So today, I was playing Civ V with my cousin, and I figure, while it's fresh in my mind, I'll write a bit about it.
Civ V falls into a weird category of games for me, which includes things like Kerbal Space Program, Space Engineers, and Mount & Blade- namely, games that I associate with long loading times, and never have the motivation to play. Looking back, most of those games don't actually take all that long, unless there are a few mods installed, but it's enough that I don't like to play them without setting aside a good chunk of time.
That aside, it is quite a fun game. I'm not particularly good at it- I've played for 60 hours, according to Steam- but I do understand a lot of the basic mechanics. Perhaps the biggest issue is how much chance is involved- not only do you have to plan things out, but you have to react to the specific situation you're in. I've had some games, for instance, where I need a resource (such as uranium), but have non within my borders (which ultimately led to a large-scale invasion of India, and eventually nuclear war, but it's worth saying that I did win in the end).
Personally, I really struggle with the early game. When I don't yet know where I am, both in relation to the world and to other civilisations, and I don't know what I'll end up specialising in, it can be tough choosing the techs, policies and buildings to choose from. Sometimes I'll start with one policy tree, then find the game changing in such a way that I have to completely throw away my plans. Strangely, it seems that most of the time, I end up with a very different playstyle than I was originally thinking- generally I go for a science-heavy game, but often I end up instead with lots of gold, or in the case of today's game, culture.
One last issue I have- I'm awful at wars. I've learned to use boats really well- a few privateers and frigates, and I can take out most of a (coastal) country. I can also fight an enemy if I'm an era or two ahead of them, as was the case in my first game (against bots, not humans). But when it's a fairly equal fight, I have quite a lot of trouble with the logistics of moving troops, choosing what units to use, and how many of each, and all that. My attempts at sieges in the early game usually end in a peace treaty, and both parties wasting a bunch of time and effort.
I suppose there is one more thing, which could be arguably good or bad- once I get into a game, it's really immersive, but usually takes too long to finish in one sitting. This tends to leave me thinking about the game all night, waiting for the next session- but since I don't know all that much about the game, nothing ever comes of it. When I first played, for example, I spent an entire night panicking over how little time was left, and the fact that I still had a few cities to capture before I could win. The next morning, I learned that firstly, I had no idea how many turns actually were left, and secondly, you can win even without capturing every city.
Anyways, that's gonna be it for today- hopefully you enjoyed this post!
