DISCLAIMER:  
I played all three of these playthroughs as Vodyani.


Balance:


Why in the name of the Endless do we have the ability to add two more *all must ___* modules to the Ark?  Good lord.  I had +150% production on all my arks and built enough ships to literally blot out a star by turn 100.  

What is the enemy invading when they attempt an invasion of one of my systems? Are they boarding my Ark? Was it mistaken as a diplomatic envoy because my lookout guy is color blind?  This makes so little sense.

Arks are incredibly powerful warships.  I saw this suggestion elsewhere, thought it was a great one:  Make them unable to initialize space or ground combat unless they are in their home territory  (Defense from that pesky scout blockading your ports).


I like the way the Vodyani work so far:  Weak early until they get a 2nd or 3rd Ark, then it's off to the races for early-midgame.   Their distinct weakness is their shortage of manpower - I was frequently rotating my fleets to desperately gather the four-five troops off my planet that I needed to invade a hostile world.


One last thing in the balance section:  Why do the Vodyani have this 20% bonus to their troops health? They only get three pops.  That's hardly any manpower, compared to a 18-20 pop system at turn 100.  You're essentially trying to stop a flood with your hand - why not a different trait that helps them in a more meaningful way?


Battle Design:


I like the way the play system works, I just wish it wasn't so incredibly dull for the first 50 turns.  *press for short range attack* is the motto of the day.

I am not sure I like how the fleet system works again.  ES1 it was all about having a larger fleet up to a point - and in ES2, you can't have your fleets help each other out?  Seems like the same old thing.  I'm not a huge fan of this, but the alternative (snowball forever) seems just as bad.  I don't have a good solution for this.


UI:


It is incredibly difficult to see how much manpower my fleets have.  Or, for that matter, any of their stats.  If I hover my cursor over their name when selected, it displays the fleet's overall stats and their manpower (whew).  Why not just have that popup in the bottom left displayed whenever a fleet is selected?  It's incredibly vital to how I manage my fleets, especially when I want to invade someone.


The Camera in Battles:


it is so bad.  Holy cow.  It randomly swaps from one fleet to the other, it only does slow pans from one side to the other, and it never gives a good picture of how the battle is progressing.  It also seems allergic to seeing explosions.  Must be a PG-only camera.


The Tech Tree:


It just doesn't feel.....right?  I can't put my finger on it.  I like the Era tree in EL, and I thought I'd enjoy it in ES2, but something seems off.


EDIT:


War:


Why can the enemy invade my systems even though I am blockading them with my fleet in orbit?  That makes so little sense....