Civilization VI Gathering Storm Game Play Experience REVIEW

"Try it first deh, deck, play this game. You'll be hooked!"

"No, what a headache organizing a country from the stone age."

That was my conversation with my brother when he offered me the game Civilization. If I'm not mistaken, it was when I was still in college, or was it when I first started working? I forget, but I've been playing this game for years.

It's true that I sometimes get off track. I wasn't interested at first, but once I figured out how to play, I found myself enjoying myself. This game has uniqueness that makes me spend all day just playing it. 

How good is it? How exciting is it? Yes! It was so much fun, I even looked for a laptop with a benchmark:

"Can I play Civilization games on this laptop?" 

Okay, no need to beat around the bush deh, I'll tell you about my experience playing Civilization 6, one of my favorite games!

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Get acquainted with Civilization Game

If you've ever heard of the game Age of Empires, well... you could say Civilization has some similarities to the game. When I was in junior high school to high school, I was fond of playing Age of Empires, but for Civilization I think it's more advanced, Yes.

In fact, if I'm not mistaken, this game has a minimum age limit of 13 years old. What? Why, is there adult content? No, but the strategy game play is quite dizzying as it involves management as the head of state.

Okay, so basically civilization is a strategy game that invites us to build and lead a civilization from ancient times to the future. 

We can choose one of the many nations in this game, such as Indonesia, America, Egypt, Korea, Russia, China, Japan, India, or even aliens. Yep, there's Indonesia, chingudeul! 

Each nation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and different leaders. For example, Indonesia has the ability to gain additional resources from the ocean and it will be easier for Indonesia to gain points. culture. As per right with Indonesia?

Then, there's America having a huge military power, Egypt having the bonus to build the wonders of the world, and aliens having advanced technology.

The main objective of the game is to achieve one of several victory conditions available, such as military victory, cultural victory, scientific victory, or religious victory. 

We must compete or ally with other nations who are also trying to achieve the same goals. In addition, we must also take care of various aspects of our civilization, such as economic, political, social, and environmental. 

We must pay attention to the needs of our people, such as food, education, security, and happiness. We must also develop our technology and culture so that we don't fall behind other nations.

So, what about Civilization 6? What are the advantages and features of Civilization 6 over other Civilization versions?

For the record, Civilization has many versions. Well, the Civilization game that I played is Civilization 6 which doesn't have aliens in it. So, only the countries that we know. 

But there are other advantages with features that I think make the game more challenging:

• The first feature is urban system. In Civilization 6, we can build different types of districts around the city, such as campus, industry, military, religion, and others. Each district has its own functions and bonuses, depending on its location and neighbors. 
• Second feature, cultural system. In Civilization 6, we don't just play with science and military, but also with culture and religion. You can develop a cultural tree that consists of four branches: tradition, ideology, aesthetics, and diplomacy. 
• This third feature will bring religious system. We can establish our own religion by choosing its symbols, names and doctrines. Religions can spread to other cities by sending missionaries or high priests. 

This game is very exciting and challenging because you have to make many important decisions that will affect the fate of your civilization. We have to think ahead. It's really challenging, right?

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Civilization 6 Game Specifications

Well, you can play this game on PC or console. But, to be able to play it there are specifications that need to be considered for the convenience of playing the game. 

Actually, CIV 6 is not as heavy as the Hogwarts Legacy game, but when played longer, there will be a lot of item that is displayed and that makes the PC/console work extra hard. So, for those who want to try playing this game, you can follow the following specification guide:

Minimum PC/Laptop Specifications:

• CPU: Intel Core i3 2.5 Ghz or AMD Phenom II 2.6 Ghz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA 450 or AMD 5570 or Intel Integrated Graphics 530 with 1 GB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 11
• HDD: 128 GB
• DVD-ROM: Required for installation from disk

Recommended PC/Laptop Specifications

• OS: Windows 7×64 / Windows 8.1×64 / Windows 10×64
• CPU: Intel Core i5 fourth generation 2.5 Ghz or AMD FX8350 4.0 Ghz or higher
• RAM: 8 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA 770 or AMD 7970 or higher with 2 GB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 11
• HDD: 128 GB
• DVD-ROM: Required for installation from disk

