Title. I hope I can play this online without having the Galaxy client running.

Local hot seat is available offline.

There is sadly no LAN.

The main multiplayer can be accessed either through Steam/Galaxy/EGS or by linking to your Epic Online Services account.

Hello !

It's probably due to the fact that the game isn't finished yet. These are less important features you want to add when the game releases.
Although yes, hopefully they will be implemented.
Game companies tend to discard those great multiplayer features. Mainly because DRM means more money over quality of life. And you know what they say, money is what draw people. It's a good way to see what is the path a company is willing to take.

Sorry for the rambling.

This is sad, the game looked interesting, but no lan no buy
Wouldnt call it a more secondary feature than online only btw, the other way around maybe.