Civ 7 so far
Civ 7 is pretty cool! Instead of treating a "whole game" like a single long mega-slog, it splits gameplay up into three different phases which each focus on different gameplay challenges... to the exclusion of the others. So when you leave the Exploration Age, you're kind of done chasing those Exploration goals, and you've got the new Modern goals and new gameplay mechanics to focus on instead. It's pretty cool.
I've done Antiquity and Exploration ages 2x each so far, and Modern once. My longest game so far was Ben Franklin as Rome into Inca into Russia. Taoism was my religion. I do like how shitposty and silly your build descriptions can get into this game. Yeah... Ben Franklin got really into Taoism, and he sent his Incan Taoist missionaries to claim skulls [holy variety] from the capitals of his enemies.
The game loses some of its more sharply defined nationalistic imagery and identity stuff in favor of a more gamer-brained and to my taste "historical" mix of cultures and influences. It is also much more of the alt-history machine that it claimed to be in years past. You can get some pretty crazy Gamer Combos going.
I am not a "good" civ player, but I am the kind of person who will install it during a period of high stress and then lose a week or two of free time to it. This seems like a really robust civ for doing that kind of thing with. The age splitting thing gives you really good breakpoints for stepping away from the save or the game entirely, and it will redeem various long-term-progress unlocks for your "2K Account" between each age, so that there's no pressure to finish a whole playthrough. The unlocks include various perks you can start a game with, so there is a point to getting them. Not sure how I feel about that yet.
Anyway, my dumbass review of this game is that I am enjoying it, and it's fun! You can mix up some crazy history shit and do stuff that feels like a Combo, basically. You can pivot your civ between ages or double down on the identity you built for yourself previously.
I am still learning a lot about some of the weirder new gameplay decisions this setup creates - for example, the choice of when to turn my Towns into Cities is still a bit opaque - but I'm getting there. I think I will just continue playing in the way that creates the most improbable possible civilization/leader matchups. Ben Franklin as the Russian Czar is pretty good, but that's an easy joke. I think I can do better.