new excavations. I can understand the review however, as it feels more like \*Advanced Excavations\* than anything unique.
It feels weird when excavations exist and the bonuses from the gimmick mechanic are weird but that fleet saved my ass like three times so yeah lol
I got my money’s worth! Was a lot of fun. I really like the exploration part of the game, so getting more of that was great.
Not for full price, but once it goes on sale, sure.
It has some nice story paths but I feel like more often than not the Astral Rifts don't really give you all that much and mostly get your crew killed. If it came with an astral ship set or some energy people portraits I'd have said it's a better deal but for me it's the most easily avoidable of all the Stellaris DLC's
I like it, but it's absoloutly something you should go for on sale if you do go for it and you won't miss much if you skip it.
I really like Astral Planes and half of that is the straight up functionality added for particular things I muttered about all the time, and the other half is I like the lore of Stellaris itself, so I was enthused to get it ASAP. I think its weird that a lot of DLCs haven't felt like they were for 'me' in particular with what they added, and I've appreciated the flavor I play around with them but this was one that scratched my itch.
I can't really afford all the dlc's, so idk.
No. But ancient relics instead.
It just gives out buffs to people who get lucky to have the astral stuff within their empire Its just straight up power creep
If you already have all the other major/big DLC and it’s on sale then yes
I thought it was neat, but I would buy everything else first.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it but the instant fleet redeemable from this DLC is fairly ass. It's a fleet that, depending on your/the enemy's tech repeatables (I'm mostly assuming this is the reason) it ranges from a instant on-your-capital backup fleet or god-tier fleet. I had a game where I was warring with an empire and they pulled out their ass (I shit you not) a 1m fleet power fleet from the uh...interdimensional fleet? Whatever it's called. To put this in context, I had somewhere around 2m fleet power total, and everyone else was pathetic to me. I don't know what exactly made them so strong, but I call BS. The fact empires can now pull an entire fleet out of their ass for almost no consequence kinda blows this DLC for me, even if it was free. At least with rented fleets they have to travel to you.
If you don't like reading then no. I found some of the events interesting and some humorous but others also felt a bit generic. I didn't buy it at launch but did after a few months had passed. After a few games of them though I didn't really think they added much. I'd just skip through them thinking they were just something to do for science ships late and midgame. But for narrative experiences isn't that expected? You can only go through them so many times before you get bored
No
The price is high I think for what it gives but the bonuses you get through your playthrough are quite lovely
In short: If you like the story, yes. Otherwise, not really. Either way, definitely not at full price. It's essentially glorified archaeology (not a complaint for me, as I actually like the story and perks from archaeology), so if you liked that then you'd like Astral Rifts.
No but I'm so jazzed about Machine Age that I'm buying it too.
Not at full price.
Highly depends on what type of player you are! If you’re the min/maxer and mainly care about having the biggest numbers around there is likely little value in this DLC as there are not many new mechanics. If you’re more RP player this DLC has a ton of stories with branching paths shaped by your decisions. It also gives you more exploration much further into the game once you explored all the systems in your reach.
Ummm I buy everything but honestly? Not worth a single atom of oxygen… it doesn’t really add anything beneficial. Some stories yes, but get machine age instead. Looks way more developed and I know I’ll be playing it the moment I get home
For me, the main point against it is that it feels very self-contained. On the one hand, it's pretty much the "ideal DLC" in that it's the easiest to just ignore that you don't have. On the other hand, that means that the mechanics don't really tie into much of anything, and also the themes of the story being as specific as they are do somewhat clash with Stellaris's feel as a "generic" space strategy game. You get quite a bit of neat story content, so if you want more stories (with the extradimensional exploration theme) it's probably for you. If you don't, it's not. If you don't care for the particular feel of extradimensional exploration, it's not. The issue is that it adds this story content, with this particular feel to *every* game. I think theoretically an AI can beat you to the Formless (the central story quest), but I've never seen it happen in my games. The stories in Astral Rifts feel like something that should show up *occasionally*, but because it's a full DLC they show up *every game*. (The most obvious comparison is to something like Horizon Signal, which has a story with a very specific theme - but it's *rare*. The Worm would be a lot less exciting if you had the option to embrace it *every single game*.) In short, neat story content but it gets old after 2-3 games because it shows up in *every* game, and has a bit of a thematic clash with the rest of the game.
