Civ 5

It's a classic example of a phenomenon I call the Chick Parabola (not because it's my fault, but because I keep noticing it!). This is a curve that charts how much you like a game. As you're climbing that curve, you're learning the game and all the cool stuff in it, liking it better all the time. As you work your way up that parabola in Civilization V, you'll discover the new city-states are the bee's knees, allowing limited wars, and even wars by proxy, as well as some gratifying sideline diplomacy. You'll find that having to "use" resources does a great job of modeling historical realities, such as Europe lording its horses over indigenous populations or oil putting geopolitical focus on the Middle East. You'll breathe a sigh of relief at how city defenses mean armies don't have to play stay-at-home babysitters any more. You'll see that a lot of the series' messy modern warfare is tidied up, and you might even be won over by the goofy endgame Giant Death Robots. You'll come to appreciate how technology advances of its own accord rather than serving as a gold sink. And you'll see that, just like in real life, gold is now useful for pretty much everything.

At the apex of the curve, you've discovered these things and you're in love. You have pink hearts where your eyes should be. Ideally, this is where any game should stay.

But here's the rub: once you've learned a game, you know enough to see how good the A.I. is. Or isn't, in the case of Civilization V. The design revolves around a new tactical combat system where units have to carefully move around the terrain and protect each other. You note France marching towards you with a cannon and a terrible array of musketeers, only to squander them by not realizing that it should set up the cannons behind a screen of musketeers and advance on your position. Enemy archers stand toe-to-toe with the swordsmen who will kill them. Cavalry fling themselves into pikemen. Frigates don't seem to understand that your ironclads have them outgunned. Armies just stay home while you pillage merrily. Cities fall obligingly.