My Views of Humankind Have Changed

[Albertan Civfanatic]

I was hard on Humankind when it came out 3 years ago, but having started playing it today, I can see that it does a lot of things right. Sure, the civ changing feels a tad cheap and gamey, but it's also fun.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

I was hard on Humankind when it came out 3 years ago, but having started playing it today, I can see that it does a lot of things right. Sure, the civ changing feels a tad cheap and gamey, but it's also fun.

I also picked up HK again just yesterday and I had a blast. I'm planning to post a thread on it

 

[Nico_D]

I too think it's a good game with few things I'd fix: outsider units can get stuck in a combat zone not able to move at all. There's always on AI with ridiculous amounts of prestige and vassals and practically everything. Religion is the weakest part of the game, it's just perks.

Other than that, I like it. Probably will dry with the famous Vanilla mod later on.

 

[Harv]

I also picked up HK again just yesterday and I had a blast. I'm planning to post a thread on it

I will give this a go right now! I tried to make a post on the HK forum, but I could not make it work.

Added - I try to run it now and it seems like my computer struggles to run the graphics. Audio and Video are choppy.

 

[Albertan Civfanatic]

Having said that, the war mechanics in Humankind absolutely break the game for me.

 

[Plains-Cow]

Having said that, the war mechanics in Humankind absolutely break the game for me.

Elaborate? I don't play it but want to learn more.

 

[Quintillus]

Elaborate? I don't play it but want to learn more.

My thoughts on why may differ from Alberan Civfanatic's. But for me...

Amplitude's combat system (which is used in Humankind but also Endless Legend) involves an army of, typically, 4-8 units, which often consists of a mix of infantry, archers, cavalry, etc. Each type of unit has varying stats, and it does a good job of encouraging a balanced force composition.

But in each battle, you go into a separate battle mode. In Total War games, this is on a separate battle map, and is arguably the main part of the game. In Amplitude games, it's still a tactical movement-based system, but takes place on the strategic map. It seems cool at first. I find it tends to be wearying as the game goes on. Too much tactics being added to a strategy game. In Civ IV, it's simple, send your armies against the other armies, if they have a lot of cavalry, hopefully you brought a lot of pikemen, but it resolves quickly enough. In Humankind, quite a bit of the game can be taken up by that tactical battle-mode.

Civ-switching was my top complaint about Humankind, due to its immersion-breaking nature (it also happened much more frequently than it will in Civ7, and without notifying you when other civs changed, which could happen on any turn). But the battle system was the one that slowed the game down the most without really adding enough to it in return.

 

[Panzeri]

I agree with Quintillus. In the final stages of the match, battles drag on due to the reinforcement system. The first few times it's super fun; but, as time passes, it becomes tiring.
But still, it's a cool game

 

[Harv]

It is cool, yes. I wish I could figure out a way around the issues with the movies being so choppy.

 

[PMF]

Honestly I was surprised realizing how intensive the graphics are when I upgraded my graphics card... I was running at like 40 fps despite being at the recommended specs! Very strange... it sounds like the choppiness you're dealing with is more severe though, my sympathies! I didn't get to 60 on my 1070 until I bumped the graphics settings to like, just above the lowest settings, which is really weird.

I have actually been a big Humankind fan since launch for the most part... but yeah there are definitely some real pain points. Still, I really like the art in the game, and I think the narration is pretty nice! And I had a lot of fun with the civ-switching as a game-y mechanic -- and honestly, I've had a real struggle with Civ 6's victory conditions, so having victory be determined by more than focusing on a single aspect all game long was nice (it helps that I am also just a city builder kind of person) (also kind of fun to build districts in a way where you can defend yourself if attacked) (etc)