I really wish there was a 'maybe' button instead of just yes or no.
If you WANT Factorio in space, get this game. If you do NOT want Factorio in space, stay away.

X4: Foundations is a very interesting piece of software. Hesitant to call it a pure video game, it is more of a digital diorama that the player interacts with.

There are no real voice actors (it’s all AI) and no real story behind anything you do in the game. It reminds me more of a battle simulator game that has an economy in the background.
Think Stellaris meets Ultimate Battle Simulator.

Important caveats to this comparison, X4: Foundations is NOT a 4X game, and thus, it does not have truly dynamic, varying relations. Best illustrated by the large, “Diplomacy” update, the update is essentially a control board of diplomatic faction adjustor buttons that allow you (the player) to change faction relations on a whim, basically letting you experiment with varying universe settings.
X4 ultimately does not have much to offer beyond building (smallish) mega-structures and messing about in a warship construction economy.
Look, if the above is all you have ever wanted in a video game, you are going to LOVE X4 foundations. It is THE GAME for you. Personally, this formula gets really boring for me very quickly as the universe does not feel alive.

My issues with the game:

X4’s economy is lacking. It is an economy that is purely a war economy, rather grimdark, a reality contrasted by the “wow…STARS!!!” attitude of all the NPCs.
Smuggled items and space drugs of all types exist; sadly, there is no point to selling them. No real black-market pirating because there is no functional smuggling system in the game. Boarder patrol units always scan everything on board ships; no tech or items even give a percentage chance to avoid illegal item detection. Once detected, they will demaind you jettison your cargo or they will attack, forcing you to take a reputation hit. A reputation hit that doesn’t really matter (another issue, functionally, no real consequences in the game). As the economy singularly revolves around warship production, any goods which are not directly used to support the construction of warships are pointless.

It would be really cool to see the implementation of planetary and stellar body colonies and outposts which serve to consume non-wartime goods. Such as medications, food, drugs/illicit goods. They could even consume hardware and manufactured goods which force factions and players to pick between colonial prosperity and war goals/threats. Not asking for the ability to land on a planet or massive colony city. Rather, a window similar to the planet management window from Stellaris would be really interesting, add some depth to game play and provide a reason to specialize in trading goods not used for ship construction.

Smuggling and piracy desperately need to be expanded on to actually allow for a wide variety of playstyles, specifically the ability to actually smuggle your bloody illegal goods. Here is a cool and simple idea: get cloaking satellites you could deploy- they function like normal satellites but will work to mask your illegal cargo (X4 already has a similar system in the game but it’s for pirate protection). The cloaking satellites can be spotted by border patrol (% chance to spot perhaps?) and when seen, they are destroyed, compromising your cloaking coverage and screwing up a supply chain you may have running through that area.

In its current state, X4 offers no real challenge for the player and is perhaps better described as Space Factorio that lets you drive war machines.

Ultimately I recognize my issues with the game fundamentally come down to me wanting a different type of game than what Egosoft has envisioned. I got this game not fully understanding what it is. I do not regret getting this game and will likely play more of it in the future. But If you are like me and are looking for a game that contains content more similar to what I have outlined in the above, check out Starsector or No Mans Sky. If you want Factorio in space, look no further, you have found the proverbial holy grail of software.

What can I say about X4?

Hard to get into, but once you're in, it's essentially a massively addictive narcotic that will consume you.

With this being said, it might also make you reflect upon your time spent playing.

The game is built on war. You might not fire a single shot. You might not do anything of the sort, but the economy only flows as a consequence. If you bring in the money, it's to further make money. If you spend that money, it'll be to engage in war.

Seems fun? It's not. Wlel, maybe it is. Ultimately, at a certain point you hit critical mass. Terminal velocity. The event horizon. The Bourne Identity. You'll be so comically powerful that you'll be able to decide who wars with whom, who lives, who dies. The sandbox space sim becomes a deity simulator.

At this point, you may give yourself increasingly abstract goals - but why bother? You've won - or you will win. All the other racers are miles behind, but you still have a thousand miles to go. You know you're faster, you know you'll win, so there's the thrill?

All in all, I love it, but I also don't. I recommend it, but you may wish to prep for a feeling of sadness once successful.

Honestly, genuinely, one of if not THE best X4 space game out there. The depth, the freedom, it's a big sandbox that you can just enjoy doing what you want to do in, go ahead, be a war criminal!

If you like Space games, and you know StarSector, it is basically StarSector but 3D. And it keeps getting better every year too.