for the first few bars after the bass drop I thought it was literally the cyberpunk trailer music (the E3 one) but it's legally distinct, the best kind of distinct
"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved. For the Machine is Immortal." -Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus opening speech
Not gonna lie, I subconsciously began to nod my head to that song once Aspec dropped it. I mean, I expected it to be good and around on par with Synthetic Dawn's music, but this easily surpassed it.
@@silopante I never bought that one. Probably won't until it just gets a pity sale of 75% or more. But it seems that, like Sega/CA with Total Warhammer and Shadows of Change, Paradox got a wake up call that you can't just put out 20€ DLC with ~5€ content in them.
@@melfice999me and my friend just got the game and we've ben thinking about getting the colossus dlc I think you know why is it good to get or a scam?
@MCSorry I noticed the Seaon pass with the new DLC... I hope that at least the older content will go on better sales eventually. I like the content additions but with all the current paradox titles, they seem intent on making the games broader in scope but without deepening the existing content or fixing bugs.
I spent almost 2k hours in Stellaris back in the day, but I haven't touched it in years at this point. This expansion really is making me consider getting back into the game
I have around 5k+ hours in it, didn't play it the last year. But this one can get me back for some hours, always liked the game. My problem is (i know myself) i want the 3 missing dlc's also(paragons, astral and?) from past year. But i also look (nowadays) if i play 50 hours for a €25,- dlc it only is 0,50 pro hour. Compare that to buying a beer in a pub. (But that is for me, if it goes of food i wouldn't do it)
I know their big portrait updates always take quite a bit of work but I hope they keep doing them. Having portraits that better showcase the ascension path an empire will take is really cool.
I would love if they went back and gave all the old portraits this organic-cyborg-syth set. I want my shadowy-mantis-morph to get robotized. Declaration: Meat To The Maw!
wow, feels like they really heard how people were responding to the class "Paradox dlc model" and put there best and brightest designers into a think tank in order to generate this truly alien idea! And boy is my virtual body here for it!
Some of the recent DLCs were made by outside studios, or that local branch studio that PDX closed down, enabling their HQ designers (in Stockholm, I presume) to spend more time and effort on preparing a DLC like Machine Age.
The Paradox model of DLC is a great system for long term support of good games. The downside is that people then defend a lackluster/barebones opening release with "well, the DLC will fix it", which shouldn't be the case when the base/core game is still a full price product, and the first DLC is months away(and might not but enough "meat" in all the right places in one go anyway)
I heard thing about the empire we ascend coming back in future game Don’t know if it is the case, but that would mean i can bring my paper clip machine in new game
Completing the new Player Crisis path leaves your empire as a new FE when you "win". You do not play as this FE, you won. This FE does not appear in later games*. You can play as another empire after winning, including one of your vassals, or never complete the crisis and enjoy being a pesudo-FE for as long as you want. *5% of FEs have always been able to spawn as a pre existing empire on your empire list if their ethics match. This can be vanilla or player made empires set to spawn but not force spawn into the game. This is how super rare Human FEs can spawn.
This is great to hear. Lately Stellaris has been growing stale for me, but this has reinvigorated my interest! Can't wait to play as the Mechanicus working up to become a Fallen Empire.
I think we need more endgame systems. Something that uses the crisis system but not necessarily a crisis. For example, forming the first galactic republic/empire, solidifying your power over the galaxy. That or being a megacorp, engineering a galactic economic crisis for your rivals to the point where you buyout their empires.
I'm so happy for your words Aspec! It is a blast to work with such an amazing team as the current one for Stellaris and seeing people such as yourself acknowledging the hard work everyone has put into it. Thank you for this!
When you played the music I litterally had shivers, it's so awesome. I see myself playing until 6am with this beat blasting in my ears for 10 consecutive hours.
