Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI

👍 Game is fun, albeit not as much as Civ 5. The new district system is neat, but it's too much micro-management for my taste, and requires planning things out far in advance to avoid screwing yourself over later. Alas, I can't recommend a game with a EULA like this. Forced arbitration clauses are dumb, you shouldn't be required to give up your legal rights to play a videogame.

[h1]Short Review[/h1] Sid Meier's Civilization VI is one of the most addictive strategy games I have ever played, and it happens to be my first entry in the series. The variety of leaders, victory types, and playstyles keeps the game fresh for hundreds of hours, and the art direction has way more charm than people give it credit for. The Deity AI is a frustrating mess, and the diplomacy system is more annoying than engaging, but for the sheer "one more turn" pull this game has, I have to recommend it (if you can also get past the pure BS that is that EULA they added). [h1]Full Review[/h1] I came into Civilization VI completely blind, with no prior experience in the franchise, and I have zero interest in going back to Civ 5 or forward to the mess that is Civ 7. This is one of those games where you sit down intending to play for an hour and look up to find that three have passed and your civilization just hit the Industrial Era. For a strategy game, that kind of pull is rare, and Civ VI earns it. [b]The art.[/b] I know the internet loves to dunk on the leader designs, and I don't fully get it. The leaders have personality and charm baked into their designs; most of them look solid, and the overall aesthetic of the environments, icons, UI elements, and world map reads as intentional and cohesive rather than cheap. It has a stylized quality that suits the game's scope well. This is not a photorealistic grand strategy title, and it was never trying to be, and the art direction commits to what it is. [b]The leaders and variety.[/b] Every leader plays differently, and that matters more here than in most strategy games. You are all chasing the same handful of victory types, but how you get there changes dramatically depending on who you pick. Playing a wide domination run as Simón Bolívar feels completely different from turtling into a science victory as Lady Six Sky. The district system reinforces this further, since map layout actually shapes how you build cities and where you place key districts, which means the randomly generated maps keep things fresh even after dozens of runs. I've 100%'d this game, and I still find new things to have fun with, especially with the modding scene this game has. [b]The gameplay loop.[/b] It is genuinely addictive in a way that is hard to articulate until you are already four hours deep at 2 in the morning. Micromanaging your units, cities, and civilization constantly pulls you forward. That said, the late game can drag. Once you are coasting toward a victory condition you have already locked in, there is a lot of clicking through turns without much happening. It is a minor complaint in the context of everything that comes before it, but it is noticeable. [b]The AI.[/b] Here is where things get rough. The base game Deity AI is not actually smart. It does not think more cleverly than it does with easier difficulties. It is just handed free progression and massive resource boosts that make it feel insurmountable, and when you understand how the scaling actually works, it stops feeling like a challenge and starts feeling cheap. I will start a Deity run and watch the AI sit comfortably in the Renaissance while I am still in the Classical Era for culture. I can still easily win most of the time, but this still just doesn't feel all that good. The military AI is also bad at all difficulty levels. It does not assemble its units intelligently, does not attack or defend effectively, and can often be rolled back with a shockingly small force. Mods can fix a lot of things in this game, but the AI is one area where even mods struggle to make meaningful improvements. [b]The diplomacy.[/b] Diplomacy as a mechanic is boring, and the diplomacy victory type is the one I have never once felt motivated to pursue. The system has no real nuance. Leaders will be friendly with you one turn and denounce you the next over something trivial, the warmonger penalty system punishes you for defending yourself or retaliating against someone who declared war on you first, and the whole thing feels like it is held together with duct tape. Leaders express their disapproval in ways that eat up your time before you can move on. I have found it easier and more enjoyable to just let AI leaders declare war on me and fight them off than to actually manage diplomatic relations (excluding the CHAD Gilgamesh and POUNDmaker). [b]The loyalty system.[/b] The loyalty system in this game sucks, lol. Domination victories in the base game are less fun than they should be because of it. You take a low-population city with barely any production, and somehow the people there are mounting a significant revolt with military force that makes no sense given what you just captured. The whole mechanic feels punishing in a way that is not satisfying, just annoying. It takes the momentum out of military campaigns at a moment when momentum is exactly what you want. [b]The ads and EULA.[/b] Getting served Civ 7 advertisements while I am actively playing Civ 6 is a genuinely obnoxious experience. I am not going to buy that dogwater game. Pushing it in my face while I am playing your older title is not the move. The EULA is also a horrible move by the publisher, and while I won't boycott the game solely because of this, it's something I VERY much dislike. Overall, Civilization VI is one of the best strategy games I have ever played, and it absolutely holds up as my personal standard for what the series should be. The variety is incredible, the art style/UI is nice, and the "one more turn" quality of the gameplay loop is nearly unmatched. The Deity AI is a disappointment once you understand it, diplomacy is more frustrating than fun, and the loyalty system takes some of the joy out of domination play. But those are frustrations I put up with because the core game is that good (and because mods fix a fair number of issues). If you have never played a Civ game, this is an excellent place to start, and if you are on the fence, I would recommend picking up a bundle that includes the major DLC expansions since they add substantial content. (Also, screw the new EULA. Seriously. I wish nothing but the worst for publishers who pull this kind of thing.) [code]If you liked this review, then feel free to check out my [url=https://www.youtube.com/@VinroyIsViral]YouTube Channel[/url] for more reviews. I also have a curator group called [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43774503-The-Completionist-Crusaders/]"The Completionist Crusaders"[/url] that focuses more toward completionists. Thank you, and happy gaming![/code]