Millennia

Millennia is a perfectly adequate 4X strategy game that will be easy for players to pick up and play. It does not try to reinvent the wheel, for better or for worse.

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"Millennia: Premium Edition is a single-player and multiplayer 4X strategy game spanning 10,000 years of history. Create your own nation, experience different timelines, and dictate the course of history through 10 ages, from the first cities to space travel. Expect good game mechanics, lots of grinding, bugs, and replayability, along with awful graphics and great music."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

60%

Audience ScoreBased on 4,049 reviews

gameplay462 positive mentions

graphics226 negative mentions

Innovative age system that allows for unique gameplay experiences and replayability.
Engaging resource management and production chains that add depth to city building.
National spirits and government choices provide a customizable experience for players.

AI behavior is often erratic and overly aggressive, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
Performance issues, especially in the late game, can significantly slow down gameplay.
The user interface is clunky and lacks clarity, making it difficult to navigate and understand game mechanics.

gameplay
1,513 mentions
31 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Millennia" is characterized by its innovative mechanics, particularly the age system that introduces unique technologies and gameplay elements with each era, enhancing replayability. While many players appreciate the depth and complexity of the mechanics, some find the user interface confusing and the learning curve steep, leading to frustrations with the game's execution. Overall, the game offers a fresh take on the 4X genre, but it requires further polish and balancing to fully realize its potential.
- “For me, the gameplay is better than Civ V and Civ VI.”
- “The differing eras is quite an interesting feature as it adds not only different mechanics, but also different techs and units which changes things up.”
- “I really love the alternate age mechanic; I find that it does a great job spicing up and varying your many runs through the game.”
- “I don't love that every decision has a fanfare of screen openings and cut scenes; yes, I can probably turn it off, but it only took me a few hours of gameplay to get sick of it.”
- “The mechanics are slightly different from Civ, in ways that might be interesting to some, but might also just be overly complicated.”
- “The gameplay is just slow.”
graphics
1,051 mentions
13 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
22 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received significant criticism, with many reviewers describing them as outdated and reminiscent of early 2000s titles, particularly in the combat scenes. While some players find the visuals functional and not a dealbreaker, others feel they detract from the overall experience, especially when compared to contemporary 4X games like Civilization VI. Despite the graphical shortcomings, many users emphasize that the gameplay mechanics and strategic depth are compelling enough to overlook the visual flaws.
- “The artwork for the game is really good; there's not enough of it, but what's there is awesome.”
- “The graphics are not the best, but more than good enough, and the added complexity compared to Civ 6 is awesome.”
- “I enjoy the art style as a healthy middle ground between Civ V's realism and Civ VI's more stylized look.”
- “The graphics feel so terribly outdated, but still the save game feature takes seconds to complete.”
- “I really wanted to like this game, but the graphics and quick movements were just an eyesore to me :(”
- “The graphics are, frankly, outdated, and not in a 'invoking the nostalgia of older games' way.”
optimization
332 mentions
10 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a significant concern, with many players reporting severe performance drops in the mid to late game, making it nearly unplayable at times. While some updates have improved performance, issues persist, particularly with graphics and UI, leading to frustration among users. Overall, the game shows promise but requires substantial optimization to enhance the gameplay experience.
- “Edit: September 30 update improved a lot for me in terms of late game performance, so I'm changing my review to positive.”
- “Overall, I think it's got a lot of promise, and any game that I enjoy for 30+ hours feels like a good value to me, but it could be a really good game if they fix the performance issues and add some more interesting maps.”
- “While there are some rough edges at launch, such as performance difficulties (not game breaking just annoying), I am confident that with time and some updates this game will be extremely well polished and a serious rival to the civilization series that I love.”
- “But the performance is ridiculously bad: after turn 250 the game is unplayable.”
- “Lack of optimization is honestly the worst of them; in late game with standard game rules, the game runs incredibly slow, and at the later stages managing cities is the worst hell you can imagine.”
- “The performance degrades severely mid-game and there are a lot of bugs, nothing breaking the game but very annoying, especially the one that keeps focusing the screen on a weird place on the map.”
replayability
182 mentions
43 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability, primarily due to its innovative age system and diverse national spirits, which encourage varied strategies and playstyles in each session. Players appreciate the depth and complexity introduced by the alternate ages, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging. However, some reviewers note that the lack of distinct nation identities and certain optimization issues may limit the overall replay value in the long run.
- “In summary, if you're looking for a fresh, engaging strategy experience with deep replayability, Millennia is an excellent pick—and an exciting new contender in the 4x genre.”
- “The replayability is insane; the gameplay mechanics fit neatly together, the possibilities are endless, and you are constantly struggling to find good decisions.”
- “The combination of alternate ages and the many different national spirits really ups the replayability of the game.”
- “While this (and the custom nation builder) are great for those who like lots of customization (and I definitely would not recommend getting rid of these features), it places a huge limit on replayability when every nation you play is essentially the same.”
- “Starting age, features (such as religion) on/off, etc. this lack of customization options severely limits replayability and strategic depth.”
- “The graphics are low quality, the sound design is average, the replayability is pretty badly thought out since you can't adjust or edit the world you want to play in.”
grinding
102 mentions
2 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of "Millennia" is frequently criticized for its tediousness, particularly in the late game where micromanagement, slow progression through ages, and repetitive combat animations detract from the overall experience. Players express frustration with the lack of features like auto-explore and the overwhelming presence of mindless enemies, which contribute to a sense of slogging through gameplay rather than enjoying it. While the early game is often seen as engaging, many reviewers feel that the game ultimately becomes a tedious chore, requiring significant balance adjustments and quality-of-life improvements.