I hate the fact that for us to get such a good DLC, we need to have a bad/backlash from the previews one DLC. Its just paradox things same shit happened with eu4 and Leviathan DLC
I’m hooked instantly. I don’t know what it is but I’ve never had a play through where I didn’t eventually convert the pops to synthetics. I’m talking bio-engineering/terraforming play throughs and I’d see the synthetic ascension and I’m like “don’t mind if I do!”
I already started a new playthrough earlier today with the new expansion (arc furnace baby!), and OMg that new music!!! Haven't heard it yet ingame, but now looking forward to it.
Been really getting into Stellaris alot more lately. This DLC is the reason I now have my first Stellaris Victory. Love to be getting back into the game on such a peak DLC release.
Idea for a video: There are so many civics, empire types, alliances, origins, etc. It would be cool to get a list of some ideas on some different "themes" a person could try to get a good sampling of all the diferent cool things in the game.
Being able to turn into a fallen empire sounds like a lot of fun. I always wished that Paradox would devote an entire major DLC to the fallen empires. There is just so much potential there for great stories and engaging mechanics.
Everyone laughed at the paperclips and the feared paperclip audit in the Laundry Files, and then half a dozen books in Charlie Stross hit us with an actual paperclip audit, and everyone's jaw bounced on the floor. Just because you're obsessional doesn't mean there isn't a reason justifying it coming steaming down the tracks at some point in the future....
Hot dang! Last time I picked up Stellaris, I ended up disappointed as there was no way to create the Bobiverse, but now, now.... WOW. We can make the Bobiverse (from We Are Legion We Are Bob), the Cult Mechanicus, SG-1 replicators / gray goo swarms, and so much more. This expansion actively makes me want to pick Stellaris back up and peer deep into the weakness of the flesh! :D
Can you do a new let's play with the machines as your species? It seems really fun. We had a crisis against the machines but we never was able to play as one.
Going to be honest, all the previews i had seen got me to cough up for season 08, because the machine age just looks so good. Having played it some already, it doesn't just look good, but plays great too. Truly slams it out of the park and makes me wonder why the rest of PDX titles seem to be in a slum for the last year or so.
I went back to look at this and other videos because just today, weeks later, I found yet another new thing I didn't even know they had added. Curious what people think about the Genesis Guides Civic.
First thing i did when i grabbed cosmogenesis was sit in the Prisoners With Jobs Market and just, threw them all into the lathe until the xenophile fe got real mad at me
Aspec, great video as always . Machinerie Age is an absolute game changer for Stellaris. It feels like a new game with endless possibilities. Paradox, I only have one wish, please please please make an DLC with Insect races ( and end crisis).
Can't decide whether to go Paperclip Maximizer or Synthetic Fertility first, but I'm definitely going to build the horizon needle. possibly make the synthetic queen spawn so my crisis can go head-to-head with hers lol
0:40 did you just F'ing spawn a Cybrex System INSIDE your own borders? WTF ALL MY PRECURSORS SPAWN ALWAYS ON THE EDGE TO OPEN UP NEW CHOKEPOINTS AND IT ANNOYS ME! 😡
I bought the season pass - first time I ever did that in any game. 40 Euro for this DLC + 2 more DLCs, this DLC is easiyl worth 20 and the others will be worth 10/each hopefully. I didn't buy Astral Planes, but I reward high quality DLCs.
I hope organics (and the hiveminds) will recieve the same treatment soon. I always wanted a biological version of the driven assimilators/Rogue Servitors.
8:04 . Seriously tho not bad but you don't want that all the damn time i hope they phase that in and out. I know this is to much to ask but id love for a new battle/fleet mechanic. I hate the swarms of ships and going off fleet count for a win. 🙄 Id prefer an option for real battle like Total War gives and if you opt in you get a MOO type interface where you can actually place ships, do formations, use cloak and teleporation... stuff you simply cannot do here.