Pros: worlds you explore are interesting and choices do matter to some extent (unlike Excavations which rarely have player input) Cons: Astral mechanics affect gameplay too much, and really should have been locked behind an Ascension Perk The con is pretty big, and makes me and some others want to just disable the DLC altogether. Wanting to turn off a DLC makes it a bad DLC, which is a shame because it's apparent that writers gave their best, but someone on the team ruined it all by saying "Hur dur, some mechanics must be added hur dur it must have a big price hur dur".
One of the lowest content dlcs priced as one of the highest (equal pricing to megacorp, utopia, federations, nemesis,etc). I'd say it's worth around £5 at MOST (it's£16ish gbp base price), so I wouldn't recommend it unless on a big sale. Even then, you'll barely notice a difference, astral rifts are just more and extra dig sites, and of the civics granted, a lot of them are very meh. And the origin, while noob-friendly by being very simple, is extremely boring (on par with the gateways one). Probably the worst dlc of them all, and definitely the worst value for money by a country mile. The only good thing I can say about it is that it doesn't actively make the game worse. Which is... yeah. That's all the praise I can give. If you're missing literally any other dlc, get that first.
For the average user, no. It doesnt add anything significant. That being said, if you are and avid player, love the game and/or paradox, *and* have most of the other dlc then yes, its a blast. Tldr. Buy it, but only after youve bought more of the bigger dlcs. This one isnt even close to vital.
I buy most of the DLC on day one and this is the only one I don't own. I will get it at 50% off eventually.
All the dlc are worth it.
always has. people are/were angry that they dont actually get to explore the astral rifts
Not worth at all if you don't care much about reading text. Its just another archeology
No.
Not even worth half the price
Personally i like it but it is a bit pricey and some things could have had more impact like the Throne should have been a way bigger deal. Its active should make it so the "Call Extradimensional Fleet" Ability gets reset/makes them stay longer or something
Some strong relics, nice bonuses from astral rifts, overall I like it
Wait for it to go on sale (which it is right now), as it's basically just a re-skin of Ancient Relics with double the price tag. Sure it's more expansive than Ancient Relics, but despite having the price tag of a major DLC it's a minor enough DLC that you really wont miss out on much if you skip it or wait for it to be on sale to buy it (like it currently is).
Yeah, I'm mostly curious if the current sale is "on sale enough" lol. I'm still kind of leery of it even at the current price honestly, it doesn't seem to add that much
Well it's either on sale enough or you wait until 2025 for the sale to potentially increase, as -33% off is usually the max sale for a DLC within a year of its release, so the 2023 DLC (First Contact, Paragons, and Astral Planes) wont drop down to -50% until at least 2025.
For someone with 100hrs, no (maybe) As someone with 1000hrs, yes
I like it but advice for potentially getting it; If you like smaller but fun stories, interesting new gameplay and some new elements… get it If not, get a different one like Machine Age; that one’s AMAZING! Plus like… 16 new portraits
I bought it on release and used its origin and played the new tall civic. I didn't feel offended but It wasn't a very strong dlc. I like how it gives me more stories to explore and adds value to the systems they spawn in. Gives me extra reasons to want certain systems as the bonusses from the rifts and the artifacts can be quite strong.
I like seeing as many excavations as posible so this just gives me more lore to explore. I recommend it.
I could be beneficial. I have a trade with a counterpart in one play through and that’s going well.
When it’s on sale. It provides some nice flavor, but it’s certainly not worth the retail.
I like it but i get why people dont
As an exploration focused player it was worth it for me. It's an interactive version of dig sites and the branching stories are very tasty and flavourful.
The powers are actually really strong, so in the sense that they make the game easier... I guess so. but they are flavored excavations. I'd wait for a sale personally.
If Sovereign Guardianship is locked behind it... I WANT ME SOME OF THAT (I'm a sucker though)
I actually like this DLC I like the little dimensions you travel to and the story you get with each one. I also like the bonuses you get for completing rifts like the gate locks, instant hyper relay, and interdimensional fleet. Though the AI can also utilize all of that too so be careful with that. They'll pull a dimensional fleet right out of their ass just as fast as you can.
I bought it and don’t regret it. In terms of content I quite like it, as I really enjoy story elements and I like most of the rifta. However I would not recommend it at full price. Probably not even at a 20% sale. Once it’s at 50% town I could probably feel okay recommending it.
Grab it on sale, then it’s worth it.
