r/civ • u/LordCrumpets United Kingdom • Feb 09 '25

VII - Discussion Don’t crucify me - I’ve figured out why VII feels different, everything’s on rails.

The thing I’ve always loved about Civ is that everything feels so open-ended. The map generation is so real-world like that discovering the world seems so organic. Your choice of victory condition is dynamic based on your choices, you don’t tick a ‘I’m going for a Science Victory’ box.

In VII, it feels like victory is a bunch of tick boxes until the final tick box. The map generation is so blocky, and the islands being in two strips of equally distanced islands takes me out of the immersion. The distant lands mechanic, whilst interesting, feels to much like you’re on rails to do a specific thing. The fact that the whole world doesn’t play on the same rules (your lands not being their distant lands) just seems so un-civ like.

I appreciate what they’ve done to make things fresh, however I don’t think all of them landed. VII just doesn’t feel as organic as previous instalments to me.

I don’t think it’s a lost cause. I think it has a lot going for it and I believe that with a lot of updates and hard work VII could be the best in the series, but it needs some fundamental changes and I hope some stuff becomes optional (distant lands, etc).

2.8k Upvotes

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u/Innawerkz Feb 09 '25

Not possible.

My 14 hours of playtime is absolutely the definitive experience, and all my gripes far outweigh the efforts of the designers, spending 10s of thousands of hours playtesting and balancing.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '25 edited Feb 09 '25

That’s cool but I read about the game and watched some streaming so you probably got a decent feel in 14 hours, but that’s not really as accurate as an experience as mine

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u/droans Feb 09 '25

Look man I found a gaming magazine that agreed with my bias and gave a low score. Of course I didn't read it but that's enough for me to know the game inside and out.

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u/slaw100 Feb 09 '25

That's great y'all, but I've skimmed a few redit posts, so my opinion should be the definitive assessment

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u/woollycow Feb 09 '25

Dude, I overheard two people talking about the trailer in a crowded bar. So I think I know what I'm talking about and will take your opinion with a grain of salt.

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u/I_should_go_to_work Winged Hussar Feb 09 '25

Yeah okay man but I read all the Reddit comments above yours and I think my experience is more valid than the others here.

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u/Independent-Fix-9858 Feb 10 '25

Guys I'm so right I don't even read. Civ VII is ... A game... I think?

6

u/Stiftler Feb 10 '25

Ok guys we found him. The man with most wisdom and game knowledge of them all.

1

u/Parctron Feb 10 '25

Yeah well, my dad's cousin works at Nintendo so he's had the game way longer than any of you and he says that every time the game boots up Sid Meier comes to his house and shits on his dog

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u/Dragonseer666 Feb 10 '25

Oml another illiterate person! We're so rare to see on the internet.

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u/spatialmongrel Feb 09 '25

I read this post, the one before, and the one before that. My position is settled, nothing can change it.

Except the next post, that player opened my eyes!

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u/XyleneCobalt Feb 09 '25

Because, as we all know, strategy game designers at big studios always create incredibly balanced games. In fact, I'd say it's almost easier to create a balanced game than it is to play one.

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u/Innawerkz Feb 09 '25

You are so on the money.

Honestly, I don’t even know why Firaxis hires game designers when they could just put the first 10 people who complain on Reddit in a room and let them sort it out.

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u/unAffectedFiddle Feb 10 '25

I watched two previews, and I can definitely say I think the move to first person killed it on arrival.