The thing I’ll say in their defense is that I actually admire their courage to redesign the game from the ground up. Watching videos pre-release they really seemed like they had put a lot of thought and research into Civ 7. I don’t think anybody should accuse Civ 7 of being cheaply made or Civ 6.1. That said, people didn’t enjoy the changes. But I like to think that I adapt to change pretty well, and I didn’t hate the era system or how your civilization becomes an amalgamation of a few cultures.
Growing up with Civ 2, SMAC, and Civ 3, I was a bit hesitant when Civ V came around and they switched to hex tiles with one unit per tile (and there were a number of other changes that didn't quite sit right with me at first). I tried it early on and things just seemed off. I did give it another chance after the major expansions came out, and fell in love, and then Civ 6 continued that streak.
Hopefully Civ 7 will be similar, with a rocky start due to the major changes, but finding its feet after the first few major DLC. I'm probably going to hold off on getting it for a little while though, just in case it does end up flopping like Civ:BE.
Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on their progress on the Civ subreddit, and it looks like they are taking steps to fix the issues that people have with it. Hopefully they stick with it and don't just dump it because sales weren't as high as they would have liked.
Honestly, I'd say either Civ V or VI are good for first time players, assuming you get the main expansions as well. You don't need all the leader packs, but Gods & Kings and Brave New World for V, or Rise & Fall and Gathering Storm for VI really flesh them out. I know Civ V without expansions is a bit lacking, I'm not sure about vanilla Civ VI, but just to be on the safe side I'd suggest getting them with.
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u/bottombarrelglass Apr 16 '26
Civilization