Civ 7 Gameplay, Release Date & The Future of Civilization

It's time for a real look at Civilization 7 gameplay! Civ VII has been one of the most anticipated upcoming strategy game and it's releasing on the 11th of February 2025. This was the initial gameplay reveal and my first reaction and analysis to the big changes to Civ 7 compared to the rest of the series. If you want to support the channel, buy games (Civs?) using this GOG referral link: af.gog.com/?as... Thank you!
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[@GamerZakh]

They did a Humankind!

[@icoborg]

Always a pleasure listening a ZakhCiv....also winter is coming

[@ShufflerBluey]

@GamerZakh I think you can still keep your civ through the ages, changing is optional

[@Jellyfishcake20]

And with that one move, personally I have no hype for the game anymore. Bring on Civ VIII in 2035.

[@j.p.9522]

Humankind was a steaming pile of garbage, why emulate it?

[@tramapolean]

As he said, it is at least going to be a Triple-A Humankind 🙂 That said though, I did enjoy some versions of Humankind, just a shame it seems to have stalled.

[@taylorbeckett9686]

Shouldve kept the civ the same civ through the game, but changed leader every age instead.

[@StoNe-ji6bc]

This could have been a better way of doing things...start as an Egyptian pharaoh...and next age you pick an influential Egyptian scholar/philosopher, military general/explorer, or temple priest/missionary to influence the style and perks of the next age

[@ivantumanov1015]

@@StoNe-ji6bc Nah, doesn't sound right. Because a new leader can't bring new more modern unique buildings and units. Leaders are for traits after all.

[@Jeremy-k9t]

@@ivantumanov1015 It makes way more sense than Egypt becoming Mongolia. Egypt has existed for thousands of years and has had all types of leaders, cultures, etc. It's still Egypt. They didn't wake up one day and turn into China with Ben Franklin as their leader. That's so silly.

[@neme-ye5kl]

This one seems like the no-brainer and yet noone does it. I don't get it.

[@markiv2942]

@@ivantumanov1015 Why they can't?

[@LazyLifeIFreak]

Whenever I hear the word "revolutionary" in a release trailer my sus-meter starts spiking massively.

[@FrozenLegion]

usually means they destroy everything that the fans love for a new audience. and from what I've seen this is not civ anymore.

[@ElBartoK96]

Number of average players: Civ 5 (2010): 15K Civ 6 (2016): 47K Humankind (2020): 1K Who thought that it was a smart move to copy so many things from a game that is essentially dead? Incredible.

[@michaelsnow7440]

Seriously. I played Humankind for a while but ultimately went back to Civ VI. I guess there is no escape from the things I hated about humankind.

[@Merohill]

Going one further both civ4 and civ3 have more in-game players as well on steamdb. I loathe humankind so much and the civ switching thing is one thing I hate.

[@FatLittleButterfly]

I wanted to try Humankind but wasn't motivated because it wasn't Civ. Now Civ is doing it like this, nice change of pace I guess 😂

[@APrettyGoodChannel]

I haven't played Humankind, but Civ has the marketing benefit of decades of brand familiarity.

[@sedghammer]

People forget that Firaxis did the same thing with Civ6. The district system came from Endless Legend, another game from the studio that made Humankind. There were other elements in Civ6 that were inspired by Aplitude Studios titles as well. The difference is that Firaxis has the manpower and design chops to pull off these concepts. I'm very excited for Civ7! Reply

[@mikicerise6250]

But, dude, Egypt is still around. I'm not deadset against evolving into another civilization, but some modern countries are legit ancient. I mean obviously modern Egypt/China/Greece/Israel/Japan has nothing to do with their ancient versions, and in some cases they've gone through occupations or fallen and risen again, but they're legit just old. Ancient civilizations should be able to just evolve into a more modern version. Only young civilizations like USA should be limited to a certain age and have to be 'evolved' from another civ. Like Rome -> Spain is fine. Anglo-Saxons -> English -> Britain -> USA, absolutely. Ancient Abe Lincoln always felt ridiculous. But I should be able to just stay China throughout history. That's how I wish it worked in Humankind.

[@GamerZakh]

Although modern Egypt isn't exactly the same as ancient Egypt. Like Rome is not Italy. It would make sense and I too would like it if some 'eternal' civs would have ancient, middle, and modern versions, so for some civs you can stay as the 'same' civ, but I don't know if they're going to do that.

[@amyburnette7324]

@@mikicerise6250 the continents of what is named the americas was not empty. People are taught to carry and accept that so deeply and game devs are lazy in following that trope. Tecumseh is not enough

[@odorikakeru]

They were very careful to refer to the civilisation as “Ancient Egypt” in the video, and not just “Egypt”. They may include other versions of Egypt, like “Ptolemaic Egypt” or “Ottoman Egypt”. But this just underscores that Egypt has spent most of its history as part of someone else’s empire. We made need some fictional names for an Egypt that stayed independent.

