Millennia

The first thing we always ask is if this game is worth the asking price of 40$. The answer to that is yes. Unusually we also have a second question to ask which is, if this game is a Civ killer? And the answer to that is no. However, there is potential to give it some competition. Millennia fires on all cylinders where it counts. Music and UI are well done, and it gives you the information you need when you want it. However being made by a smaller team means the graphics while pretty are what you would expect from a non triple a game which is just average. The things I enjoyed about this game were the well done systems of governments and national spirits. Allowing you to choose unique governments every few ages or unique national spirits meant I could tailor my civ to how I wanted to play and not worry about min/maxing. The bonuses from my choices felt to me like I was tailoring my choices to my experience with the current game I was playing. As opposed to civ 5/6 where choices usually boil down to ok I have to choose same option a into option b into option c on every map no matter the variables. The other fun things for me were the building chains and alternate ages. The alternate ages and building chains are both fun ideas and give replay ability however they have issues. The building chains are interesting and allow you to adapt to many variables on a map. However there are very clear min/max choices. Making it more of a web in certain areas and a balance pass would help. In addition alternate ages while fun are not leaned into hard enough. Often ages only affect the era you are using them with no effect in the following ages. In addition there affects are often either underwhelming or the opposite which is options that are so powerful you always want to get that specific age. Allowing ages to affect the following 1 or 2 ages unlocking unique tech/unit/building combos as well as making the ages have a larger effect would go a long way to really giving competition to the Civ series of games. Over all Millennia is a well done diversion for 40$ I would recommend giving a try that needs some balancing and minor reworks if it really wants to compete with the civ series. Even if it doesn’t want to compete with Civ Millennia does provide a fun alternative that is worth a play through at a reasonable price.

Another abandoned Paradox game. It's becoming a trend.

At first I thought this game was going to be very good. It did enough in the beginning to separate itself from its predecessor *cough civ cough* and even felt better in certain ways, but as you get further into the game you'll start to notice how absolutely dreadful the AI is, especially on the normal difficulties. You'll find full stacks of military vessels built by the AI factions inside of 4 hex grid lakes with no access to any other part of the map. You'll also find that for whatever reason naval vessels they've actually built in the ocean refuse to attack you 95% of the time no matter how much the odds are in their favor. They all seem to have the exact same behaviors when it comes to diplomacy and really the only variable is your religions and/or proximity to their borders. The barbarians have literally no goal other than to attack your city regardless of how hopeless that endeavor may be or how late the game is. Got a 400 rated 6 stack sitting next to a unit that has 10% of that strength? Yep, its gonna attack you. The enemy AI is just as bad but for the opposite reasons when it comes to seafaring. I wish it didn't take me 40+ hours to figure this out.

After spending some time in Ara: History Untold, I switched back to Millenia. In Ara, I was particularly overwhelmed by the production, which becomes very confusing the more you produce. Millenia is a real relief in that respect. A lot of patches have already been made. I still remember the early days when you were overrun by bandit camps. Wild animals joined in. Good idea. I would personally like to see this combat system revised a bit. The combat window itself is not really great. Maybe something will happen there. On the whole, Millenia has turned out ok so far. In my eyes, I even see it as a better Civilization. It has things that I honestly miss in a Civ. Many will say this guy is crazy, but unfortunately that's my opinion. Can I recommend it? Actually, 50%50% chance. It has a bad start. Multiplayer was also missing. But it was added later. Unfortunately, the release was more of an early access. Yes, Paradox, I mean you... For me it's ok, so thumbs up I guess?

MUCH BETTER THAN CIV 7

The infamous combat screen is still as was in beta/demo, unfortunately. It feels so embarrassing for a 2024 game when enemies just open the gate, hit with a sword, close the gate, then you hit the gate, again enemies open the gate and hit you with a sword... It looks so dumb and it feels like it. With stalemates, no information is shown about it but you see that both sides are still standing and don't hit each other anymore because of the combat logic. Other than that, it's like a really poor looking CIV clone of a 90s Civ game. Everything feels clunky. The graphics feel so terribly outdated, but still the save game feature takes seconds to complete. So it should run so smoothly but it just doesn't. Music feels just irritating and repetitive. Also what is the deal on putting some DLC out already when the game is in such state? The DLC feels like it's there because Paradox says it must be there and it's the way to get more money from the people who pre-ordered the game or some deluxe edition thingy. It doubles the price of the game already. With Civ 7 closing in, I just don't see the point in playing this now. Save your energy and play some older Civ or whatever 4X game you fancy meanwhile.