As for the console specifications, they also need to be considered, and it is highly recommended to use a console with the following strengths:

PlayStation 4

• CPU: AMD Jaguar 8-core (x86-64)
• RAM: 8 GB GDDR5
• GPU: AMD Radeon GCN (1.84 TFLOPS)
• HDD: Minimum 12 GB

Xbox One

• CPU: AMD Jaguar 8-core (x86-64)
• RAM: 8 GB DDR3 + 32 MB ESRAM
• GPU: AMD Radeon GCN (1.31 TFLOPS)
• HDD: Minimum 12 GB

Nintendo Switch

• CPU: NVIDIA Tegra X1 (4-core ARM Cortex-A57 + 4-core ARM Cortex-A53)
• RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4
• GPU: NVIDIA Tegra X1 (256-core Maxwell)
• Storage: 12 GB Minimum

Meanwhile, I played the game on my ROG Strix laptop. The laptop is equipped with Windows 11 specifications, Intel Core i9-10980HK Processor 2.40GHz, RTX 2080 Super GPU, and 16GB RAM.

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Civilization VI Game Price on Steam and Consoles

I got this game through Steam. Steam itself is a digital distribution platform that provides various games for PC and Mac. Steam also has interesting features such as cloud saving, achievements, workshops, and others. 

If you want to buy the Civilization 6 game on Steam, you have to pay around Rp599,999 for the standard version and Rp1,199,999 for the platinum version which includes all the DLC and expansion pack. This price is subject to change depending on any ongoing discounts or promotions.

As for those who want to play this game on consoles, here is the Civilization VI price list for PS, Nintendo, and Xbox.

• PlayStation 4: Rp 699,000
• Xbox One: IDR 699,000
• Nintendo Switch: IDR 799,000

Civilization VI Game Review

Now comes the fun part, which is review The game! How good is it heck The game made me crave for more? To be honest, Besides Hogwarts Legacy, CIV 6 is a game that I play almost every day!!! How exciting heck?

Forms of Civilization from the Stone Age

Yup, here we take on the task of pursuing civilization from the stone age. But before playing, we are allowed to choose the country we want to play. There are many countries to choose from, including Korea, Japan, America, and even Indonesia!

However, if you want the game to be more challenging, you can choose the option of random country. So, let the game choose the country for us.

After choosing the country, there is also the option to choose the map you want to play. There are maps that follow the shape of the earth (islands, seas, etc. exactly like planet earth), but if you are bored, you can also use other maps. 

There is a map that 80% contains islands doang, there are also more than 50% sea contents doang. Just choose according to your preference. Then, players can also determine the area of the map, whether it's small, medium, large, or very large!

Next!!! What do we choose to win based on? There are several winning options, such as Domination Victory, Science Victory, Culture Victory, Religion Victory, to Diplomatic Victory.

Players can choose any of the wins they want to achieve. However, if you want to make it more challenging, you can also choose all of them. But if I heck usually stuck at just three wins, science, culture and religion.

Now, in order to achieve that victory, players must start from the stone age. Literary stone age where even the soldiers still carry pentongan Later, civilization progressed, starting with spears, then arrows, then swords, continued with guns, until the end was nuclear weapons.

To get through it all, you'll need to be patient with the process. Players must go through each era one by one. Then, don't forget to choose an ideology that fits the era. For more details, read the review below!

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The Ideology of Every Age

For example, in the first age, we can choose Oligarchy, Classical Republic, and Authocracy. Now, each of these ideologies has its own advantages and disadvantages. So, my advice is to adjust it to your needs.

For example, I often use victory targets in the form of science. So, in this first era, I would choose the Classical Republic ideology. Why? In this ideology, there are benefits form: "+15% Great Person Points." 

Well, these points will help me to be able to organizehire scientists (great person). If I can get many scientists, the chances of winning in the field of science will be greater. 

Ideology, of course, doesn't just stop at these three choices, How come. When you start to enter the second to fourth age, the choice of ideology will be more developed. In the third age, there is also the ideology of democracy You know!