[@saerain]

@@odorikakeru Exactly, potentially cool IMO with the budget of Firaxis, although also intense DLC fodder.

[@saerain]

But then I thought _Humankind_ was "potentially cool" as well and eh...

[@eenayeah]

They had 9 years to cook and they decided to copy Humankind. I am beyond saddened.

[@Charles_Anthony]

Civ4 will continue to hold the throne as best Civ game for another decade at least given how long it takes Firaxis to make a game nowadays. Seriously, 8 years just to copy Humankind? I mean, wasn't Humankind released like 2 years ago??? What exactly were they doing before Humankind?

[@arofhoof]

@@Charles_AnthonyI miss civ4 so much.. unfortunatly it is no available on mac anymore other I would still be playing it reguparly😢😢😢

[@Rescue-vn5dw]

I mean you are sort of true, I see the similarities to humankind, which was a very boring game compared to civ 6. But remember it’s still a civilization game so it’s safe to say there’s hope for a good game that won’t disappoint.

[@hangijzer17]

@@Charles_Anthony Exactly this. Seems like they got lazy. And then look at the (pre-order) price to boot.

[@hoodie5004]

@@Charles_AnthonyI’ve only ever played Civ 6 and I love it .. I’m not that great but I’ve won twice lol but what’s makes Civ 4 the best ?

[@bwalker77]

My first impressions: The Great: Brienne!!! The best looking Civ so far. Navigatable Rivers. Unstacked Cities. The Not-So-Great: They did a Humankind. The one-Civ limitation was a good thing, IMO, because every civ played differently. Changing civs during the game means that the later civs will be picked for strategical reasons, so some later civs may not be picked often, or at all. I'll try to keep my mind opened, but I am disappointed by this right now.

[@Yeti2308]

Civs are picked far reasons now aswell, no one chooses to play sumeria, or georgia and thats because everything they do is done by another civ, better, so it will be mostly the same in that way

[@Jeremy-k9t]

The unstacked cities are awful. They were bad enough in CIv 6, now the whole world will just be one big city. There's no realism there. Human's today have still only urbanized less than 3% of the worlds land surface.

[@AM97776]

The fact they have basically already announced DLC is upsetting but not surprising. How about focusing to deliver the best game you can make from launch, rather than milking it from the get go with a partial release - make a full great game and sales and revenue will follow - then make some DLC a couple years later, c’mon Fraxis…

[@GamerZakh]

They've done this every time since Civ 4 and they make more money and sales every time. Civ 6 did this and it's the best selling Civ game ever.

[@skibbitybebop]

​@@GamerZakhit's still a pretty customer unfriendly approach

[@GamerZakh]

​@@skibbitybebopOf course, but my point is anyone expecting anything different isn't paying attention. There are people who pre-ordered Civ 6 and got disappointed because of it not being good without the first 2 expansions, and all the DLC, then they say Firaxis ruined Civ with Civ 6 because of this. They did the exact same thing with Civ 5. So now we've seen them do it with Civ 5 and 6, why would anyone expect Civ 7 to not do it? But turns out, there are still a lot of people getting surprised by the DLC announcement and the pre-order bonus and the rest. So saying be more customer friendly and "revenue will follow"? Yeah they're not going to do that, they're doing the thing that makes the most revenue already, they have no reason to change that. And thinking they'll make more money by not doing DLC, expansions, microtransactions, and pre-order bonuses is just not true.

[@arudegesture]

And just to add a random thought about the whole changing civilizations thing: Why couldn't they've just add something like an "amend civilization" feature that was dynamic and based on what you've researched or perhaps built? That way, you could stay as - say Rome - throughout your play through, but if you'd focused on peaceful tech and diplomacy, you could add traits - or perhaps remove traits - from your Civ once specific thresholds were met (be they timed or research or score thresholds).

[@sovkhan4359]

Why not just change the nation’s historical figure in each age seeing as there is only three? Why not say King William the conqueror, then King Edward II then finish with Queen Victoria? Makes more sense than Civ swapping.

[@GamerZakh]

This can make sense but they didn't show much. For example they could make it so that it's Roman, Norman, English. That would make sense. But because they didn't show much, people are thinking it's going to be like Humankind where you can go Roman, Chinese, American sort of thing which is what made that game feel disjointed. Really have to see what the new 'Civ tree' (I guess we can call it that?) is.

[@Linkdarkside]

Civ 5 was the best civ ,I hope this civ does not disapoint.

[@yeahhbuddy3932]

Nah civ 4 was better

[@arofhoof]

@@yeahhbuddy3932same for me, civ 4 was better in all aspect😢😢

[@hungrymusicwolf]

@@yeahhbuddy3932 I didn't play civ 4 (only civ 3 and 5), what made civ 4 better than civ 5?

[@Jeremy-k9t]

@@yeahhbuddy3932 Civ 4 was fine, but the death stacks of mililtary units took away any strategy. I'll never play a pre-Civ 5 civ again just because of that.

