The same can be said for Civ 7, which is certainly ambitious and Firaxis knew it would piss people off. But often change is for the better, this isn't Call of Duty with their hundredth re-release of the same game with different graphics.

And yes, there are certainly problems that can't be denied like the UI, map readability, map variety and advanced game setup features but the game itself is a blast.

Ages and age transitions.
This is the most controversial change but IMO the best change. It really beaks up the slop that older civ games become after a while. In Civ 7 you have to race to complete your objectives and get bonuses before the age ends, but every goal you complete only makes that timer go faster and faster.
And then when a new age starts its a race to get the best new things quickly and establish the best position. It really reinforces what a strategy game is. Each age feels unique with their own goals and problems and reinvigorates the game with energy and a purpose.

City expansion and building.
No. More. Builders.... Thank god. There is very little I hated more than having to waste production time to build useless units with very few changes only to have to do it all again when anything needs to be repaired.
In Civ 7 your cities grow and this allows you to create rural districts to gather resources and grow your borders.
And then when you make buildings it creates an Urban district, which will forever deny that tiles resources but buildings have very good adjacency bonuses or their own effects.
In Civ 7 these adjacency bonuses are even more important and really force you to thin about every placement.

Towns and Cities
The separation between these tow is just genius and retroactively applying this to all other Civ games would make them objectively better.
Towns support Cities by specializing in a given role and supplying that to connected Cities. Every city (except the capital) was a town and without towns, cities cannot grow effectively.

and now some quickfire points.
- I love the graphics, everything just looks very stunning and nice.
- Thank god they did not bring back the cartooney style from Civ 6. That alone made me NEVER enjoy that game.
- Diplomacy is actually great. No more trade exploits with the AI. You get a resource specifically for diplomacy and you spend it wisely, and the person on the other side gets to benefit too (or deny you) if they spend some.
- Resources are done nicely, its nice to be able to assign and have to choose tactically what you need where and when.
- Settlement limit.

The only negative thing I barely see here? Give Gwendoline Christie more lines!!!!!!! Truly sad she barely speaks.


Yes I'm glazing, every negative thing has been said thousandfold. But this game does not deserve anything below a positive rating. I have faith Firaxis will bake this game like a majestic cinnamon pie that makes your entire house smell like a bakery in a pleasant way.