I don’t quite understand the new arc furnaces, I built one fully in one of my systems and it is giving me 7 minerals and 5 alloys PER PLANET/MOON… I hope more structures like these will be added, and hopefully a play style where you improve your star systems and not necessarily your planets gets added in the future
Weakness of the flesh you say? What I can do with 20watts and 3000 kilojoules. You need vast networks and gigawatts of electricity to do. - prester Ahlmond of the holy organic sapient alliance.
I am disappointed the new ascensions arent part of synthetically ascended bio empires. I really thought the origin all about digitizing would end with the virtual ascension.
"You must construct additional paperclips."
Also the new music is a banger.
It slaps so so hard
@@A_Spec It has some serious Cyberpunk vibes, and I'm all for that.
No shit, I will turn the music back on when I play now.
for the first few bars after the bass drop I thought it was literally the cyberpunk trailer music (the E3 one)
but it's legally distinct, the best kind of distinct
They cooked so hard with the music
"Diplomatic Protocols engaged - Greetings, I am C-3PO Human-Cyborg Relations"
"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither and you will beg my kind to save you.
But I am already saved. For the Machine is Immortal."
-Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus opening speech
The flesh is weak brother
"Even in death I serve the Omnissiah"
Try as they might, those techno-fetishists will still depend on their addled gray matter.
@@Elyseonand if they weren’t so fearful of novelty, they might have solved that issue too. 🤦♂️
HERESY! It's already solved. We just need to find it.
That music is absolutely "Hifi beats to break into Arasaka HQ to"
Yeah, it's literally out of Cyberpunk 2077, and I'm all for it
I need to add it to my playlist so bad.
Not gonna lie, I subconsciously began to nod my head to that song once Aspec dropped it. I mean, I expected it to be good and around on par with Synthetic Dawn's music, but this easily surpassed it.
Just ... generic Cyberpunk themed music ala one million times already hearded.
@@RealCodreX Not everything has to be brand new never-before-seen content to still be good, my guy.
Personally, I'm waiting for the Psionics update that gives us daemons, monsters, and space wizards.
Im waiting for biology update for organic ships
Hopefully next major DLC. Machines or psionics are my two pics on stellaris.
Shockingly, Psionics has **several** Interactions with the new DLC, including a rather huge one with the new Crisis.
There is already a star wars mod, haha
imagine stellaris evolving into a 40K game. i mean, they already sort of went there.
Kudos to Paradox for not being scummy with their DLC ... this time. You, however, have absolutely sold me on this.
Don't forget Astral Planes tho
@@silopante This time.
@@silopante I never bought that one. Probably won't until it just gets a pity sale of 75% or more. But it seems that, like Sega/CA with Total Warhammer and Shadows of Change, Paradox got a wake up call that you can't just put out 20€ DLC with ~5€ content in them.
@@melfice999me and my friend just got the game and we've ben thinking about getting the colossus dlc I think you know why is it good to get or a scam?
@MCSorry I noticed the Seaon pass with the new DLC... I hope that at least the older content will go on better sales eventually. I like the content additions but with all the current paradox titles, they seem intent on making the games broader in scope but without deepening the existing content or fixing bugs.
I spent almost 2k hours in Stellaris back in the day, but I haven't touched it in years at this point. This expansion really is making me consider getting back into the game
Do it, the game has been amazing the past couple years. And this DLC.... WOW 10/10
I have around 5k+ hours in it, didn't play it the last year. But this one can get me back for some hours, always liked the game.
My problem is (i know myself) i want the 3 missing dlc's also(paragons, astral and?) from past year.
But i also look (nowadays) if i play 50 hours for a €25,- dlc it only is 0,50 pro hour. Compare that to buying a beer in a pub. (But that is for me, if it goes of food i wouldn't do it)
Accidentally timewarped to 2am because I was having so much fun playing. I am supposed to get up at 6:30am lol
Good luck
Red bull. Lots of Red bull.
I know their big portrait updates always take quite a bit of work but I hope they keep doing them. Having portraits that better showcase the ascension path an empire will take is really cool.
I would love if they went back and gave all the old portraits this organic-cyborg-syth set.