[@Charles_Anthony]

@@Jeremy-k9t : There was plenty of strategy with the deathstacks. You just had to know how to counter unit types.

[@HPLovecraftsCat9]

And here I am, still playing Civilization V. That was the peak of the series.

[@Hendrik.Eijsberg]

I disliked the "civilization name change" in Humankind, I'm gonna hate it here too. I don't mind the civilization changing, that's interesting, but I don't like going from Zulus to Franks to Japan - I just find that dumb. I wish they'd go with "stereotypes" instead where you'd chose "military noble class" (like Japan) or "naval trade leaders" (Genoa) or "isolationist traders" (Swiss), etc.... so you don't have weird disconnects.

[@saerain]

Does tend to so casually break the illusion that the civilizations are more than a coat of paint and alternate stats, doesn't it. Japan isn't a nation but a powerup.

[@khugansixtyeight]

Haven't thought about Civ games in quite a while. I'm glad they still exist and thanks for putting this in my radar.

[@robertgronewold3326]

Gwendoline is such a perfect choice for narrator.

[@glenndiddy]

Rather than the civs changing, I'd prefer adding traits to my current civilization at age changes. But I'll see how it pans out

[@Legamis]

Leonard Nimoy is still my favorite narrator for civilization

[@saerain]

Thank God that was before the false teeth, though. RIP Leo but he was rough to listen to as the narrator in Star Trek Online. Sounding so close to death kept reminding me of his death.

[@tdcsguy]

Hi Zakh, it's nice to see you so excited after the rough time you've been having! Here's to a bright future 🙂🍻

[@cmathews5909]

Doesn't matter how great the game is. If you read the user agreement on Civ 6, you must now agree to them selling your personal data and your right to enter a class action to sue them. Its one thing if it was a free game, but I paid money. Maybe go old school and buy the discs if you want your privacy.

[@CmdrSoCal]

do not disc still have to be online?

[@cmathews5909]

@@CmdrSoCal Not sure. I haven't bought a disc pc game in more than ten years., but back then, no. What we play, how long we play etc....sounds so what, but when you consider how electric car data is driving folks insurance up cause they braked too fast, or Israel's Lavender AI designating Palestinians terrorist and cooking them via rocket cause they called someone three years ago on What App; things are turning a bit darker than 1984 but instead of the government, its software companies.

[@Jeremy-k9t]

I don't f'ing care. All of your data is already out there in the world. You'd be naive to think that it's secure or that some game company is going to do something with it.

[@Charles_Anthony]

@@Jeremy-k9t : It literally says they're going to sell it, but keep pretending like we're paranoid.

[@cmathews5909]

@@Jeremy-k9t I am sorry hear about your education attainment. I guess I am partially paranoid due to my USAF OPSEC training. Have you ever heard of Lavender? Its an AI Israel uses to target Hamas "terrorist" based commercial meta data; an AI is making the decision to kill the target, their family, and anybody else in the building based on meta data and zero evidence. How is calling your friend, brother etc on What's App, that more far fetched than being targeted for playing North African and Levant Civs mainly cause of identity and how brutally powerful they become late game due to economics and religion; not because AI believes the sum of my actions appears to be pro Hamas. Jeremy, a game like Baldur's Gate is even more dangerous cause you are making moral choices that broadcast how you think and the data is cross sectional, and if you are gamer with 1000s of hours gaming data under your belt, this is a problem.

[@SkyFly19853]

Good news for me since I am developing a Civ like video game that will have so many features... instead of visuals...

[@VeganCheeseburger]

The forced civ switch thing feels bad to me, and I suspect they will tweak it or add options around this when people complain

[@MrGatonegroish]

For me, it's currently firmly in "await more info" territory. Mainly because there seems to be nothing drastically new so far, sadly. On a brighter note, it's reminded me I need to finally play Old World! Those guys do seem to be doing more cutting-edge stuff.

[@CmdrSoCal]

poor mans civ v plus soap opera.

[@adavis5926]

It looks good to me. I like the dueling leaders' graphics and some of the other changes. I have but two hopes: 1) the AI gives me a run for the money 2) the game doesn't get dull after the industrial age. Additionally, I liked the Civ 6 mod where the tech tree can be somewhat scrambled instead of set every gameplay.

[@sedghammer]

People forget that Firaxis did the same thing with Civ6. The district system came from Endless Legend, another game from the studio that made Humankind. There were other elements in Civ6 that were inspired by Aplitude Studios titles as well. The difference is that Firaxis has the manpower and design chops to pull off these concepts. I'm very excited for Civ7!

[@odorikakeru]

Okay, now that I’ve eaten lunch I have another little rant in me, so bare with me here: As I work in software development I know that every change is made for one of two reasons, either to benefit the user or to benefit the developer. In my case about a third of all the changes I make are mostly done to make my life easier! I think by splitting the game into three they are making their own job easier - it is easier to balance the game if the new additions (techs, civs, wonders, etc.) only affect a subset of the game. Beta testing and hunting for game-breaking exploits also becomes easier. This may be what they are trying to do here.

