Thanks for this podcast. As a 4x gamer, I was really looking forward to Humankind and I'm glad Amplitude dared to take on the challenge of making a new "Civ."
That said, I completely agree with the general direction of your comments. Humankind feels too afraid of it's bolder ideas. I miss the RPG elements of Endless Legend that really set it apart. The narrative parts are far too repetitive and similar to other games. They kind of reminded me of Frostpunk, which was a game I enjoyed, but was a much more focused experience.
Two games I didn't hear mentioned that I think were important for how I saw this game are Age of Wonders:Planetfall and Warhammer 40K Gladius. Gladius did a great job of making combat a bit more interesting and fun (though you can just overwhelm with numbers if you want to). Yet Gladius kept it all on the main map and tactics, while there, were minimal. I liked that games focus, and even the faction quest lines kept the game moving forward. Planetfall has really good combat. It's almost like an entire other game plopped into a 4x. Sometimes I found it tiresome, but it really was the best part of that game. I also really liked the way Planetfall let you customize units, and the science system made for some really interesting combinations and choices.
The two biggest missed opportunities for me with Humankind are the rather bland faction design and the tech tree. The tech tree is a travesty. I really was shocked by it. It felt like they just didn't have time to really think about tech in any kind of creative way. The faction design was disappointing to me only because of how good they have done with the Endless series. I really wanted to see some strange and wonderful things, but they all feel too safe.
I don't think it is a bad game. I like it. I find it fun. I will put more time into it and further assess. But I also think I might end up preferring gladius and planetfall.