I want my shadowy-mantis-morph to get robotized.
Declaration: Meat To The Maw!
The music sounds like something straight out the Cyberpunk 2077 combat ost. :D
It sounds to me like combining Cyberpunk and Mass Effect together ... I like it, but it is strange in a same time.
wow, feels like they really heard how people were responding to the class "Paradox dlc model" and put there best and brightest designers into a think tank in order to generate this truly alien idea! And boy is my virtual body here for it!
Some of the recent DLCs were made by outside studios, or that local branch studio that PDX closed down, enabling their HQ designers (in Stockholm, I presume) to spend more time and effort on preparing a DLC like Machine Age.
The Paradox model of DLC is a great system for long term support of good games.
The downside is that people then defend a lackluster/barebones opening release with "well, the DLC will fix it", which shouldn't be the case when the base/core game is still a full price product, and the first DLC is months away(and might not but enough "meat" in all the right places in one go anyway)
that you can play as an fall empire sound so much fun, coming back greetings from germany
Moin
I heard thing about the empire we ascend coming back in future game
Don’t know if it is the case, but that would mean i can bring my paper clip machine in new game
@@galomir833 I dont think so, but i dont know.
@@David-bf2cgi dont think too
I still hope
I don’t remember where I even heard that
Completing the new Player Crisis path leaves your empire as a new FE when you "win". You do not play as this FE, you won. This FE does not appear in later games*. You can play as another empire after winning, including one of your vassals, or never complete the crisis and enjoy being a pesudo-FE for as long as you want.
*5% of FEs have always been able to spawn as a pre existing empire on your empire list if their ethics match. This can be vanilla or player made empires set to spawn but not force spawn into the game. This is how super rare Human FEs can spawn.
This is great to hear. Lately Stellaris has been growing stale for me, but this has reinvigorated my interest! Can't wait to play as the Mechanicus working up to become a Fallen Empire.
We wanted to rule the Galaxy. But that music demanded we dance.
I love how I can literally hear how excited and happy you are in your voice!
This makes up for paragons, astral planes, and first contact
I recently installed Galactic Civilizations 4 and it really makes me appreciate Stellaris. Like everyone other space 4x is 100 years behind Stellaris
I'm a simple man, I hear synthwave I upvote.
Stellaris is one of the very few games that always keeps improving and evolving, with additions that actually change gameplay. Really cool game!
"Yeah that slaps" Truest words ever said.
That music. Cyberpunk x stellaris
"No machine can compare to the greatness of the human body." ~ Magos Biologis
I think we need more endgame systems. Something that uses the crisis system but not necessarily a crisis. For example, forming the first galactic republic/empire, solidifying your power over the galaxy. That or being a megacorp, engineering a galactic economic crisis for your rivals to the point where you buyout their empires.
Galactic Empire exists with Nemesis but its a bit plain without mods.
My first game is Cybernetic Creed. It is amazing. Great video, buddy.
I'm so happy for your words Aspec! It is a blast to work with such an amazing team as the current one for Stellaris and seeing people such as yourself acknowledging the hard work everyone has put into it. Thank you for this!
That music makes me think of Cyberpunk 2077!! Awesome stuff.
Hopefully Season 9 in 2025 Overhauls Hiveminds in a similar fashion.
New music is very Rammsteinish which is a plus
Blorg be like : You want to be my friend ?
Me, a synthetic empire : NEIN
When you played the music I litterally had shivers, it's so awesome. I see myself playing until 6am with this beat blasting in my ears for 10 consecutive hours.
I hate the fact that for us to get such a good DLC, we need to have a bad/backlash from the previews one DLC. Its just paradox things same shit happened with eu4 and Leviathan DLC
I’m hooked instantly. I don’t know what it is but I’ve never had a play through where I didn’t eventually convert the pops to synthetics. I’m talking bio-engineering/terraforming play throughs and I’d see the synthetic ascension and I’m like “don’t mind if I do!”