- “Realm expansion: natural border growth that is not too tedious and can actually be manipulated.”
- “Worse still, unless you force peace with them, the AI will never peace out of a war, making an already slow game a tedious slog.”
- “The game becomes tedious as it prevents players from significantly advancing or customizing their starting age, forcing a slow and repetitive progression through the ages.”
- “Overall it is tedious and painful, and the more turns, the worse the performance.”
stability
62 mentions
10 % positive mentions
3 % neutral mentions
87 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs, especially during late-game scenarios, leading to freezes and performance issues. While some users noted that the game runs smoothly with minimal downtime, many others experienced significant glitches that hindered gameplay, particularly in multiplayer modes. Overall, the game is considered unpolished and in need of substantial fixes to improve its stability.
- “The game runs impressively fast with little downtime and no glitches.”
- “Also runs great on the deck.”
- “From what I've heard online, the game is also rather bug-free.”
- “Honestly, this is just a sad buggy excuse for a Civ clone.”
- “Game has several freezing bugs and upgrade glitches that need to be worked out before the game is playable in full.”
- “Too many glitches, the game slowed to a crawl during the plague age, and the gameplay itself feels clunky and outdated.”
music
54 mentions
30 % positive mentions
52 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its quality and the way it evolves through different ages, particularly highlighting standout tracks from the Age of Revolutions and Age of Heroes. However, many find the soundtrack repetitive and lacking in standout pieces, with calls for more options to customize the music experience. Overall, while some enjoy the relaxing quality of the music, others feel it detracts from immersion due to its limitations and lack of variety.
- “The music is good and the overall idea is just great.”
- “Some of the music is just fantastic, especially the Age of Revolutions and Age of Heroes, but it does get repetitive if you are in one age for a while, and some of the music isn't as good as others.”
- “Also, the OST is awesome and fits perfectly with the ages I've experienced so far.”
- “Music feels just irritating and repetitive.”
- “The soundtrack is also terrible.”
- “Weak soundtrack: no good standout tracks and I found the music starting to get quite repetitive after only 4 hours of play.”
story
34 mentions
18 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The game's story is shaped by its age progression and quest mechanics, which provide a unique narrative experience with varied content across different ages, particularly in the Age of Heroes and Age of Discovery. However, players feel that interactions with other nations are limited and often frustrating, leading to a lack of emergent storytelling. While the game offers a mix of storytelling elements reminiscent of other strategy titles, some find the overall narrative experience to be bland and generic, lacking the depth and engagement seen in other games.
- “The age of heroes sending people on quests and the age of discovery going on expeditions added so much flavor!”
- “Not only does it have strong storytelling through those systems, but it makes city building and management more interesting than any other 4X I've seen with Anno-esque production chains.”
- “Each game plays a new story every time.”
- “China and Germany don't look or feel different; it's difficult to have an emergent story when everything looks the same.”
- “Even in other games like the Warhammer 4X games, there were ample bits of text for things like quests and interactions, while here things feel bland and generic.”
- “The game sells it as a new mechanic (calling it a new 'need' for your population and new 'domain' or 'spirit' or something else), but it is basically the same old story, just another resource you need to farm.”
humor
22 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from its absurd scenarios and alternative historical events, which players find both entertaining and laugh-inducing. Many reviews highlight the comedic value of low-quality graphics and clumsy animations, with some moments being described as "hilariously bad" and meme-worthy. Overall, players appreciate the unexpected humor that arises from the game's unconventional mechanics and settings.
- “I really enjoyed the more modern ages; for example, if you kept your religion aspect around, you could advance into a fundamentalist faction and then coerce other nations to convert and then denounce the heathen. Hahaha, that was hilarious and awesome.”
- “Let Icarus survive from the Age of Heroes and lead an army of tanks; it's quite a hilarious scenario, and it also makes me want to explore the ages I haven't set my foot into.”
- “The combat animation is so bad it becomes hilarious, well meme-worthy.”
monetization
10 mentions
10 % positive mentions
10 % neutral mentions
80 % negative mentions
The monetization strategies in various games, such as Total War and Cities: Skylines II, have drawn criticism for relying heavily on DLCs and microtransactions, often perceived as cash grabs. While some titles showcase creative content, many players feel that the passion behind the games is overshadowed by aggressive monetization practices, particularly in franchises like The Sims 4 and Ubisoft's offerings. Overall, there is a growing sentiment against exploitative monetization in the gaming industry.
- “Notable examples include Total War's Shadows of Change DLC and Total War Pharaoh, Cities: Skylines II's beachfront properties, Victoria 3's Voice of the People, a number of HOI IV/EU IV/CK III DLCs to choose from, almost all of EA's The Sims 4 DLCs, and Ubisoft's descent into microtransactions.”
- “It's such a shame to see something that has passion behind it be crushed in what feels like another Paradox cash grab.”
- “Notable examples include Total War's Shadows of Change DLC and Total War Pharaoh, Cities Skylines II's beachfront properties, Victoria 3's Voice of the People, a number of HOI IV/EU IV/CK III DLCs to choose from, almost all of EA's The Sims 4 DLCs, and Ubisoft's descent into microtransactions.”
- “It's the opposite of minimalist incremental EA Sports year-over-year cash grabs.”
emotional
6 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely downplayed, as players are not expected to form bonds with characters, likening them to mere stick figures. Instead, the focus is on the innovative mechanics and unique approach to the 4x genre, which captivates even seasoned players of similar games. However, some players express frustration with the high costs of certain actions, which can detract from the overall experience.
atmosphere
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its immersive sound effects and appealing graphics, which together create a nostalgic and engaging environment. Reviewers appreciate how these elements enhance the overall experience, contributing to a strong sense of atmosphere.
- “The graphics, to me personally, I like it; there is a reminiscent atmosphere to it.”
- “Extremely atmospheric sound effects.”