M. F.

As a casual Civ enjoyer my thoughts might help others like me. Before buying, I read and watched reviews - all bashing the game. Civ has a hardcore fan base and therefor fans who are willing to be very vocal about what they don’t like, so I took the widespread negativity with a grain of salt and bought anyways. As I’ve seen others say, I think this is an amazing game to get 2 years from now, once it’s patched a lot and for an extreme discount. This is clearly an unfinished game and certain aspects flat out confuse me. It’s fun to play, I got very swept into the “one more turn” mentality. As far as character choices, cause and effect of certain game aspects like religion, etc. - I agree with most other negative remarks. It creates a non cohesive experience that makes each age feel very separated from the last in terms of empire to empire interaction. What bothers me the most is the abruptness it in which ends. I was in 1923, and one random turn it just decides the game is over - no option to continue for the sake of continuing, only restarting. That was very disappointing as it felt like as soon as I truly got into a good flow, and was moving up in the rankings, I lost for no reason other than the game decided I played enough turns. Also, it is a 2k game. So, as with any other, you’re going to get a half finished game that doesn’t care about user enjoyment and will press you every second they can to create an account and jump on the micro-transaction train. As a casual fan, I feel unqualified to talk about the minute aspects of the game - but as someone who loves the idea of Civ, this was basically Civ Lite. All the mechanics of Civ, with none of the fun or consequence. As I and many others have said, wait a year (or a few months at this rate) and pick up a patched deluxe edition at an extreme discount. Most lifelong Civ fans will hate it, and most casuals will probably find a few major complaints that lessen the fun of it. This game had a lot of potential but felt half baked and as if there was no user feedback/testing taken into account. Fingers crossed for Civ 8! Also, my game crashes every 2 hours or so (on a PS5). I don’t lose any saves, and I know that’s common - but still

Feels like more of a build-up to an eventual Pikmin 4 deluxe than an actual new game. I have yet to complete the campaign, which seems promising and enjoyable. However, the lack of a proper co-op mode is beyond disappointing. The campaign co-op feels like something you’d do with your little sibling when they keep bothering you to play, but you don’t want them to actually do anything. The new multiplayer side game is interesting and enjoyable, but has minimal maps and even less long term playability. Mission mode is non existent. I understand the game is more than multiplayer, but it seems as if they removed everything fans loved about Pikmin 3 deluxe. I bet when the deluxe version releases 5 years from now, it’ll be fantastic. Until then, it’s a subpar game with some interesting new features and no multiplayer. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone over the age of 12 unless they are an absolutely devout fan of the entire series.