This is the new Simcity.
I was never good at Simcity or knew what I was doing when I played it for years as a kid. While I didn't understand the UI and management aspect of a city, I understood the vague premise: create zones until you make money to build service buildings.
Coming in to Cities: Skylines a couple of decades later and understanding the genre a bit better, I've come to appreciate the micro-management within this kind of city-builder. However, there's more important parts to this game than I've ever seen in a city-builder.
The first part is the actual relationship between systems, from a citizen arriving in your city, building a home, getting a job, and driving between both, everything inch of the city feels like it talks to one another. It's not just zoning and distances from service buildings, but rather, the route, schools, industries, taxes, policies and every aspect of a city-dweller's life feels intricate.
The levelling system is very incredible, especially with the Industries DLC. Towns unlock new features, buildings and policies as they grow, and it impacts playstyle - and vise-versa. I feel limited with a new city, but I feel like it's important, and that my city has grown because of my decisions.
While there's a lot of working systems together, the tutorial and onboarding seems to work well. I'm a veteran of the genre, and while it did come easy for me, learning the new mechanics Cities: Skylines brings to the playing field was well communicated to me.
The one thing that I can't stand, and I know other players feel the same way, is the traffic system. While I understand a lot of what this game explains to me, right down to the reason a building was abandoned and why it was my fault, I can't seem to figure out traffic. I'll build the most progressive and free bussing system ever imagined, but people still choose to drive and block intersections where emergency vehicles will have to get through.
As well, some of those limitations feel frustrating, especially on multiple playthroughs. While I know I want to eventually build a higher-level building, I'm offered expensive lower-level buildings that I'm not inclined to build. The sectioning off of what I can and can't do sometimes feels arbitrary or confusing.
However, this is an incredible city-builder that despite some pushback to the seamless and fun gameplay, it holds up after almost a decade. It also makes me want to buy the sequel immediately when I don't normally buy new releases until sales and patches. I'm just too excited to see what will be coming from Cities: Skylines 2!
I was never good at Simcity or knew what I was doing when I played it for years as a kid. While I didn't understand the UI and management aspect of a city, I understood the vague premise: create zones until you make money to build service buildings.
Coming in to Cities: Skylines a couple of decades later and understanding the genre a bit better, I've come to appreciate the micro-management within this kind of city-builder. However, there's more important parts to this game than I've ever seen in a city-builder.
The first part is the actual relationship between systems, from a citizen arriving in your city, building a home, getting a job, and driving between both, everything inch of the city feels like it talks to one another. It's not just zoning and distances from service buildings, but rather, the route, schools, industries, taxes, policies and every aspect of a city-dweller's life feels intricate.
The levelling system is very incredible, especially with the Industries DLC. Towns unlock new features, buildings and policies as they grow, and it impacts playstyle - and vise-versa. I feel limited with a new city, but I feel like it's important, and that my city has grown because of my decisions.
While there's a lot of working systems together, the tutorial and onboarding seems to work well. I'm a veteran of the genre, and while it did come easy for me, learning the new mechanics Cities: Skylines brings to the playing field was well communicated to me.
The one thing that I can't stand, and I know other players feel the same way, is the traffic system. While I understand a lot of what this game explains to me, right down to the reason a building was abandoned and why it was my fault, I can't seem to figure out traffic. I'll build the most progressive and free bussing system ever imagined, but people still choose to drive and block intersections where emergency vehicles will have to get through.
As well, some of those limitations feel frustrating, especially on multiple playthroughs. While I know I want to eventually build a higher-level building, I'm offered expensive lower-level buildings that I'm not inclined to build. The sectioning off of what I can and can't do sometimes feels arbitrary or confusing.
However, this is an incredible city-builder that despite some pushback to the seamless and fun gameplay, it holds up after almost a decade. It also makes me want to buy the sequel immediately when I don't normally buy new releases until sales and patches. I'm just too excited to see what will be coming from Cities: Skylines 2!