The density of a Europa Universalis or Crusader Kings, with a world packed full of characters creating and springing from history, is not there. By taking elements of grand strategy and planting them firmly in a 4X structure, Paradox created something fascinating, though not without rough edges and areas where the design is so taut as to wear thin. The trick of Stellaris is its knitting together of two genres that are adjacent to one another, but unaccustomed to intermixing their inner workings. No matter what the state of their release, they're going to be much-changed a year or two down the line. That's how Paradox grand strategy games tend to work. I liked the game far more than many other critics around the time of release and while I think the game as it stood on launch day was fantastic (if flawed), I was open about my expectation that it would be a foundation for greater things. With Leviathans, and more notably the free Heinlein update that arrived alongside the paid-for story pack, Stellaris shows sure signs that it will fulfill its early promise.

Stellaris: Leviathans brings some gargantuan beasts and big features to Paradox's sci-fi strategy game, but is it a small step forward or a great leap into the unknown? Space dragons, wars in heaven, awakening gods, secret enclaves and (most delicious of all) user interface improvements.

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