Sid Meier's Civilization 7 marks the long-awaited next entry into the beloved 4x series after 2016's Civilization 6. It feels like fans have been waiting forever for Civ 7, but it is finally on its way, giving fans another excuse to spend hours upon hours investing in their burgeoning civilizations. Of course, the long wait hasn't been for nothing, as it's bringing with it a slew of new features and important changes that could revolutionize the entire franchise.

One such change is to do with Civilization 7's new civilizations and how accessible they are from the outset. This change has proven somewhat controversial among fans, although that doesn't mean it is without merit. However, what is potentially negative is the wider impact it could have on how enjoyable the early game will be.

Civilizations Are Spread Thin In Civilization 7

There Aren't Enough Per Age

Civilization 7 is switching up the series' long-held approach to its titular civilizations in just one of many changes from Civilization 6. Rather than letting players pick from any civilization and starting from the first age, Civilization 7 will lock civilizations to specific ages. This means, of the 31 available civilizations at launch, players will only be able to choose from around 10 or 11 per age. This pales in comparison to even the first civilization game, which let players choose from just 14 civilizations.

So, players will pick one civilization for the first age, the Antiquity Age, and then change into another civilization in the second age, the Exploration Age, before finally setting on an end-game civilization in the third age, the Modern Age. To many, this is one of historical accuracy of the Civilization series, as one civilization can become a dramatically different one, such as Egypt turning into Mongolia.

It's important to note that players pick a leader separately from their civilization. So, they could choose Napoleon to run Japan, for example. This leader then stays with the chosen civilization and subsequent civilizations for the entire game.

However, while the change does switch up how players will need to approach each game, it doesn't inherently mean it is worse. It's a fairly innovative idea and one of Civ 7's most ambitious features, especially as it will switch up a player's overall approach to strategy throughout. In theory, this new approach to civilizations will make a lengthy playthrough less stale, and players will also be with their chosen civilization for quite a while.

It'll take between 150 and 200 turns on standard speed to reach the next age, which is roughly four hours. However, that doesn't address that, at the start of a game, players are severely limited in which civilization they can play as. Only being able to choose between 10 per age means that people may end up having to play as civilizations they're not interested in. Luckily, much like with previous Civilization games, this is a problem that can be rectified with DLC.

DLC Will Expand Civilization 7’s Roster Over Time

It Will Help Flesh Out Each Age

Much like previous Civilization games, Civ 7 will undoubtedly expand its roster of leaders and available civilizations through DLC. Some of Civilization 6's best leaders were added through DLC, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see the same thing happen with the latest game in the series. Importantly, however, by adding more civilizations through DLC, Firaxis Games can remedy the issue of spreading out the civilizations too thin per age.

Of course, this would not necessarily fix the issue of players being unable to pick their favorite civilization from the very first age, but it would improve how many players have access to from the outset. However, previous Civilization games have added additional ages in DLC, and this could further compound the problem.

If Civ 7 gets more ages than the three currently planned for launch, it could risk making its civilizations even less accessible, especially for those who don't make it all the way to a potential fourth or fifth extra age.

If Civ 7 gets more ages than the three currently planned for launch, it could risk making its civilizations even less accessible, especially for those who don't make it all the way to a potential fourth or fifth extra age. Thankfully, this is all speculative, and Civilization 7 has just as much opportunity to fix its potential civilization issue as it does to exacerbate it.

Civ Games Are Never All The Way There At Launch

DLC Always Expand The Games To What They Should Be

Context matters, and Civilization 7 is absolutely not the first game in the series to release with missing content. It's not even like it's limited in of how many civilizations there are, as 31 is a very impressive number to launch with. It feels tradition at this point for a Firaxis Games title to be reliant on DLC to make it the complete package. So, in many ways, Civilization 7's limited pool of civilizations per age is in line with the developer's usual approach to deg content.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether this newfound approach to civilizations in the Civilization series pays off. However, it's nevertheless refreshing to see Firaxis try something new, especially with a series as old as Civilization. Now that there's genuine competition to it, Civilization needs to outgrow its older gameplay model and experiment with new ideas. If DLC can add those much-needed additional civilizations, then there's a good chance that Civilization 7 will be fondly ed as one of the best in the series.

Source: Sid Meier's Civilization/YouTube