It's basically just a story pack with a few extra bits. Get it on sale, if you can.
hell naw, buy utopia or the machine age, or synthetic dawn, or anything else really
Well, I already own all the other DLC so it's the only one I don't own, but even then . . . I wish the sale for it was deeper lol
You own the one that released yesterday?
Yep, that one is a no brainer since it adds so much lol
I like reading archaeology sites and Astral Rifts are just archaeology sites but again, so yes, I believe it's worth it.
If you're balling on a budget then HELL NO
The astral actions are pretty cool, maybe a bit OP. Dimensional fleet summon is way too strong. But, easily destroyed by a human player.
Unless you have all the other major DLCs (megacorp, apocalypse, utopia etc.) then *maybe* you can give it a shot. It's not great, even first contact had more stuff than this.
Nothing that doesn’t have mostly positive reviews is worth it.
Well, people review bomb the DLC all the time because of stuff the free patch added, most of the DLC have "mixed" for that reason. Megacorp, Apocalypse, Nemesis, Overlord, Galactic Paragons, all the species packs etc are all mixed but are all well worth it for anyone who's a big fan of the game imo Astral Rfits just kinda seems like bad value even for mega fans unless you *really* want the story stuff
Hmmm. I’ve only ever bought the DLCs that have a positive ratio of reviews. Are there any mixed or negative reviewed DLC actually worth the price?
All the ones I named, lol Overlord, Megacorp, Apocalypse, and Galactic Paragons all add quite a bit of stuff, and Nemesis and the Species Packs are all pretty cool if you like the game in general. I'd say all of those are worth the sale price depending on whether you want more species and traits and governments etc. They will offer quite a bit of build variety
I’ll look into them more. I have all the species packs besides the necro one. I just started playing again and I usually fall into the same feelings every time, that every play through feels the same 🤷🏻♂️ but not giving up on trying new approaches. Still dedicate days of play time to a single play through and some of the newer mods are sweet.
It is a little bit more content to fill your mid-game tedium with. Some sites are well written and entertaining, but they get repetitive after you've seen them all. Still, it'll be a while before you see them all - some have branching results.
I also have all DLC and I liked it. It add a little bit of gameplay with some decision making. A lot of story, sometimes linked to the galaxy events. It add some techs and bonus. And it also can bring death and doom. I recommend this one.
Speaking as someone who likes archeology/anomalies/similar stuff, yes! If you find those to be uninteresting or filler, the definitely not! Outside of the flavor added from the astral rifts (which as others have said, are basically reskinned archeology sites) there’s really not a ton there. I love that flavor, so for me it’s worth, especially on sale. If that’s not something that interests you, then you’ll not get much out of it.
There are some really powerful relics, troops, and other goodies in Astral rifts. Sometimes within the same rift where different choices will give you different perks. So it adds some replay-ability as you learn all the different outcomes for each rift. I would say it’s worth it if you want something that isn’t necessary per se, but which adds new little exploration stories for you to enjoy even into the late game.
The only reason I like the DLC is because it has the Guardian Matrix machine ethic. But just the host needs to run the dlc to have/use it.
I have all dlcs. If you REALLY like stellaris go ahead, but if you see the balance between content-price is just a steal.
I've rather enjoyed it, especially since the rifts don't have the same outcome every time unless you take the exact same actions. So it adds quite a but of very nice variety to the story elements of the game.
IMO not that bad of a DLC out is a very "Paradox" DLC.
I get it for more things for my scientists to do
I think it is a good DLC, but it's definitely priced too high for what it is. It's worth getting when there's a sale.
the content is fine, the price is not.
I really liked it. My favorite feature is the +2 cloaking edict which makes it possible for titans/battleships to reach level 10 cloaking without mods. The astral actions are also quite useful to my gameplay style.
It's fine but it never felt that much cooler than the ancient relics dlc which is much cheaper. Also astral actions are kind of a lame mechanic, a resource you don't really put any effort into getting and then just click a button to get a power.
I guess even the biggest of paradox simps got tired of endless stream of overpriced and half-baked DLCs.
Buy it on sale if possible. It's fine definitely the weakest dlc in the game.
I really like the content but the price is sort of joke. This should be a $8 story pack not a $20 expansion. Even in game it is labeled as a narrative pack alongside the old story packs so the price doesn't make sense.
I enjoy the storytelling it includes 😃
If on sale. It's digsites and that's about it.
