Review WildScallion 3/5 · Nov 15, 2025
A turn forward, two turns back
I was holding off on writing anything about this game until I completed a full game. I'm not as down on it as I was, but I can't help feeling like it's been too streamlined. The game now has lots of "Quests" and objectives for you to complete in each age, which feel a bit unnecessary. Civilization has always had …
I was holding off on writing anything about this game until I completed a full game. I'm not as down on it as I was, but I can't help feeling like it's been too streamlined. The game now has lots of "Quests" and objectives for you to complete in each age, which feel a bit unnecessary. Civilization has always had the "one more turn" dopamine hit and it doesn't feel like there's a great reason to having the quests and it ends up putting the game on rails a bit too much.
On the positive side, I like the new resource system, trade feels more dynamic, as does diplomacy. The modern age ended up being the most fun for me, the railroad system was unique, and I thought aircraft carriers and the air battle system was fun.
Combat feels a bit more interesting in Civ VII, I think the commanders add some variety to how you play and feel way more fleshed out than great generals.
Religion is pretty half baked and after I built my first missionary I totally forgot about it and it didn't seem to impact me too much. I wasn't a fan of Civ VI religion, cause it was just spamming missionaries/apostles, and it doesn't feel better here.
I'll probably come back to this when I get the itch and see how the harder difficulties feel, but I really doubt I'll put as much into this as Civ VI.
Endnote: I think my Civ Ranking is Alpha Centauri > 4 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 7 > 5 > 3 > Revolutions. This might be the biggest series where I've played and beaten every version.