ArsTechnica: "A major overhaul solves Civ’s oldest problems" (no rating)

[The_J]

ArsTechnia doesn't really seem to give a rating for their reviews.

Civilization VII review: A major overhaul solves Civ’s oldest problems

Not all changes will be popular, but it’s a great launching point for a new age.

arstechnica.com

The conclusion:
"Systems-wise, Civilization VII is the most complete pre-expansion package we've seen in a long time. There are plenty of refinements and additions I'd like to see, but my general impressions are positive. This is still the best recent 4X game out there.


Let's see if future expansions and mod support have the potential to make it the best Civilization yet after it launches on February 11. It's not there yet, but there's ample reason to hope."

 

[thecrazyscot]

They do give a good/bad/ugly breakdown, though:

The good

The ages system helps to solve many longstanding problems with the overall arc of a Civilization game
Influence yield makes diplomacy better than it's ever been
Tweaks and additions turn building city districts into the full realization of what VI was hinting at but never achieved
The visual presentation is excellent, with sprawling, intricate cities and detailed leaders
Several additions streamline annoying busywork the franchise is known for without curtailing depth

The bad

Content is light even though systems are robust; there are no scenarios at all
The final few turns of an age end up feeling wonky
You can't rename your cities for some reason

The ugly

Some launch-window bugs and other issues might make it worth waiting a few weeks before digging in

 

[cabelhigh12]

Confused about the Scenarios comment -- havent they not done Scenarios since Civ 4?

 

[thecrazyscot]

There were scenarios in both 5 and 6 at release, with additional scenarios added throughout the life of the games.

 

[Gedemon]

they are also a great source of examples for modding.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

The final few turns of an age end up feeling wonky

This seems to be a common complaint.

 

[Arcaian]

This seems to be a common complaint.

I'd be really interested in a major expansion? patch? alternative design? that plays out the crises a little longer - it seems like some of the most common complaints are the way that the final few turns feel a little pointless, and the way the reset between ages feels off. I think making the crises a little more intense, and then giving you the choice to move closer to the reset state in exchange for easing the crisis would help here - things might be 15-20 turns longer, to make use of those final techs to some degree, and when you get the narrative event that says "do you want to send the barbarians to go attack your allies, breaking the alliance but easing the attacks on you, or suffer the increased frequency of attacks but keep the alliance next age" seems like it'd be a lot more immersive too.

 

[Goldflash]

There were scenarios in both 5 and 6 at release, with additional scenarios added throughout the life of the games.

Am i miss remembering? I thought scenarios didn't come to civ vi until the first wave of dlc, like the viking and alexander scenarios. What were there at launch?

 

[thecrazyscot]

Am i miss remembering? I thought scenarios didn't come to civ vi until the first wave of dlc, like the viking and alexander scenarios. What were there at launch?

I might be the one mis-remembering lol - I could have sworn some scenarios were in at launch but all the single-player ones did indeed come later afaik. There might have been a couple of multiplayer scenarios at launch, but honestly I might be wrong about that too.

 

[ThichN]

This seems to be a common complaint.

It does. And it's very strange that they opted for "This age ends in X turns" or gave the player as much agency over knowing this as they do. It would be far more interesting if either the ages ended spontaneously or more of the actions carried over directly to the next age to eliminate the strange waiting game until the next age. You could also argue the other direction, wherein the player can actually end the age when they want to after a certain point --- heck, you could keep going in an age for 100 more turns if you wanted to, but perhaps with some kind of penalty.

That's kind of how I feel generally so far about this game. It's in the right direction, but a lot of missed opportunities and shallow execution.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

I'd be really interested in a major expansion? patch? alternative design? that plays out the crises a little longe

The reviews don’t seem to take into account the longer ages setting available at launch.