Watch Out for Disasters!

Examples of drought natural disasters

In this CIV 6 game, I think it is more challenging with the presence of features disaster. The disasters in this game are also Relate with disasters that commonly occur on earth, How come, There are floods, droughts, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions.

Every country is bound to experience these disasters, but it also depends on the location. If you happen to get a location in the desert, you will usually be hit by drought. If you happen to be in a desert, you're likely to be hit by a drought, while if you're at sea, you're likely to be hit by a tornado.

Well, these disasters can also damage facilities in your country. And, usually the presence of this disaster makes citizens lose their sense of 'fun'. So, here players must be ready and rack their brains to bring things back to normal.

For example, you can quickly repair facilities damaged by disasters. Or, if you want to avoid flood disasters, it is highly recommended to build dam/dams. 

However, some disasters are inevitable. If you feel overwhelmed in coping with a disaster, you can why ask for help from other countries. Usually they will send aid in the form of money, food, or production so that we can repair damaged state facilities more quickly.

Just One More Turn!

For some reason, I think CIV is one of those games that is very addictive. Even though there is no story like RPG games (because it's not an RPG game), I always want to play and play until the end. In fact, I don't think CIV 6 has an ending.

I could spend all day just playing this game. Even if I've won, the game will usually give me the option to continue playing or return to the main menu. But, I always choose to... play again or the term here is just one more turn.

I'm always intrigued by all the possibilities. For example, if I want to try to nuke another country, or if I want to try to wage war on another country using robots, both of them result in output which is different. So, it's really curious.

And, this game makes players always think strategically. Each level will make us feel more challenged to continue conquering other countries with various possibilities. So, it doesn't make you bored because this game provides many 'possibilities' that will happen in the future.

Love the Music!

In addition to the challenging features, CIV also offers other advantages that make me really feel at home to continue playing, namely music. Yup, the music in CIV 6 is very, very good. All the music really represents each country.

And of course one of the music that I love the most is from Indonesia. The music that accompanies Indonesia feels very local. We can feel the sensation of a very Indonesian culture through the music.

There is a touch of Javanese and Balinese gamelan that is so thick. We will immediately familiar with its music that has a 'very Indonesian empire' feel to it. 

For friends who are curious about the music, you can click the YouTube video link above! Highly recommended for listening to music from other countries!

Built on History

CIV 6 is not a project to be messed around with. The game does extensive research into the history of each country featured in the game.

At first, I thought this was just fiction, but it turns out that with a little googling, every description of the leader of the country, and all the great people that are present in this game really exist in the real story.

Let's take the example of Dyah Gitarja from Indonesia. At first I wondered, why didn't CIV 6 take the King of Majapahit or Gajah Mada as the leader of Indonesia?

And, to be honest, I never knew about Dyah Gitarja until I played this game. After I read a little bit, it turns out that Dyah Gitarja is indeed a very cool Indonesian leader!

Based on information from WikipediaDyah Gitarja or Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi was the Queen/Woman Leader of Majapahit from 1328-1351. She was the younger sister of Prabu Jayanegara, and the mother of Hayam Wuruk.

Dyah Gitarja was rarely discussed in my school days (or did I forget? I don't know). Well, she ruled during the Tribhuwana era, and is known for carrying out massive Majapahit expansion as well as the moment of the Palapa Pledge.

Anyone else just found out? So, if I may, Dyah Gitarja is probably the 'strong woman' of Indonesia's royal era. Unfortunately, there's not much history that tells us about her, and I only know this from games. 

Oh yes, not only the historical story is accurate, there is also a voice over for each character of the country's leader. And, specifically for Dyah Gitarja, she uses Javanese language You know! But, it looks like voice over Dyah Gitarja uses ancient royal Javanese, I don't know because I don't understand the meaning.

Although this game seems complicated because you have to take care of the civilization of a country, it's actually a very good game for teenagers. It's a strategy game that forces players to make smart choices about what to prioritize and what can wait a while.

In addition, each character description is based on history. So, teenagers can play while learning about the history of various countries. So, games are not always bad, because there are so many cool games that actually bring useful education to their players. How about it, do you want to try playing?