[@tarmovilu8417]

Two more thoughts: 1. Open seas are lifeless, adding currents would help a lot: lot more fishing grounds and underwater habitat. 2. Why only roads on land. There are ship routes on sea. Colorful bouys would fit perfectly into ocean and make it more alive.

[@russellhiebsch4284]

lookin great buddy awesome haircut!

[@woodykusaki9970]

This is exactly like humankind. Do they want to crush competition while it's still small?

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

There is not much to destroy, Humankind has 1k daily players. If Civ7 is a clone, 50x more prople will play it anyways just because of the name.

[@Jeremy-k9t]

Humankind isn't competition. It was awful and this looks awful as well.

[@adhyperdad3027]

The cities feel so realistic to the sprawls of the real world It feels like Humankind, without the massive stumbles. And it feels like a TON of the key staff from humankind were hired on.

[@tarmovilu8417]

Two thougts: 1.Start the game from 6000BC instead 4000BC, you get to add prehistorical age. 2. Maybe the change of culture might work, if the leader also changes. Like: Rus becomes Golden Horde, then Nevski changes to Batu.

[@tonysimicich4974]

How about keeping the name and identity of your civ, even when modifying your faction at the age changes? Why make you lose style, national role playing, immersion, etc.?

[@RobertSmith-bz5ug]

Humankind 2.0 Not happy here..

[@darkhoshinonz]

and what exactly is wrong with this Human Kind game? Genuinely asking as I've never played it. I like the idea of a civilization "changing" (more like evolving based on what they said) over time. I would imagine key themes for a given civ would stay but visual aspects, unit/building/government choices etc would change over time. The one thing I've liked about the Civ games is they they introduce new features or swap out old ones for new. So what if they are copying aspects from another game or franchise. Just about every franchise in history is guilty of that. Think of any first person shooter and you can label features "stolen" from another game quite easily. any fighting game, most if not all strategy games have done it. RPG's have done it, most by implementing the D20 system (whether hidden or not). People should wait to play it before judging it.

[@johnjohanson8662]

​@@darkhoshinonz because if the civ players wanted to play humankind, they'd play humankind. we want to play Civ, and honestly very little of this looks like a CIV game. it looks like Humankind 2.0, which is NOT Civ. to wit: I like apples and oranges. if I want to eat an apple and you offer me an orange, I won't take it! I don't want an orange right now! I want an apple!

[@TM4N]

Why not make it vice versa? I mean why not stay as one civ and having a new leader each age? Would be more immersive If you ask me

[@tensaibr]

Perhaps it is like a civilization tree. Three ancient civilizations which then branch out to newer ones as time progresses. And having to pick one of those branching out or perhaps continue (Andient Egyptian -> Egyptian, Rome -> Italian) For example (theorie) Tier 1) Romans Tier 2) Byzantines/Saxons/Normans/etc Tier 3) Greeks/UK/French/Germans

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah there's ways to make it work and make sense. In the showcase they showed Egypt to Songhai, which makes sense as it's basically just west. They just didn't give enough examples I think. I would actually like if there was a Rome to Italy path as ancient Rome isn't modern day Italy, so that would be a perfect example. But also like China, ancient China and modern China are both very relevant, it'd be weird if there was no China in all ages. Need to see what they're actually implementing.

[@wyqtor]

@@GamerZakh Maybe add some sort of revolution mechanic where you can either remain your original civ or split off, for example either stay as the British Empire or become the US.

[@GamerZakh]

@@wyqtor It's complicated to do that because they said they want to balance the eras individually, so if you can stay as your current civ, they'd need to make basically another version of the civ with a new unique unit and civ traits. Not impossible but also feels kind of weird. You can sort of break down the civ into historical-based eras though. For example you could have Ancient Egypt, Ayyubid Dynasty, then Republic of Egypt for the 3 eras. That would be cool and I think a lot of people would be happy with that, but once you start processing how it's all going to work it starts to seem very complicated and messy either way.

[@TheRealSlobo]

Awesome choice for narrator

[@JeanPaulB]

I was seriously underwhelmed by this reveal. Nothing really drew me in. I wasn't really expecting anything good, but at least make me fell something. This was the most meh reveal of a Civ game I've seen since Civ 6...

[@furiouschicken1]

okay boomer

[@Charles_Anthony]

Furiouschicken, I think I hear mommy calling. Time to change your diaper.

[@dudewatevs56]

@@furiouschicken1 Bro it's just an opinion, you're the boomer getting pissed cause people don't like "muh favorite DLC churnin company made another game!"

[@pauleckert4321]

Take a shot everytime he says Humankind.

[@DominicaRepublica]

I'm plastered.

[@GamerZakh]

And I'll say it again!