I already started a new playthrough earlier today with the new expansion (arc furnace baby!), and OMg that new music!!! Haven't heard it yet ingame, but now looking forward to it.
This expansion and the update alongside it seem amazing, I'm glad to see you are excited for it as well. ^^
i hope next expansion has something to make organic hiveminds feel better. they just feel like they are lacking something
The new music sounds like Doom(2016) collided with Cyberpunk at relativistic speeds, whilst Stellaris was sitting in between them.
My thoughts exactly. It’s fabulous 😎
Been really getting into Stellaris alot more lately.
This DLC is the reason I now have my first Stellaris Victory. Love to be getting back into the game on such a peak DLC release.
Idea for a video: There are so many civics, empire types, alliances, origins, etc. It would be cool to get a list of some ideas on some different "themes" a person could try to get a good sampling of all the diferent cool things in the game.
Lol the new music is so dope.
It's so cool that they attached all these new gameplay mechanics onto this banger soundtrack dlc
Being able to turn into a fallen empire sounds like a lot of fun. I always wished that Paradox would devote an entire major DLC to the fallen empires. There is just so much potential there for great stories and engaging mechanics.
Everyone laughed at the paperclips and the feared paperclip audit in the Laundry Files, and then half a dozen books in Charlie Stross hit us with an actual paperclip audit, and everyone's jaw bounced on the floor. Just because you're obsessional doesn't mean there isn't a reason justifying it coming steaming down the tracks at some point in the future....
Holy shit. ASpect you real me back in again!
-301 views in 1 minute. ASpec really popping off.
The classic number is here
Hot dang! Last time I picked up Stellaris, I ended up disappointed as there was no way to create the Bobiverse, but now, now.... WOW. We can make the Bobiverse (from We Are Legion We Are Bob), the Cult Mechanicus, SG-1 replicators / gray goo swarms, and so much more. This expansion actively makes me want to pick Stellaris back up and peer deep into the weakness of the flesh! :D
Can you do a new let's play with the machines as your species? It seems really fun. We had a crisis against the machines but we never was able to play as one.
I've been crying for new shipsets for a very long time now and we get not 1, not 2, not 3 BUT FOUR. This DLC is a new golden standard imo.
It's been a while since I've felt the call to play Stellaris again. But boy oh boy am I ready!
Going to be honest, all the previews i had seen got me to cough up for season 08, because the machine age just looks so good. Having played it some already, it doesn't just look good, but plays great too. Truly slams it out of the park and makes me wonder why the rest of PDX titles seem to be in a slum for the last year or so.
"Best since Utopia" is a VERY bold affirmation, my dude! Utopia is near impossible to beat, but perhaps... "near impossible" means exactly that!
I went back to look at this and other videos because just today, weeks later, I found yet another new thing I didn't even know they had added. Curious what people think about the Genesis Guides Civic.
First thing i did when i grabbed cosmogenesis was sit in the Prisoners With Jobs Market and just, threw them all into the lathe until the xenophile fe got real mad at me
When that music hit: LETS GO!!!!!!
Holy heck, that music. It went hard! Giving me Payday 2 loud vibes.
2:22 So also the WH40k Old Ones are in the game now, not only the Mechanicus :)
01 Embassy Propose
Aspec, great video as always . Machinerie Age is an absolute game changer for Stellaris. It feels like a new game with endless possibilities. Paradox, I only have one wish, please please please make an DLC with Insect races ( and end crisis).
The new Music kinda reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077 and I absolutely love it!
Can't decide whether to go Paperclip Maximizer or Synthetic Fertility first, but I'm definitely going to build the horizon needle. possibly make the synthetic queen spawn so my crisis can go head-to-head with hers lol
0:40 did you just F'ing spawn a Cybrex System INSIDE your own borders? WTF ALL MY PRECURSORS SPAWN ALWAYS ON THE EDGE TO OPEN UP NEW CHOKEPOINTS AND IT ANNOYS ME! 😡
Ye, the system tries to spawn close to your capital these days, it was recently changed in a patch.
