Sid Meier's Civilization VII

Our analysis

Competent and polished but ultimately dull, with high production values and ambitious new ideas, like the three-age structure, culture-swapping, town-to-city mechanics, and revamped diplomacy, that fall flat in execution. End-of-age crises feel either irrelevant or merely irritating, narrative events are eye-glazing number popups, leaders lack personality or motivation, and the obscuring interface buries information while making the strategy harder to engage with. It works broadly and certain optimizers may enjoy it, but its lack of character is endemic.

Our analysis

A phenomenal, deeply rewarding 4X strategy game whose bold three-ages structure, streamlined commander-led combat, and mix-and-match leaders and civilizations refresh the series. The Switch version is held back by a laundry list of launch bugs, an almost unnavigable Civilopedia, frustrating online matchmaking, and limited map sizes, but the moment-to-moment play remains hard to put down.

Our analysis

A stripped-down strategy entry with interesting era-transition mechanics but significant missing features. The reviewer found it less engaging than Civilization VI and wouldn't recommend returning to it despite acknowledging some design innovations.