Is Stellaris really as great as people say it is? [Crappy GA inside]

That +20 dollar price on the Galaxy Edition tells it'll have plenty DLC content.
Also, the game really reminds me of Imperium Galactica 2: grand strategy, space theme…
I know it is classified as 4X, but it's the same people who do Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron, so I would expect a very similar deep grandstrat from them.

Nobody can tell you how great it is after just one day. I just reached mid game and it indeed gets very different from the early exploration stage. Some criticize that it is bland in that stage, till it gets awesome again in the end. We'll see.

But what I can already assure you: If it should lack content in some stage, that won't remain like that for too long. You can expect tons of content in the pipeline, be it from Paradox or mods.

http://www.pcgamer.com/stellaris-warhammer-mod/?utm_content=bufferc7dad&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgamer
My pants are wet...

I am somewhat down on Paradox despite being a long time loyal fan, because of excessive pricing and frequency of paid DLC for EUIV. But I still trust the overall quality and unique style of their grand strategy so I'm definitely playing this, just not yet.