Civ5 Or Civ6? Civilization 6 And Its Struggle To Surpass Its Prequel
Sid Meier's Civilization games
Sid Meier's Civilization has become one of the headlining games in the strategy genre.
Since the release of the first game in 1991, the series has evolved immensely, but the latest evolution of the game, Civilization 6, or Civ6, is still met with plenty of contention that's still being discussed more than four years after its initial release.
What is Civ5?
Before we delve into the somewhat troubled release of Civ6, it seems prudent to start by looking into Civ5 itself, as it apparently put off many fans at first as well.
Civ5 was praised by critics, but was drastically different from its predecessor, and while revamping many of the game's mechanics, there were notable omissions, the biggest one being religion.
Eventually, and with added DLC that included some of the missing content, many criticisms were satisfied, and any outcry from long time fans were seemingly quelled.
Homepage - Civilization V
What is Civ6?
Sadly the story of Civ6's mixed reception doesn't end so conclusively. Critically the game was still well received, though not as well as Civ5.
On the surface it appears to have everything Civ5 had DLC included, and in some ways improved upon them immensely, again the biggest example being religion. The differences lie in the details, and in Civ6's case, many people saw the details as sorely lacking.
Civilization VI – Wikipedia
Civ6 biggest issue
The biggest issue of Civ6 that fans seem to have is its push for outward expansion.
Claiming the most territory offers you a definitive advantage, with very little to disincentives doing so, whereas previous entries gave players the ability to consolidate their empire into a smaller, but more powerful nation. With such an option no longer being a reasonably viable strategy, many people's preferred playstyle was essentially removed.
This along with other weird changes like turning civics into another science tree, and removing a lot of the unique civilization differences, made for a more homogenized experience on the larger scale.
The major issue with Civilization 6 and how I would solve it.
Main difference between Civ5 and Civ6
That really seems to be the main difference between the two games. Civ5 offered a lot of different playstyles, while Civ6 is built around one main playstyle that gives the player a lot of freedom in its intricacies, such as providing the ability to build each city to a specific role in order to support your needs via the various districts you can implement. Once again, the only exception to this rule is in Civ6's religion, which can almost feel like another game that's being played simultaneously.
Analyzing the five biggest changes in Civ 6 | PC Gamer
In conclusion: Civ5 or Civ6?
After a detailed review of the differences between civ 5 and 6, we can now draw some conclusions. We cannot impose our opinion or order on you, we only express our personal opinion based on the analysis carried out. Obviously, both games have their pros and cons, as well as functional features. Therefore, read the article carefully and choose the best for yourself.
Of course at the end of the day the real deciding factor on which game to go for comes down to three things; accessibility, online play, and price. Civ5 was exclusively on PC, and finding people to play with today could be a bit of a challenge, at least compared to Civ6.
The only leg that Civ5 has against Civ6 in these three regards is it's price.
Civ6 is a $60 game, with the two major expansions costing $50 each, and while you can get them for cheaper through Steam, or find them on sale, the price is still roughly ten times that of Civ5, DLC included.
| Civilization base games and prices | Image | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civilization V (5) - Complete Edition |  | $7 | |
| Civilization VI - Standard Edition |  | $13 | |
| Civilization VI - Platinum Edition, with all add-ons included |  | $30 |
While many people still debate which game is the better of the two, both are still fun and well designed additions to the Civilization franchise, and while it's best to appreciate these games for their separate takes on the formula, it's still easy to hope that a future title can provide a definitive Civilization experience.
Civilization 5 vs Civilization 6 – a clash of civilisations
