Other than how few civs there are per Age at this point, it's not necessarily
bad for any gameplay reason, I just don't... like it? At all. FWIW I've been turned off by the concept since they initially revealed it, so my feelings here aren't purely experiential
It just absolutely doesn't "feel like Civ" to me (whatever that means). Instead of feeling like I'm playing as a people or civilization, it feels like I'm playing as a Monopoly token — you know, a hat, iron, thimble, &c. — dressed up like a historical/semi-legendary figure. My neighbour to the west isn't Greece, it's
a wheelbarrow Isabella I. I'm Japan — I mean, Himiko... leading, uh...? Does it matter?
I think I'll come to tolerate it, and that there's some potential for it to become a lot better with DLC and mods (there are so damn few civilizations as it stands); having 3-Age non-insane historical paths for more civs would make me feel a
lot better. (And I don't mean 3 completely unrelated civs that happen to be within the continent of Africa, like actual
historical paths). But IDK if I'll ever like it. It's just probably not for me
Lest I come off excessively negative, the upside is really just that there are so many more uniques. While personally that doesn't begin to outweigh my negative feelings (and I'm not at all convinced that you couldn't have something comparable without civ-switching), it does make me feel a lil less disappointed lol