Nexus 5X seeks to streamline the expansive 4X strategy gameplay of Stellaris into a more compact and faster experience, all at an affordable price. It largely achieves this goal, making it an excellent choice for players who want to create vast empires without investing a huge amount of time.
First, let’s talk about the name and what Nexus 5X is all about. This game is actually a spinoff of Stellaris, the grand strategy title where you manage sprawling space empires and achieve dominance through science, economics, culture, or sheer military might. Originally named Stellaris Nexus—an apt title—the developers changed it to Nexus 5X, perhaps fearing potential players might think they needed prior Stellaris experience. Ironically, Nexus 5X is also the name of a 2015 Android phone, which means that’s what pops up first in Google search results. Spoiler alert: it’s not the game.
Despite the questionable naming choice, the core idea of Nexus 5X is to distill the essence of grand strategy games like Stellaris into a quicker experience for those who don’t have the time or patience for lengthy matches. I’m all for this approach because, as much as I appreciate grand strategy games, my attention span is often more like that of a hyperactive puppy with a sugar high.
For the most part, What boy Games has successfully condensed Stellaris into a format that takes roughly an hour per match or mission. This streamlined experience captures the essence of grand strategy games without demanding an enormous time investment. In just an hour, entire empires can rise and fall, wars can be waged, capital ships constructed, economies expanded, alliances forged, and planet-destroying weapons deployed.
It does face some challenges in terms of explanation, though. There’s a basic tutorial and an eight-mission campaign designed as a more advanced learning phase before you dive into online play, where you'll encounter many highly skilled players who won’t hesitate to obliterate your empire. While the tutorial isn’t awful, I did encounter some concepts and mechanics later on that left me scratching my head and prompted a few restarts as I tried to get the hang of things.
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Each turn, you’ll choose from a selection of edicts drawn from your faction leader’s deck. Some edicts are unique to each faction, while others are more general, such as initiating new projects on your controlled planets, choosing research priorities, or sending out a science vessel to investigate a mysterious nebula that might conceal a space monster. The most powerful edicts become available only after your leader has le
veled up, but they’re worth the effort, as they allow you to perform actions like purchasing an opponent’s planet or summoning a massive crystalline alien.
You’ll also manage your fleets of ships by directing their movements, reinforcing existing fleets, merging them, or constructing new ones. The number of ships you can deploy at any time is governed by your total military power, so if you aim to become an aggressive superpower, you'll want to focus on building structures that increase your power and research technologies that enhance your fleets’ capabilities. Typically, each fleet can move one node per turn, with nimble destroyers being the exception.
All of this is regulated by Support points, which determine how many actions you can take each turn, in addition to your available resources. The initial action costs a small amount of Support, but the cost rises with each subsequent move. This means you’ll need to allocate some of your construction efforts to boosting your Support generation each turn. However, since each planet has limited space, you’ll need to carefully consider what to build, where to place it, and when to do so.
The faction you choose will heavily influence your strategy in each match. For instance, a faction focused on trade and alliances won’t have the strongest military, and vice versa. It’s entirely possible to achieve victory without ever engaging in warfare, and while it might sound dull, securing a peaceful win can be immensely gratifying.
Now, if you’re playing as a faction of militaristic space warriors, let's dive into combat. Battles use a classic rock-paper-scissors system: capital ships dominate destroyers, destroyers excel against ranged carriers, and carriers are effective at taking down capital ships from a distance. This straightforward formula makes it easy to assess battles at a glance, with a circular meter showing which side has the upper hand.
You can also gauge the likelihood of a successful attack thanks to the undo button. If a battle isn't going your way, you can undo a few moves to reassess your strategy. However, once you hit the end turn button, your decisions are final.
While the eight-mission campaign is decent and provides a good introduction to the various playstyles in Nexus 5X, it falls short in terms of engaging storylines and characters. The main focus seems to be on multiplayer interactions, where you can test your strategies against unpredictable human opponents or challenge the AI in custom scenarios of galactic conquest.
Outside of the campaign, games against players or AI are conducted in a mode called Succession, which has nothing to do with the TV show of the same name. Honestly, what’s with these developers naming things after existing concepts? In this mode, the objective is to accumulate a set number of Succession Points, ranging from 50 to 150. You can achieve this by constructing megastructures, leveling up your leader, forming pacts with other empires, engaging in combat, and more.
Unfortunately, there’s a minor issue where matches intended to reach 150 points sometimes end at 100 points. This can be quite frustrating, especially if you’ve crafted a solid late-game strategy only to have it cut short before you can execute it.
Every eight in-game years, players form a council to vote on a new Title to achieve, such as Mighty (for the highest military power) or Futurist (for the most completed research). These Titles are crucial because the first empire to achieve one earns a significant number of Succession Points.
This system adds an extra layer of strategy, as you can gain additional votes through various methods, allowing you to influence the vote in favor of a Title that aligns with your empire's strengths and objectives. You might also collaborate with other players to select a Title that benefits both parties at the expense of others.
However, diplomacy feels somewhat rudimentary, with higher-level AI often ignoring it. Pacts aren’t lifelong commitments, and breaking one only costs a trivial 2 Succession Points, which often seems worth it for capturing a planet or two. Even as a pacifistic empire, I frequently found myself declaring war to expand my territory and then bribing the empire I’d just attacked to sign a new pact. On the flip side, this could be seen as a clever role-playing move for a cunning empire that can use its wealth to bend others to its will.
Nexus 5X provides a refreshing spin on the grand strategy genre by distilling the broad scope of 4X games like Stellaris and Civilization into quicker, hour-long matches. This streamlined approach does come with a tradeoff: Nexus 5X lacks the depth and sense of scale found in some of its more complex counterparts.
Nonetheless, despite some initial challenges with explaining game mechanics, the experience of building and commanding empires, engaging in strategic battles, and exploring different routes to victory remains both engaging and rewarding.
Nonetheless, despite some initial challenges with explaining game mechanics, the experience of building and commanding empires, engaging in strategic battles, and exploring different routes to victory remains both engaging and rewarding.
While the campaign provides a decent, though forgettable, introduction to the game, the real excitement comes from competing against unpredictable human players or taking on AI in custom matches.
Overall, Nexus 5X strikes a great balance between the grandeur of grand strategy games and accessible, satisfying gameplay. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who loves the concept of 4X games but finds them too overwhelming or time-consuming. With opportunities for diplomatic maneuvering, galactic warfare, and diverse victory strategies, Nexus 5X delivers an enjoyable and strategic space adventure at an incredibly affordable price.