[@pauleckert4321]

@@GamerZakh give the man a break he is already plastered...🤣

[@VeganCheeseburger]

I’m glad the art style is less mobile game than 6. Could not stand the previous artwork

[@TheRayblade]

the last time we had navigable rivers was Humankind

[@susangoaway]

Civ VI is the only Civ game I did not buy. It kind of repelled me with its certain 'features' that were more obstacle and served no purpose other than push a certain message. You hyping Civ VII up reminds me of better times, but I doubt it is going to be that great either, and I would not call Civ VI a great game (yes, I did play it). The music in the trailer seems the generic build up, one gets tired of hearing it all the time. I disagree with Civ games having to first be 'fixed' after release. Civ IV I vaguely remember being good enough for me to keep coming back to (playing more than one playthrough) Civ V I remember being well enough at release, despite the weird mechanics they introduced. Humankind is not a series. Also Humankind suffered from an even worse version of that what Civ VI suffered under. Hope the devs here aren't as lazy. The tech quotes are one of the most memorable things from Civ IV, simply due to the narrator reading it. They do seem to do a lot of Humankind stuff. The city building was actually one of its strong suits. I don't think I like the leader and civ change thing. Seems a bit immersion breaking (so does the fog of war actually) Seems like you don't even choose a civ at start, instead you choose entering it. Going from egypt to mongolia does seem absurd regardless, and whatever that last one is. Pre Order garbage is stupid. Limiting to 3 ages seems okay.

[@slavengineering8344]

Could you expand on what you disliked about Civ 6 - as well as what did Humankind suffer from even more so than Civ 6?

[@ferver-san]

lol ,Sid Meier looks like they dragged him in by force.

[@scrooge-mcduck]

Good spot, they probably have. From the looks this game has little to do with him.

[@Kamamura2]

Luckily, the goofy leaders and the rubber head comedy style of Civ6 is gone - thanks for that, I hated the artstyle of 6 with passion. The acting of the leaders still looks like a high school theater club, but it's at least passable. I miss the serious tone of older Civ Games.

[@ArchjSM]

The serious tone of older civ games you say? I disagree, your excellency!

[@leeboy26]

Agree absolutely. Hated the cartooney artstyle of Civ 7.

[@akenon5901]

Huh, it's beautiful

[@put1996]

IMO instead of forcing player to 'change' civilization as new age appear, why not just add default option of [staying pure to our root] so you retain your 1st civ pic. If you do so you unlock deeper bonus of that civ. It will also be thematically appropriate. Do you want to stay true to your tradition, or adapt to new circumstance?

[@Tsejjest]

whole continents just cities? smallworld

[@saerain]

Although, I suspect from the look of it that they're using a smaller map size to show off more in a single view.

[@kushalthapa5177]

I really liked the armies in Humankind. Not having to move 50+ units each turn when at war was such a relief 😁.

[@garnettkaruna8767]

Thank GOD they got away from the civ 6 avatars.

[@StrategyMaster]

FYI The leader doesn't change in humankind either apart from their clothes. Its nice they using other games for inspiration, but are they evolving and solving the problems of these mechanics I'll guess we will find out? If i made my own game post humankind i would have kept a single civ and leader but bonuses and unique units are obtained/customizable throughout the game in some form - Keep the benefits without the cons.

[@GamerZakh]

@@StrategyMaster Yeah but in Humankind the leader is just your avatar. In Civ 7 it's an actual historical figure, so keeping the leader is weirder because you get Hatshepsut leading the Koreans or something.

[@StrategyMaster]

@@GamerZakh Good point, no more gamerZakh leading a civ then ;)

[@darkhoshinonz]

​@@GamerZakh Im guessing its going to be "you can make a custom civ" or use and evolve ones that evolved through history. the explanation given in the video left a lot of room for interpretation for what was said.

[@furiouschicken1]

@@GamerZakh Hatchepsut prolly wont get Korea because there are prerequisites

[@saerain]

@@darkhoshinonz Yeah that frustrated me with the whole showcase, stop justifying and just tell me how it works, there's only 30 minutes, let's go!

[@ivantumanov1015]

Ages? They did a millennia? At least they didn't do heroes combat

[@mrm7058]

Millennia? Not quit. Millennia has alternate ages, if certain requirements are met. And actual I like this alternate ages mechanic more than the Civ swapping mechanic from Humankind.

[@ivantumanov1015]

@@mrm7058 humankind has simply civ swapping, doesn't really even feel like ages. Civ 7 has less and more significant ages where the whole game changes, not just you unlocked x amount of techs. And it's not the ages, but there are alternate civs if certain requirements are met, like horses for mongolia. So it feels like a millennia. Maybe they'll add special alternate ages in civ7 dlc. Like zombie ages or fantasy ages, like they did with special gamemodes in 6.

[@donxnik]

I remember noticing a few elements of Humankind, but you've spotted even more, like the leadership interface or establishing colony then becoming city and so on. I agree that the way the game shifts from one civilization to the next feels a bit odd. It's almost as if starting with a different civilization doesn't really matter in the long run.

