I only had the demo as a child but replayed that endlessly. I miss the solid demos of the 90s. Like Age of Empires one had a whole campaign as a demo. Fucking glorious Hittites.
Old Man's War series by John Scalzi. Humans are one of the newer space faring species but we are quickly becoming the most dominant group. Genetic engineering being a specialty. There are a few ascended species who are more advanced but they don't really interact with the general galaxy anymore.
It's my favorite for that very reason. I find myself more immersed in the world when aliens look alien. Humans with minor cranial differences just don't do it for me.
Thank you, I was searching for this so I didn't have to post the same thing. It is such amazing world building creating an absurd colorful world of anime come to life that you never question it. John Goodman beats up a ninja and makes a tacky joke without it feeling dumb because it fits the world. The final race goes full expressionism and it's beautiful.
Hell it deserves praise as it's one of the few movies with a kid and animal sidekick where I don't hate either because they just make sense in the madness.
Sounds more like crusader kings than EU