I bought the season pass - first time I ever did that in any game.
40 Euro for this DLC + 2 more DLCs, this DLC is easiyl worth 20 and the others will be worth 10/each hopefully.
I didn't buy Astral Planes, but I reward high quality DLCs.
Call me sold on this. I get to play the mechanicus from 40K and the new music just slaps.
great expansion, gives me something to do when I sit down to listen to the new soundtrack.
Wonder how sacrificing pop will be for a Virtual empire?
Also, "Virtual Birch World"
Cull the code. Cull the code. (Afaik, you get the bonuses but not the loss of pops as long as you have sacrafice jobs filled with virtual pops.)
Buy for the music alone
I hope organics (and the hiveminds) will recieve the same treatment soon. I always wanted a biological version of the driven assimilators/Rogue Servitors.
I love everthing about this expansion but that music goes SO hard
Best video on this so far!
8:04 . Seriously tho not bad but you don't want that all the damn time i hope they phase that in and out. I know this is to much to ask but id love for a new battle/fleet mechanic. I hate the swarms of ships and going off fleet count for a win. 🙄 Id prefer an option for real battle like Total War gives and if you opt in you get a MOO type interface where you can actually place ships, do formations, use cloak and teleporation... stuff you simply cannot do here.
The new tracks are absolute bangers, waiting for them to release them for the OST
I don’t quite understand the new arc furnaces, I built one fully in one of my systems and it is giving me 7 minerals and 5 alloys PER PLANET/MOON… I hope more structures like these will be added, and hopefully a play style where you improve your star systems and not necessarily your planets gets added in the future
Wow, a Paradox game where expansion has actually bunch of content. Didn't know it is a thing that still happens.
Weakness of the flesh you say?
What I can do with 20watts and 3000 kilojoules. You need vast networks and gigawatts of electricity to do. - prester Ahlmond of the holy organic sapient alliance.
I just say the cetena lore vide9 and i must say
A hug from cetene must be the best thing in the entire universe
Can't wait to play this when I come home from deployment :)
Its nice to see an additive DLC instead of something that kinda just patches a part of the game.
What!? I am just starting the base game. Just got it on sales lol but damn that sound track is awesome!
Ohh... machine mercenaries. Once they get machine mercenary mega-corps I'll have a permanent empire selection choice.
The Machine Age is one of my favorite DLC ever
Had me right up to the music… first thing that I turn off in any game
BRUH THAT SOUNDTRACK GOES SOOOO
"1010110001101010100111"
Nanites are my favourite not gonna lie.
In essence it also gives you free better Machine Worlds.
I would still like them to give hive minds some love I'm still waiting for bio ships
It would be cool if there was a repo! the genetic opera criminal heritage building where artificial body parts are loaned and repossessed
7:50 God damn someone's been playing cyberpunk
nice review thanks
very interresting, can't wait to try it!
I am disappointed the new ascensions arent part of synthetically ascended bio empires. I really thought the origin all about digitizing would end with the virtual ascension.
Ngl i hope future dlc are up to this ones standards cos l think it's amazing :)
Im very happy with the expansion. If they put out another astral planes i would have given up on the game
If only they gave every single species portriats the cybernetic synthetic protrait upgrade art styles.
Mommy I just missed the bus the beat drops
Kilostructures, interractive crisis, virtuality, ability to become fallen empire.
Paradox decided to integrate Giga into base game?
I liked what I was hearing and then you dropped that music in... well I guess this is a buy, that music is crazy!
Hell yess for more ROBOTS.
Short Answer: Yes.
Long Answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
if you think you'd have fun would you be willing to do another Ocean paradise playthrough? ^^
Will you make a begginer guide with this faction? I need to watch the older ones first too, love this game but I do not understand much! :P
I'm curious how might the gigastructure mod team would use kilostructures
This music makes me want to party like it's 2023
I can't wait for this to come to console, super exciting