[@alexhung4004]

@GamerZakh may I know which software or app do you use to put just your face and body into the video without the background? Thank you so much

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah it's called OBS Studio and it's free. Tales a lot of practice to get things right and there's always room to make things better, but there's a lot of guides out there.

[@wyqtor]

They should've tried to do an Old World, instead! But let's see how it plays out!

[@Ashadar_Resouley]

not sure how i feel about the fog of war just being a bunch of tiles, i don't hate it but i feel like it's gonna brake my immersion but i'm not too worried i'm sure modders will make a mod that will change it out for something less immersion braking

[@jjgodbey8395]

I see plenty of concerns regarding the similarities to Humankind but I'm choosing to look forward to it. I think Humankind had a lot of really fun ideas and concepts that were just executed really badly so I'm fine if Firaxis wants to give it a try since I have way more faith in them pulling these mechanics off right. Either way, I'm hype to see how it turns out.

[@OdisraFlyrunner]

Looks a lot more like Humankind, which I like. I always wanted more tactical gameplay in Civ (i.e better and more detailed combat) and more visual representation of city expansion. The art style is better than CIv 6 too (downright dislike how cartoonish in a childish way Civ 6 looks). I'm also very down for changing civs - never liked how carbon copy factions felt in previous Civs where you only got 1 unique unit per game and/or some tech. Curious how it turns out.

[@erez87xp]

Also no workers and more widespread cities. No workers may make the map feel emptier....

[@arudegesture]

I have to say, that if ARA: History Untold is up to snuff, then I don't see any reason to get Civ 7 until a couple of DLC's in. Truth be told, I'm much more hyped for the former title, though I'll wait for a couple of reviews before buying it.

[@hungrymusicwolf]

I have to say I'm skeptical as I still vastly prefer civ 5 over civ 6, but at least this looks interesting. I do like the limits on leaders and the changing of ages. I do hope they can also add some civilizational restraints (eg. Songhai can't turn into america no matter what they do) but I do like it. Also, navigable rivers! I'd also still like civ 7 to be more realistic than color as that's what made me feel so great about civ 5, but the improved graphics do add to it.

[@DominicaRepublica]

i'm looking forward to Zakh playing Civ4 on hardest mode!

[@Tata-ps4gy]

I absolutely love thr humankind concept and the restricted civ transition thing they did has great potential. I would like if transitions felt more transitional... Maybe they could add revolutions, invasions, famine, political intrigue. Like, why would my gigachad Ming empire suddenly turn into Nigeria if it was going well the previous year? I need some war or crisis to justify the new identity.

[@marekkos3513]

Thats why I love playing Civilization games , because I can play what ever civilization I want from the beggiinng , to the end.Now Im going to start with POLAND , and at the end I will become Russia ? Germany ?

[@GamerZakh]

Well you wouldn't be able to start with Poland because they're not an ancient civilization.

[@marekkos3513]

@@GamerZakh thats why I love playing civilization games , because I can play what ever nation I want.At the end this is just a game , and a game should be fun.

[@SuperTyrannical1]

Tony Robinson would have been a better choice as he does the Time Team show.

[@odorikakeru]

I’m probably not going to be a fan of this new idea of switching civilisations in the middle of the game, but they did try their best to justify it (almost like they were expecting backlash from fans). At one point in the video that was talked over by the commentary: they said that one flaw in Civilization is that some civs are powerful in the early game, but weak in the late game, and other civs are the opposite (I never saw this as a flaw, though, just a strategic decision made by the player). By locking civilisations to certain eras they can tailor that civs attributes to the game mechanics of that era without unbalancing the game too much (they hinted that game mechanics also change a bit between eras). I don’t think I agree that this is necessary, why don’t civilisations just inherit new buffs based on progress without changing the civ name? This would result in you encountering another civ but not knowing anything about them strategically (which will be a problem for some players, but I always found it a bit strange that you can meet a new civilisation in a game and they already know some of your strengths and weaknesses already just by knowing if you’re playing England or China, etc.). Anyway, that’s my ranting done for the day (and it’s not even lunchtime, yet).

[@garnettkaruna8767]

Please, please, please, do not have a game killer involving environmentalism.

[@saerain]

Watch it not even be possible to toggle off.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

$120 for pre-release ... Good bye. Won't hold my breath. Sales propaganda time, I'll wait 2025.

[@GamerZakh]

I do tell you not pre-order.

[@CantoraMask]

I don't know why anyone is surprised. Humankind changed the game. I think we all probably knew when it came out that the next Civ would take a lot from it - if not copy it almost entirely

[@GamerZakh]

It's expected they would take and try refine some ideas, even districts and unstacked cities are from Endless Legend. It's just surprising how much is actually like Humankind. Even the painterly cinematics and diplomacy screen with the leaders talking to each other.

[@wsk1124]

You confused us Zakh with so many question, stay safe!

[@Kwippy]

I gave Civ6 a slightly negative review, but it's a game I keep playing, and I buy pretty much all the expansions. I own all civ games from the very first to the latest. So I wil buy civ7, even if it gets negative reviews.

