I bought Humankind on a 90% sale quite a while back and never even installed it.
But all the civ switching thing of Civ7 finally got me to try it out and I am having a blast. There are some things that Humankind does similarly to what Civ7 will do and people have been very hard on Humankind for:
1. Ahistorical transitions of culture => I only have the base game and I still find that I can have plausible transitions. One time I had an Age where no Culture really made sense to me, so I just Elevated my current culture, meaning I got some bonuses and kept the culture I was playing for another age instead of being forced to change. Quite nice.
2. Race against picking the next culture you want => This is very much the case, EXCEPT you can turn on a rule that allows multiple players having the same culture. Because what defines your Civ is its layering of cultures, I actually wasn't bothered at all about the idea of having multiple players with the same culture. In reality all that meant is that I, as the player, had the freedom to pick anything while the AI itself never did repeat a culture. Problem solved.
3. Armies having multiple units and deploying to combat => not necessarily a contentious part of Humankind, but I get the feeling that (minus the commander part which is unique to Civ7), the way that this plays in Humankind will likely feel pretty close to how Civ7 will. Battles feel a lot more engaging than in Civ6, specially sieges. HOWEVER, it noticeably slows down the pace of the game during wartime. It seems like Civ7 will be more streamlined, with deployment being automatic, but it is something to worry a bit about.
Overall, I think Humankind's reputation may have been warranted in its first year, but the game is actually pretty solid now. And absolutely gorgeous to look at.
But all the civ switching thing of Civ7 finally got me to try it out and I am having a blast. There are some things that Humankind does similarly to what Civ7 will do and people have been very hard on Humankind for:
1. Ahistorical transitions of culture => I only have the base game and I still find that I can have plausible transitions. One time I had an Age where no Culture really made sense to me, so I just Elevated my current culture, meaning I got some bonuses and kept the culture I was playing for another age instead of being forced to change. Quite nice.
2. Race against picking the next culture you want => This is very much the case, EXCEPT you can turn on a rule that allows multiple players having the same culture. Because what defines your Civ is its layering of cultures, I actually wasn't bothered at all about the idea of having multiple players with the same culture. In reality all that meant is that I, as the player, had the freedom to pick anything while the AI itself never did repeat a culture. Problem solved.
3. Armies having multiple units and deploying to combat => not necessarily a contentious part of Humankind, but I get the feeling that (minus the commander part which is unique to Civ7), the way that this plays in Humankind will likely feel pretty close to how Civ7 will. Battles feel a lot more engaging than in Civ6, specially sieges. HOWEVER, it noticeably slows down the pace of the game during wartime. It seems like Civ7 will be more streamlined, with deployment being automatic, but it is something to worry a bit about.
Overall, I think Humankind's reputation may have been warranted in its first year, but the game is actually pretty solid now. And absolutely gorgeous to look at.