TOP 3
1.
Overall design philosophy of making the map feel like a character
I love how much more relevant the map is, and how much more the terrain and geography comes into your decision-making. This mostly comes from districts and adjacency bonuses, and
Gathering Storm expanded it through disasters and climate change.
I just really wish that the map were a bit more spaced out. I feel the game rewards civs too much for putting cities close together, and all the frequent choke points make it a nightmare to move units and keep armies in formation. So, as much as I like this design philosophy, the implementation is still 2 steps forward, 1 step back.
2.
Map Pins and labels
One of my favorite little-known features of Civ IV was the ability to draw and place labels on the map. You could free hand draw in a special layer using the mouse in order to mark locations where you might want to settle, or resources you want to claim, or paths you want your army stacks to follow, etc. This was great when you save a game and don't come back to it until weeks or months later, because you have that reminder of what you were planning on doing.
Civ VI doesn't have the free-hand drawing with the map, but the pin and label system is an adequate compromise. You can mark the locations of future cities you'd like to settle, the placement of districts and wonder, resources you want to claim, etc. This is a godsend when coming back to a save file you haven't played in a long while, or when alternating between multiple save games.
3.
The Announcement teaser trailer
I know this is a weird thing to include, but I absolutely adore this teaser. It still makes me all teary-eyed. From a production standpoint, it's really well put together: good narration from Sean Bean, beautiful music selection, nice art and image choices. But more importantly, I love the
message of the narration. If you listen to the language, Sean Bean uses the words "we", "us", "our".
It's all very pluralistic. Whereas previous Civ trailers and intro cinematics were all about a leader leading their one civilization to glory, Civ VI's teaser is a celebration of the collective achievements of
all humanity. The final line "no limit to civilization" isn't about a single nation, but about civilization in general: all of humanity.
If there were an award for "best video game trailer", I think this teaser should win all of the awards. Whoever it was at Firaxis or 2K's marketing department that wrote it and put it together, they deserve a bonus and/or raise. Fantastic work! They put together a genuinely moving work of art, regardless of how the actual game turned out. I wish this teaser were the game's intro cinematic instead of the father-daughter vignettes. Not that I have anything against the father-daughter vignettes, but that teaser is just so much better.
WORST 3
1.
Actual game doesn't live up to promise of the teaser
Unfortunately, the actual game doesn't follow through on the promise of the trailer. Diplomacy and cooperation between civs is still an afterthought, and the rigid victory conditions and lack of any cooperative victory (or permanent alliance mechanic) means that the game is still played as a nationalistic zero-sum game. Alliances and trade are a means to an end, and the game is still designed such that you are playing
against your closest allies instead of
with your closest allies. Every step that moves one civ closer to a victory, in effect pushes every other civ closer to a loss, no matter what the relationship is between the respective civs.
2.
How difficulty scaling works
I wrote a lengthy pair of blog posts about this topic that I invite you to read if you're interested:
http://www.megabearsfan.net/post/2017/06/03/Frustrations-with-Civ-difficulty-levels.aspx.
In summary, I hate how the higher difficulty settings front-load most of the challenge by just starting the A.I. civs with lots of free stuff and by making them hyper aggressive and opportunistic. It railroads the player into certain play styles (military), and the challenge can rapidly level off if you conquer a rival civ or 2 early in the game because you get all their stuff, which is more and better stuff than you could have built on your own because they got it all for free.
I also hate how the bonuses of the A.I.s cause them to rapidly progress through the tech trees. On Emperor difficulty and above, I routinely see A.I. caravels showing up on my shores in like 600 B.C.. It's just ridiculous.
I think I'd rather see a system in which the higher difficulties slow down the human player, as opposed to speeding up the A.I.s, so that the pace of the game remains about the same.
3.
Shallow unit upgrade paths
I hate how being ahead just a single era is such an overwhelming advantage in Civ VI's combat. Units from one era can often one-shot units from the previous era, turning a slight tech superiority into an overwhelming military advantage. I thought Civ V had a great balance of its combat units, with one unit of each type in almost every era. Having a tech lead was a powerful advantage, but it wasn't overwhelming, and an under-teched military could still overwhelm a smaller, but more advanced force through numbers or superior tactics. Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel that as much in Civ VI.