[@BananaMana]

Honestly, the copying of humankind doesn’t really bother me at all. I liked humankind and if they pull this off I will love it, people always hate the new civ games.

[@FatLittleButterfly]

Rivers never excite me as much as they do now 😂

[@ThaGamingMisfit]

We all remember the Cities:Skylines 2 first trailer and all the hype that came with that. Yes we all know what happened to that game. I try to keep my expectations low, just not to be disappointed. But I'm someone who loves Civ 6 more than Civ 5 anyways, I guess I'm a special breed anyways compared to the flock.

[@GamerZakh]

Don't let the noise make you think differently from reality. Civ 6 is by far more popular then Civ 5. By sales, Civ 6 sold 50% more than Civ 5 and by players Civ 6 is crushing Civ 5 numbers. Civ 6 got 3000 new user reviews on Steam in the last month, 90% of them positive. Civ 6 is the only Civ game to hit 100K concurrent players on Steam and that's when it's on consoles too, which no other Civ was on.

[@melak01]

I wish they went for more of civ 5 look, seems they continued with the art style of 6 :(

[@GamerZakh]

This is more of a civ 5 look. Compare this to civ 5 and 6 and this looks exactly between the two.

[@Apophis324]

Hmmm.. I wonder if they'll invite you to become an in-game character for this game as well! :D

[@GamerZakh]

Haha unlikely, Civ never invites me to anything. Apparently a bunch of creators have played the game already, I wasn't one of them. They didn't give me a game code for launch for Civ 6 when at the time I was the biggest creator channel for Civ 6 either. I just like Civ personally and buy it for launch like everyone else.

[@Apophis324]

@@GamerZakh That doesn't sound fair at all! Oh well, in the end, all that matters is that you're having fun. And since you had fun with Civ VI and Humankind, I'm sure you'll have fun with Civ VII eventually as well (after those extra DLC updates :P)!

[@kazetokumo]

I guess the civs aren't going to stand the test of time this time....

[@PinWriter]

Maybe I'm a bit tuned out but there's no interactable advisors like in Civ2... hoping too much.

[@curtismain995]

🔥 hot 🔥 take I like what they did and am hyped for this game 🎮

[@tramapolean]

@17:27 Is this a glimpse of update to the policy card system from Civ 6? I am definitely tired of it, so would be good to see something more interesting.

[@saintvault13]

No disrespect but you are the same guy who tries to say the new star wars stuff is better, "it is an artistic approach." I think Civ 5 is eons better than 6, it all comes down to personal choice. The more someone defends a game, the more I know it's your own thing.

[@GamerZakh]

Star Wars stuff? Huh? I don't talk about Star Wars. And I criticise a lot in this video. What are you talking about? I'm an art graduate, I have an honours degree in design, I just like talking about art and the reason why I mention art style is because if people ask for better 'graphics' they'll get more polygons but still hate the look of the game. I'm telling people to be clearer with what they're asking for.

[@GamerZakh]

Just to be clear, you yourself say "it all comes down to personal choice". That's what 'artistic approach' means exactly. Civ 5 has an art style, Civ 6 has an art style. Civ 7 has an art style. Civ 7 has better 'graphics' than Civ 5, that's objectively true. But it doesn't mean people prefer the look of Civ 7 more than Civ 5. People prefer different ones because these are artistic approaches.

[@GamerZakh]

I wish you explained what you meant.

[@Daniel-fv3mi]

music is christopher tin again for sure

[@GamerZakh]

Turns out it is, and music is as usual a strong point which I think almost everyone will love.

[@mihirpatel3010]

I am afraid of their business model this time. I am just going to wait for this one. They are monetizing the fog of war animations too!!!

[@TheBigGuppy]

Yuk. The art looks great but this idea of changing Civs in mid game is dumb. This isn’t Civ.

[@justinbaier]

I loved humankind, I think this looks fun.

[@Seer_Of_The_Woodlands]

Can I play with the same civilization the whole game or will i be forced to change my civilization. there are more historical civilizations that remained almost "same" for many thousands of years. China for example ... or are there many different Chinas / dynasties in the game?

[@xxamightystormxx]

Can't wait for this game to be playable in five years after spending 300$ on DLC. Especially since that's the time they'll announce Civ 8

[@GamerZakh]

Well in 2 years after 2 expansions lol. They always do that, since Civ 4.

[@blueskull6789]

Why not wait five years and get Civ VII Complete for $9.99 Civ VI is $5.99 right now, not sure which version, base game I expect The Testing Of Time

[@lasvista2tech]

More excited for ARA

[@rodriguesvictor8970]

will the game be compatible with 32:9 format screens?

[@GamerZakh]

@@rodriguesvictor8970 They haven't specified specs like that yet.

[@L4ptopgirl]

if i wanted to play humankind id pick up humankind...

[@ras_732]

From a console perspective, I personally still prefer the engine of Civilization Revolution (i still play it on my 360!)

