I had wanted to buy this game for a long time, but the price point and negative reviews put me off. I finally had the chance to play it for a good number of hours during a free trial, and I can now form an opinion on why the game is so controversial.
Here are the pros and cons.
First of all, the game feels great to play, is addictive, and looks beautiful. I really liked that entire districts are now built across tiles, helping the city look organic. I also appreciated moving away from the concept of builders as separate units, it eliminated unnecessary micromanagement. I absolutely loved that your settlers can no longer be stolen, only killed. I liked the new army management system, you no longer need to make countless micro movements to get units from point A to point B, as they can be conveniently grouped under commanders. I liked the new system for managing unique resources and their associated bonuses. I also liked that ships can now navigate rivers and that hostile units are clearly highlighted.
Now for the downsides. The first and most annoying issue is the "eras" system. I don’t know whose idea it was to have players suddenly halt the game mid-session, change absolutely everything, and restart from scratch, but it’s a bad idea. I want the game session to flow seamlessly. The previous installment had a perfectly fine system of ages, I don't know why they felt the need to introduce this nonsense with eras. It is also incredibly annoying that a new era prevents you from building Wonders from previous eras, or at least finishing the ones already in progress. Furthermore, detaching leaders from their civilizations is completely absurd. No, having Napoleon lead the Maya isn't a "refreshing" gameplay idea, it’s a lazy stopgap used because the developers failed to include enough gameplay mechanics to ensure variety. The policy system has deteriorated, policy cards are now simplistic, and their quantity is severely limited. Espionage and trade have been stripped of their status as distinct, complex activities, all that remains are rudimentary fragments lacking proper management mechanics. The leaders are dull and uninspiring and, frankly, rather minor figures. Have we really run out of truly great historical names? Overall, the game feels unfinished and lacks critical mechanics. Fundamentally, there is nothing here to sustain long term play, by the Steam Age, a session turns into a "skip turn" button-pressing simulator.
I see wonderful potential in this game, given how solid its core feel, but it needs at least two major overhauls and a far greater number of interesting leaders to become a worthy entry in the franchise. At which point I would happily buy it, even at a premium price.
P.S. I also remembered that I liked being able to build multiple structures in a single tile, it certainly improves tile managemenею Иut at the same time, it’s annoying that as time goes on, you have to replace old, useful buildings with new ones. No, I don’t want to destroy a hospital to build a residential buildings. I would be great to add a third building slot per tile for the modern times, or whatever else works.
