franchise has been growing and expanding in several ways ever since the first game was released in 1991. With coming in a few short months, it is interesting to compare some of the revealed gameplay mechanics to the familiar systems of and earlier titles.
While some ideas in the games have been done away with entirely, such as the throne rooms of the first games, many of the features have been tweaked and improved upon with each new entry in the series.
is already expected to have numerous changes from its predecessors, with the new concept of working through three ages being the largest difference to date.
For the most part, however, much of the game is simply evolutions of ideas that were tried in the past and now are being brought back in new and improved versions.
Of these, perhaps the most promising change is the idea of Independent Powers, which can completely revolutionize the way early game diplomacy and warfare is handled in those first few turns that a player takes in leading their people.