Each flavour, and fantasy itself, can be niche (as this thread appears to show). Orcs & elves are everywhere. Warhammer, LOTR, GoT are unlikely. And not
every game based on a book/franchise works out well. There’s plenty of inspiration in the roots of all good fantasy to expand on some core themes, with a world design that suits the current engine.
With another pass to finish VI & given enough time to work on Civ VII, a Firaxis Fantasy of any form sounds like fun. A chance to experiment with ideas, thinking ahead to VII, while keeping the next Civ
fantasy free. Also, an opportunity to develop some of the more interesting yet underused features introduced in VI (e.g. Appeal, the nice looking Power Lens, etc.). It’s rare that I use many NFP modes, but the Secret Societies and Heroes & Legends modes are certainly cool concepts to explore.
I imagine an original world that combines Mythology, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and ‘Alternative History’ - Civilizations perfect anti-historical opposite. Widens appeal and gives full creative freedom. Following
@TyrannusRex thread, I made a design doc set in a fictional Prehistoric-Antiquity age of lost yet advanced civilizations. There are 'Gods', human civilizations, sentient ‘species’ and extinct/mythological monsters, ‘magic’ technologies, diplomacy layered with quests, powerful wonders, environmental energetic harmonies & ‘apocalyptic’ calendar cycles.
This draws on many of the fantasy scenarios/modes/mods introduced with several recent Firaxis titles.. I like Fantasy TBS, but when considering a fantasy version of Civ, I thought that classic themes (of goblins or dragons) have less space for tech tree development, peace-based play, victory styles, and faction balancing, along with being a crowded market. While mixing myth and ‘theory’ into a cohesive and even believable concept might
feel more like a ‘Historic’ 4X, so interesting rather than alienating Civ fans.