- Warning -
Yes. I'm openly criticizing Civilization 7 in this post.
Chinese Leader: Confucius.
His Unique Ability: Keju.
His Agenda: Guanxi.
What the heck......?
Honestly speaking, I was pretty disappointed at Firaxis when I learned that Confucius will be the Chinese Leader in the new game. Some other Chinese Leaders may be added, but Confucius is not fit for the Leader position. He was a great philosopher, indeed, but he never took a significant role in Chinese policies. Instead, he cast about a leader who actually ruled (the part of) China and will accept his thoughts, but with no success. Some might say there is no law against selecting a philosopher or social activist as a Leader. Still, I disagree with this because every Leader (other than some female Leaders of Civ 2 and CTP) took at least some political role.
Also, because there were countless dynasties, kingdoms, and empires, there are TONS of other historical characters who never appeared in the game and are much fit for Leader. Some brilliant and great emperors, such as Zhenzong or Renzong of the Song Dynasty or Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, still wait for the call from Firaxis, and if they want historical figures from the Warring States period that badly, I still can suggest many fitting Leaders such as Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Mu of Qin, Duke Wen of Jin, or King Zhuang of Chu. But it's no other than Confucius? Sigh......
Still, I decided to wait and see what would happen, and now this.
The names of Confucius' Unique Ability and Agenda also don't make sense. Keju is the Chinese name for imperial exmination, the system established in 605, about a MILLENNIUM after Confucius's passing. I am not happy to see William the Conqueror with an ability named Balfour Declaration or Charlemagne with a Free France ability. For Guanxi, I couldn't find any evidence it's deeply connected with Confucius.
Suppose I design Confucius as a Leader. In that case, I will include Analects, an everlasting Great Work of Writing that contains sayings of him, as a name for his Unique Ability. Temples of Literature or something about Confucianism will make sense for his Agenda.
It took 3 days to recover from the shock of the news that Catherine de Medici will be the Leader of France in Civ 6, and I wonder how many days will be needed to recover from this shock. As a World History fan, this alone makes me hesitate to purchase this game because I can't tell how many more abominations like this will be added in the future.