Fun game, I want to reccomend it openly and spread its name, the Ages mechanic is an absolute thrill. However, First, The " timeline correction " countermechanic is extremely hostile to its biggest boon and is highly manipulatable, something i told the devs and got spoken to directly about on at least two occasions, the counterbalance allows a player to effectively dictate two whole ages giving them time to prepare to dominate a third age, potentally aligning the first player to age into age 3 the rule to dominate the direction of the timeline. Secondly, the biggest gripe I personally have, is the lack of communication from the developers, this is starting to smell like Pandora: First Contact to me, abandoned and in need of work, I'm extremely dissipointed in Paradox and C Prompt on this, as I'd intended to support the game through its rocky first year in order to hopefully see them iron out its flaws and continue expanding, and improving the game, however now with 3 months of radio silence, im not so sure. Third and finally, the game i feel needs some major AI and difficulty adjustments, aswell as many more perks and cosmetic flags for custom nations/religions, to add veriaty, challange, and complexity. I really hope C Prompt and Paradox get back on millennia, as i think it has potential to be a minor power in the 4x genre, and I adore its mechanics far more than Civ and Humankind.

Literally abandoned the game after slightly over a year. A-mazing job.

Does it scratch the 4X itch? Yes. Is it pretty? Yes. Does it have interesting, original additions to the genre? Abso-freaking-lutely. Is the combat good? ... eh. Are the AIs good? Ask someone who plays on a harder level. Speaking of, is the game nerf-able to the point that even sad, old, stressed-out gamers like me (and me) can play without taking our blood pressure medication? Ish. Blessed be the modders. Is it a bug terrarium? Nope, but I've found one game-breaking bug that has ended my last three playthroughs before they could truly begin. My first few playthroughs were fine, though. Is it hard to learn? Not if you're familiar with 4X games in general. The new/different mechanics are explained well, and also become very easy to comprehend simply through playing. Does it have enough content? Yes and no. I yearn for the deeper, obsessive tech trees of other 4X games, but, at the same time, the opportunity to build, upgrade, and perfect a truly massive region -- as opposed to a puny hex-city -- is heady. There is a *lot* in those very few techs, and modders have added more. Is it shallower than Humankind? Do not think of Humankind and Millennia in the same sentence. They're just too different, despite operating with changing ages/civilization "characters". Personally, I find that Humankind has a lot of shiny bells and whistles (and is beautiful), but is, ultimately, designed for gamers who live to torture themselves by beating their heads against AI that means them harm. You *can* nerf Humankind to stress-free playability, but only by absolutely neutering the game. Millennia keeps absolutely all of its richness and complexity on cakewalk mode. Is it a persona/historical figure/personality-based game? No, it is not. As near as I can tell, the only true benefit at this point to choosing the different civilizations is, like, the personal satisfaction of always destroying that one nation you had to learn too much about in World History. In the game-design screen, choosing your and your opponents' civilizations will cause civ-based bonuses to pop up which tend to make perfect sense! *And then you can change those bonuses to be whatever you want them to be.* I suspect this will bore some 4X players -- it certainly sends me back to games like Old World on the regular -- but it's also very freeing. Are the maps fun? I hate the map choices, There is no reason in the year of our lord 2025 to be forced onto one large continent with all your opponents just because you want a bit of land around you for expansion purposes. Are the resources cool and fun? Yes. Yes. Yes. Lots of resources with great art and many cool things you can do with them which honestly do push the game forward in various ways. It's a bit more like a cozy game than a 4X one in this respect. Resources in most 4X games will barely have *one* use. This game lets you -- *demands* that you -- use that clay for *everything*. Diplomacy? *wags head* A militant civilization is going to be a pain no matter what, but they'll be a little hilarious about it. The rest is a bit rudimentary, at this point. Barbarians? TOO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ MANY TO COUNT. EVEN WHEN NERFED. You *will* Julius Caesar your way through the barbarous peoples you meet, and it will be annoying and slow, and it will damned well be worth it in the long run. I would really like to see more games punish players for attacking barbarians oh wait -- Second-class citizens I mean minor civilizations? Oh, yes, indeed, and you definitely want a mod that guarantees that they can't settle right next *door*. You're going to want their land, and making their small cities part of your society is the most rewarding way to do that. However, if you try to Julius Caesar your way into *that*... What's a Crisis Age? Ha ha. Ha. Haaaa. No, seriously, I love the Crisis Ages. I try to avoid them because they're *harder*, but they're also interesting, and full of bonuses you just can't get any other way. (Also a great way to ♥♥♥♥ over your neighbors... plague-wise... just saying....) I could say more here -- I like the music, I vastly enjoy the call-outs in the various art-pieces, I love the *whimsy* that's easy to find at all *times*. This game gives me that cheerfully-obsessive 4X hunch-over-the-keyboard-like-a-goblin feeling? But it also just makes me happy. I wish the people of C Prompt the best of luck with all their endeavors -- especially the one that will lead to that game-breaking bug going allll the way away -- and I thank them for giving me a fine game. 7/10 (Would be higher without the maps and the bug issue)