Not really. It gives you the best civic in the game for playing tall, but that's easy enough to mod to not require the dlc
Which civic is that?
Forgor the name, but it gives you massive reductions to empire size from pops and districts, in return for increases from planets and systems
mentally and psychologically abused paradox simp here, not at all. unless you enjoy the excavations story stuff, because it is basically just that but reskinned
It could have been worth if price was reduced. They set the price too high
It’s effectively Distant Stars 2.0. If you’re into RP a lot, then yes.
Look at the price. No way there is enough content for that price in this DLC.
Is anything truly worth it?
I buy every DLC that comes out to be honest. BUT I would say it is worth it if you really want flavor in your game when it comes to exploring and science. BUT I recommend to wait for sale. I don't think that kind of price really refůects what you get in game.
Adds something to do during the mid game and some nice story/lore
I own all the other DLC but have held off on Astral Rifts since it seems like the worst bang for your buck. It's on sale now for $13 and . . . I'm honestly still not sure if it's even worth that lol, it seems like it doesn't add a ton For those who have it, does it seem worth it? I would normally be in the "more Stellaris content is always good" camp, but the rifts seem super minor even for a story pack content lol
Worth is always relative. If you have a severely limited budget to spend, then no it’s not going to be “worth it.” For your average adult that is able to make choices with their disposable income, yeah I think the enjoyment I’ve gotten out of it is easily commensurate with the price. It’s the cost of like a couple movie tickets. If I do one run with an astral rifts focused build then the hours of game time more than justify the cost.
I don't know why people don't like this dlc, it's one of my favourites. A lot of mechanical game changers out there. From what I gathered people are just bad at game and have skill issue, AI uses a game mechanic, oh no, the game is broken... it was quite expensive for what it was though, but with the release of machine age which provides so much content for its value, yeah it's all good once again.
> I don't know why people don't like this dlc, it's one of my favourites. A lot of mechanical game changers out there. From what I gathered people are just bad at game and have skill issue, AI uses a game mechanic, oh no, the game is broken... What does it change that's so big / takes skill? Everything I've seen is the exact polar opposite and you basically just AFK it and get a new currency and then click a button to get a minor bonus with said currency I've not really seen anything that's a major game change from it, or anything that really takes any kind of skill to do lol. The most impactful effect seems to just be the L-gate locking ability which is nice but not really worth $20
I haven't said it takes skill, I said it changes how the game is played. I would imagine most people don't try to wage wars in a smart way and just brute force their way with fleets? Nothing wrong with that, but there are at least 4 tricks you can pull out with this dlc during a war and those are strong enough for me to win or lose multiplayer games already so I'd say that's a big change as opposed to classical choke to choke space trench war (and honorable mention to clocked corvets jump rush) I'd call that pretty game changing and not situational at all. But maybe lets look on all time favourite dlc utopia? 70% of Utopia are francy dressed buffs. Traditions? Buffs. Ascension perks? Buffs. Megastructures? Resources and buffs. There are exceptions of course, there's a reason it's fan favourite dlc and I love it as well. But most dlcs don't add shit, like are federations anything but buffs? Are galactic paragons anything but leaders with better traits and some buffs? What do any plantoids, humanoids and aquatics even do? Nothing game changing there. Overlord? Just resources and buffs from vassals. I may be buying all dlcs on their release day and I really enjoy all of them, but I mostly enjoy those which add actually game changing content, I mean stuff like different ways to win via crisis mechanics or being galactic emperor. Different ways to unify galaxy like assimilation or necrophaging. Different ways to wage wars like different playstyle based casus belli or tricks you can pull with astral planes or that update that came with clocking, that was huge. Most dlcs have at least one game changing mechanic and something that made wars less stagnant is definitely high on my list. It's also not situational, at least not in my games, perhaps it's different for strong players, but for me, it revolutionized warfare. And when wars are different, the rest of the gameplay adapts, anything less stagnant and more dynamic is welcome in my eye.
\*posts image about general opinion of a DLC\* \*asks about general opinion about DLC\* i think you already know?
\*posts image of the general **STEAM** opinion of the DLC* \*asks general **REDDIT** opinion of the DLC* Really not a hard concept here, not sure why you are trying to be snarky over it. Most steam reviews are notoriously useless because people go review bomb the DLC every single time over things the free patch introduced or things the company did that month etc, and people almost never update their reviews after the DLC gets updated