[@Mako2401]

I think it's a bad sign when instead of coming with their own thing, they copied Humankind.

[@mesarthim640]

Test of time... Test of Time... Test of time... Test of time... Nah, we know we keep saying it but we're never gonna do a Test of Time 2, we're just going to reference it forever. I hate you devs !!! Otherwise... eeeh... eeeeh... I feel like they hid many gameplay area which will be probably lacking. Not sure I like the change that were made either. Nothing said about combat if they tried to improve it with new tactical decision and whatnot. I won't lie, I'm not hyped at all. On a side note: we also had "masters of albion", a game by Peter Molyneux... He's too old ! The proof is that the game looks horribly dated with a lack of animations and oomph even if the idea could be fun.

[@yourfake915]

In my opinion CIV 7 graphically looks the same as Civ 6the only difference I notice is the NPC models and maybe the water I guess, kinda disappointing.

[@ViaVix3n]

No, they did better than Humankind.

[@Steelairship]

Civ VI copied the district mechanic from Endless Legends as well. Its good when companies can bounce ideas off each other and improve on it.

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah I just felt a bit weird when they called something from Humankind an 'innovation'. It's not that the idea is bad or that they shouldn't also use it, but clearly Humankind did that first.

[@ffsnickavailable]

At least Humankind has 7 eras, now we are down to 3 ?

[@GamerZakh]

Fewer era's actually solves things a bit. Humankind has so many eras, you can literally be 7 different civs through a single game which is one of the problems as it makes it feel like you're not playing anything specific at all. Making it 3 eras and controlling who you can 'evolve' into might make it feel more sensible. Like the example they showed, Egypt to Songhai makes sense. But we haven't seen much really.

[@burbanky905]

cant wait for civ 8

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

Personally I'm probably gonna wait. Plus monster hunter wilds is coming next year too and there's too many things I got and haven't played.

[@marekg5884]

Now I understand why Sid Meier looks so sad. This game is just missed opportunity. It did not bring any it's own unique innovation. All is copied from other games, mostly from humankind. Ironically, humankind was criticized for not being a true civilization game, because true civilization game sticks to only one nation through the ages. And now civ7 come with this nation-changing feature like the humankind, only 5 years later. On the other hand, to use historical figures as leaders of other countries is ridiculous. Why would anyone for example wants to play as Napoleon leading Aztecs or Cleopatra leading Japan. Why? It does not make any sense.

[@andrerobitaille982]

Civ 3 is always fun.

[@captaindaddy69420]

It looks cool, I have no complaints about changes - new and exciting feature/mechanic changes are what I've been begging for. BUT I am concerned that the multiplayer is still broken. Desynch still means I cant play this game with my friends after decades of these people making this turn based game. Its just ridiculous to me that after all this time and experience making turn based city builder series, Firaxis STILL can't make multiplayer work. Please someone tell me they have are going to fix multiplayer.

[@GamerZakh]

I generally don't have much faith because Civ 6 launched with multiplayer servers fixed to Steam download region. As in, you couldn't see multiplayer games from the next city over if they had a different Steam download server. Me in Malaysia, there was zero multiplayer games to find because it's not a popular game in Malaysia. It's always a wait and see for multiplayer because you can't even really test at scale it before launch.

[@captaindaddy69420]

@@GamerZakh That's horrid. My only hope is that the new Local Multiplayer mode is an attempt to at least fix the LAN party flavor of MP.

[@tdcsguy]

Is it just me or does the Firaxis leadership feel a bit... old? I mean sure they must have massive experience, but they are essentially copying Humankind... Amplitude on the other hand, feels like quite a young and fresh team not afraid to innovate. But maybe that's a good thing: They recognized that Humankind was onto something and are now using their experience (and funds) to iterate on- and refine their ideas. Maybe the two series really can push each other into the next gen of the 4X experience... let's hope so at least.

[@GamerZakh]

Generally that's how it works, regardless of age, the thing that succeeds tends to be the 3rd or 4th copy of an idea. Innovation doesn't work all that well because there's no refinement. You can't come up with something new and have it be perfected at the same time. The main weird thing for me is them saying something that's clearly taken from Humankind is their innovation. And also just how much they took from Humankind. Civ 6 took the idea districts. Civ 7 still has districts and are also taking the idea of civ-switching, settlements growing into cities, solid ages, legacy traits, and even the diplomacy screen of the 2 leaders arguing with each other is very Humankind. Rewatching, they're also putting in narrative events which basically every 4X is doing but Humankind did it prominently. It's not that any of this is necessarily bad, it's just a weird feeling and it's a bit uncomfortable when they say it's their innovation when what they're really trying to do is refine.

[@tdcsguy]

@@GamerZakh Oh yeah, totally, and don't forget the artstyle of the cinematics. It really is uncomfortably close to Humankind, like almost litigiously so. One wonders what they were developing up until Humankind came out, and how much they canned to shift into what essentially amounts to a clone...

[@tdcsguy]

And then claiming originality really leaves a bad taste...