Take the following with a boulder of salt as I haven't even finished a single campaign yet, but:

I've found it a lot slower than even most of the 4X games I've played. It seems much more story- and exploration-focused than Master of Orion or anything like Starcraft; there are a great many cool things to find on the map. Diplomacy is your main path to victory, military conquest seems almost discouraged. To actually conquer worlds you invade, you have to assert a claim beforehand. Simply flooding the system with troops and ships and killing everything that isn't your empire doesn't work for some reason.

It was fine, but I don't think I really understand it. If you're after recommendations, though, do you like The Expanse? You might like Starsector, if yes and you haven't played it.