We should call this game Civilization The Wind Waker. Because like that game the graphics were controversial before it was released. I'll be saying it ironically though, because I don't care about the graphics being "cartoonish" anymore now than I did before. However all are free to use it sincerely they same way others said "Celda" O' those many years ago. No one remembered the cel-shading wars after the game was out and no one will remember this one either.
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I liked the style of Wind Waker, and actually hate the pseudo-realistic Zelda games. I think the simple style fits Zelda games best, because its really a kind of simple game, and plays out like a children's fairy tale. My favorite Zelda games are the ones on gameboy.
On the other hand, I hate the Civ 6 style --- or, at least, what we've seen of it so far. Its not even a matter of it being cartoonish, even though I don't think that's what best fits the Civilization games. The problem is I find it a bit cheap and tacky looking. Its also really high contrast and "noisy", which doesn't make it easier to look at, despite the dev teams assurance that they chose this art style for its utility.
So, its two different situations. People shouldn't assume that those that don't like the Civ 6 art style have some grudge against cartoons.
The problem for me isn't just the art style though. I'm really not excited by the added features in the game. I've been suggesting multiple tiles per city since Civ 1, but the implementation seems a bit goofy to me. "Campus districts" taking up a whole tile? and spread out buildings color-coded in pink and blue on the map? I also always supported combing arms, but I'm not sure whether this solution is really better than 2upt, or whether the gameplay enhancement is worth the trade-off, given the other things that turn me off about the game.
The bottom line is that the previews of Civ 6 just don't make me impressed or excited. Whether or not the gameplay is okay isn't really the issue, considering that the gameplay in earlier versions of Civ is also okay. The issue is whether I want to spend $60+ on another version of Civ, instead of staying with the current one. Like I said, the features don't excite me. The fact that I find the art style tacky just pushes me further away. Honestly, a big draw for Civ 5 was the art style, and even though I was lukewarm on some of the feature changes, the style sealed the deal.
I'm willing to be open minded and try the game out in demos. Its possible I'll change my mind, or things will change by release. I'm just explaining my current state of mind. How much we'll remember this I'm guessing will depend on how much it affects their bottom line in the end.