It's not as good as I initially thought but still impressive. While the mechanics remain fairly simple (which is good), the micromanaging becomes annoying in the mid to late game if you have 10+ planets. I haven't played a lot of multiplayer but many of the tech choices seem obvious now. The default races are also very unbalanced.
I was going to try MoO1 for comparison because people say it doesn't have the micromanagement, but it's also missing many of the features I like in MoO2 and I found the UI much more difficult to use.
I briefly tried Endless Space 2 after these, and I really dislike the direction space 4x games have been going. More mechanics or more length ≠ more fun or more strategic depth.
me, after playing MOO2: this is easily the best space 4x game and Stellaris copied 90% of its mechanics and it doesn't even feel like an improvement
I was going to try MoO1 for comparison because people say it doesn't have the micromanagement, but it's also missing many of the features I like in MoO2 and I found the UI much more difficult to use.
I briefly tried Endless Space 2 after these, and I really dislike the direction space 4x games have been going. More mechanics or more length ≠ more fun or more strategic depth.