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TL;DR:

If you are a fan of 4X games, this is a very solid choice; if you are new to 4X but interested in the genre, I think this is a great entry point. The base game has a very solid content offering and the DLCs don't change the ruleset drastically, so you can fairly easily swap between vanilla + DLC without too much issue. The tutorial isn't perfect however and does leave out some things (e.g: expansion penalties). The gameplay is quite satisfying with all the different factions and playstyles they offer, and the presentation is fantastic.
I can recommend the base game at full price, though it does go on sale often enough that I'd suggest waiting if you're uncertain. The DLCs are more pick-and-choose what interests you, though they may be a bit pricey if you're not completely sold on what they add. If you plan on multiplayer, only the host needs to own the DLC for everyone to play with it that match. I've dealt with desync in some multiplayer games, which can be awkward with simultaneous turns; the estimated strength before battles being wildly incorrect; and sometimes the game getting stuck on a turn in singleplayer, presumably from AI empires taking too long to determine a turn (though thankfully the last 5 turns are autosaved, reloading the previous turn and trying again usually fixed this for me). In addtion, the Steam overlay doesn't work properly, so if you're setting up a multiplayer game you'll probably need to alt-tab and invite friends manually, or need them to find the game in the server browser.
Full review follows, with some key stuff in bold:
I mostly got into 4X initially through Civilization, particularly Civ 6, so it did take some adjustment for me to learn the mechanics of this game and how the two games differ. Once I got a solid grasp on it though, I think this has surpassed it for me as my preferred 4X game currently. To the extent that it may have single-handedly gotten me invested in the Endless games in general when I otherwise didn't pay much mind to them.
Starting with the presentation: Endless Legend (EL) exists in a fantasy/sci-fi setting in a wider sci-fi lore backdrop, which results in a game that reflects most fantasy settings, but can also have some elements more reminiscent of the Endless series' sci-fi roots (e.g: the Vaulters faction is descended from spacefarers who crash-landed, so their designs are a lot more sci-fi, and some of the factions do bear similarity to factions in the other Endless games from what I can tell, though I have yet to play them). The result is a game that looks familiar, yet distinct in it's own way.
The character models do show the game's age (it's roughly a decade old by now), however the visuals are hard carried by some fantastic artwork, from technologies to quests to diplomacy screens. It really helps you get invested. Which is then further complimented by the soundtrack: there's a lot of standard fantasy choir in parts (think pronounced and recurring "ahh" vocals), but it's still good and what deviates from that standard is great. It makes for good listening while building up an empire.
On the gameplay side of things, it's the standard 4X offering with some changes: You build up cities constructing buildings to improve yields, while improvements such as districts expand the borders of your cities to get more tiles worked. Expansion penalises approval though, so you need to counteract it via researching specific tech, city planning district arrangement to level up districts (which increases approval), or by using luxury resources (which are produced by extractors that need to be researched).
The main differences, though: the map is divided into regions, which can have a maximum of one city to control them; each region has minor faction villages that will spawn roaming neutral armies until pacified, either by burning down, bribing, or parleying with for a quest. Quests can be earned through multiple ways and give more ways to approach the game, with rewards ranging from extra resources to unique technologies, and each faction gets their own quest which offers unique tech over the course of it. It doesn't feel mandatory to engage with, but if you think you can complete them they're well worth doing.
Tech is unlocked through "tech wheels": you need to get a certain number of technologies to move on to the next tech era, but you're free to choose which you need. This adds some more freeform strategy that is really interesting to play out: a tech you might not bother with on one faction may be much more worthwhile on another. Diplomacy is also interesting due to the need for influence: diplomatic actions with both AI and human players will require sufficient influence available to spend to proceed. It does mean needing to account for building towards diplomacy in your strategy, which does make the gameplay more interesting in my opinion.
meh compared to the rest of the game.
In addition, the win conditions are nowhere near equally hard to achieve: Supremacy (capture all capitals while holding your own) is much easier than Elimination (wipe out all other factions); and I would often get Economic or Diplomatic victories by accident (get enough Dust or Influence of a really high number first). I had to really optimise to squeeze out Science or Quest victories. That said, none of the conditions feel awful to pursue, though Science may feel pretty tedious sometimes.
Lastly there's the AI: the higher difficulties won't make the AI smarter, just give them more of a boost to give them a head-start. It's ok. They're not as challenging as a human player can be and if you know what to do it's possible to exploit the weaknesses in their decision making, though they're still decent fun to play with if you need to just fill a skirmish lobby.
Lastly, the story is mostly told through the faction quests, and mainly expands on the backstory of said factions: they're a very welcome addition since there's no story campaign, just skirmish vs AI for solo play and I think they add some cool stuff, but it does become easy to have your brain skip over it after you've seen it long enough. It mostly adds flavour to the gameplay more than anything.
Overall, this game has seriously grown on me and I regularly keep coming back to it; it's an easy recommend if you're interested in 4X, and has a simple enough base game to make it straightforward enough to learn or teach. If you plan on playing with friends, remember only one person needs to own the DLC if you're on the fence about the expansions.Also note that if you ally with other players, you can win together (thanks to Shared Victory). It isn't too complex compared to some other 4X games, but there's enough to sink your teeth into and get invested in.
...unsure whether to tackle the expansions or not. Guardians and The Lost Tales feel like base game plus, if you just want more stuff.