Edija
Arcane
The thing I mostly dislike about any newer 4x game is the inability of the devs to capture any of the mystery that is part of exploring space or new planets. The game that did it best certainly is Alpha Centauri, and one could argue that it was easier to achieve said atmosphere because it was, until the expansion, focused on a human viewpoint only. I like the game for the most part but I've been watching DasTactic more than actually playing it myself, but one cannot escape the feeling that the AoE 3 fantasy map you played on was just warped into Planetfall and spiced up with some technology; it feels samey.
The last 4x game that really blew me away and that had any semblance of the feeling I'm trying to describe was Distant Worlds, although I only really got into it when it was already heavily modded.
The last 4x game that really blew me away and that had any semblance of the feeling I'm trying to describe was Distant Worlds, although I only really got into it when it was already heavily modded.