Civilization 7 Adds New Feature That Makes Every Game Worth Finishing

While the launch of Civilization 7 is closing in, many fans are still keeping their eyes on some of the significant design changes being made in this installment. Much of Civ 7 is expected to feel familiar compared to previous games, but they're making some big alterations beginning with the separation of leaders and civs. In the latest dev diary, Firaxis has revealed a new mechanic for Civilization 7 that aims to make every single game worth finishing.

Civilization 7 Legends and Mementos to Make a Major Impact

After nearly a decade of development, it's no surprise that much of Civilization 7 was aiming to refine some of the struggles seen in previous games while accentuating the strengths of this new installment. This was discussed in early reveals as developers highlighted how changes to the ages system and an emphasis on layered building look to take away the "snowballing" effect of late game Civ 6 where the sheer number of actions per turn becomes unwieldy.

In their latest Civ 7 dev diary, the new Legends and Mementos systems have been unveiled. Referred to as a meta progression system, as it will work outside of the confines of a single campaign, this new mechanic will provide incentives for players to keep each game going until the end.

If a campaign goes sideways in Civ 6 and victory looks impossible, it becomes difficult to justify continuing things until it all collapses at the end. Sometimes AI could take quite a while to seize victory, and the snowballing that made the late game in Civ 6 so time consuming also makes holding onto certain defeat seem pointless. In Civ 7, there will be unlockable bonuses tied to paths and challenges that will make even losses have some long-term benefit.

Civilization 7 will utilize a Foundation Path where players level up over time based on every single game they've played, but there will also be a unique Leader Path tied to challenges specific to each of the game's many leaders. In both cases, these paths will allow players to unlock some fun cosmetic collectibles and the new Mementos. The cosmetic options will only service to spice up your player card, but Mementos have a major gameplay impact.

Every single leader in Civilization 7 has a maximum of two Memento slots, and Mementos unlocked with these paths can be equipped for any leader in the game. Each provides a unique bonus that varies widely, and they'll provide new ways for players to augment their larger Civ 7 strategies. With some Mementos tied to challenges that may require a total number of finished campaigns or other specific tasks, the system hopes to give players a reason to play out even games where they're struggling to see how that narrative wraps up.

For players worried about the impact this will make on gameplay, the Mementos system will be something that can be disabled in game creation if anyone would rather keep it out of the equation for multiplayer and online matches. The dev diary also stressed to players that this will not operate like a Battle Pass and no microtransactions will allow players to gain progress in this system. We'll have to wait and see how the system feels when Civilization 7 arrives, but as of now this looks like a huge boost to the game that will make every single campaign worth finishing.