As I said in my preview for Civilization VII, the first game I’ve ever played was Civilization III. Back then, you could create your own Civ with its own custom name and traits. As a Filipino, it was a no-brainer to create one modeled after the Philippines, led by then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I had Manila, Quezon City, Cebu, and Davao as custom cities. It was a fun game of make-believe, but it’s nothing compared to the official Civs who got their own custom art, units, and abilities.

More than two decades later, Civilization VII is introducing Jose Rizal as the first playable Filipino leader in the entire series. Now, I don’t usually fall for #PinoyPride things, but it would be remiss of me to skip out on playing Rizal the first chance I got.

What’s different in Civilization VII?

Unlike the past games, leaders are divorced from their respective nations. For the first time ever in a Civilization game, you pick both a leader and the nation they represent. Both come with their own abilities. Besides creating interesting gameplay synergies, mixing and matching leaders and Civs can create weird and wacky historical combinations, such as Confucius leading the American people in the Modern Age.

Unfortunately, the game currently does not have the Philippines as a playable Civ. Rizal can lead only the unlikeliest of nations to victory. And yes, this includes the Spanish, the Americans, and the Japanese.

Winning the game is also different. Though there are still a handful of victory options, achieving one isn’t as straightforward. That’s because the game is divided into three distinct ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modernity. Each age has a Legacy Path for each victory condition. Think of it like a checklist for winning in a certain way.

In this game, there are four victory options: Culture, Military, Science, and Economic. Fulfilling the Legacy Path for these options don’t automatically grant victory in the first two ages. Rather, they grant powerful boons for the next age, once completed. Only their completion during the Modern Age counts as a complete victory.

Regardless, completing these Paths throughout all three ages is ideal. Naturally, this means that the historical pacifist Jose Rizal finds himself putting on several hats which historians never imagined him donning. But this is a Civilization game, where Gandhi dropping nukes on other Civs is a normal everyday occurrence.

What can Jose Rizal do in Civilization VII?

Every leader in Civilization VII has a unique ability that can give them a slight edge over the competition. Rizal’s ability focuses on Narrative Events, or randomly generated events that give the player rewards or quests. Each event gives Rizal additional culture and gold, two valuable resources.

Additionally, he experiences 50 percent longer Celebrations and at a much more frequent pace. (Whenever a Civ keeps its people happy, they go into a period of Celebration, which gives bonuses for a set number of turns. Usually, these are percentage boosts to science, culture, or production.)

Because of lengthier Celebrations, Rizal can pair well with any Civ and any victory condition. If Rizal players can keep their Civs happy, they can enjoy increased outputs more frequently.

In my opinion, Jose Rizal is the most versatile leader in Civilization VII. It’s also just entertaining to turn the hero into a colonialist warlord or an exploitative capitalist.

Rizal, a paragon of culture

Given the very slight edge that he gives to cultural playstyles, focusing on a cultural victory seems like the most natural choice for Rizal. While a cultural victory is not new to the series, it did get a massive overhaul.

Instead of the arcane Tourism system introduced in Civilization VI, achieving cultural greatness in the seventh outing is all about accumulation. It’s no longer about being the most popular Civ; rather, it’s about having the most artifacts and wonders. This Legacy Path also eliminated religious victories by turning religion into the primary way to obtain Relics, the keys to progressing the path during the Exploration Age.

I am admittedly disappointed at the system’s removal of complexity. In the past, I had to learn and master a completely different system. It was satisfying to figure out how to entice everyone’s tourists to prefer my Civ over others. Now, in Civilization VII, it’s just about racing to build the most wonders, or rushing missionaries and explorers to reach foreign settlements and archeological digs before the AI does.

Rizal, the good doctor

Because the national hero was also a physician, a science victory is the next best thing, historically speaking. Much like other Civilization games in the past, you can obtain a science victory by becoming the most scientifically advanced Civ and launching a space-themed project. This is my favorite victory condition in the entire series. Researching technologies the fastest also meant having the stronger units compared to less advanced Civ.

In Civilization VII, the science-focused Legacy Path is less straightforward. In the first age, it’s all about accumulating the most Codices, items created primarily by researching certain technologies. It feels a bit too similar to the accumulation mechanics of a cultural path.

On the other hand, the Exploration Age is focused on city management. You need to build up five districts to produce at least 40 yields. In my opinion, this is a rewarding way to teach players how to maximize their cities. It also gives an alternative option to becoming a colonialist during the Exploration Age. It’s a bit inconsistent with what a science path should look like, but I am enjoying what we got.

Space comes into play only in the Modern Age. This is when it becomes a race to launch the first manned spaceflight. Veterans of the series should enjoy the final step of this Legacy Path.

Rizal, the capitalist

Now, it’s time to get into alternative history. I don’t think any historian can imagine Rizal as a capitalist. Historical facts don’t really matter in Civilization, though. Turning the national hero into a exploitative capitalist is just par for the course.

An economic victory is entirely new for the series but not unwanted. Even before the announcement of this game, players clamored for a way to win by becoming the richest nation in the world.

Contrary to the name, achieving an economic victory means more than just hoarding the most gold. Instead, it’s all about managing the most resources. Second only to a military victory, the economic legacy path is the most consistent victory condition throughout the ages.

In the Antiquity Age, it’s about grabbing and using 25 resources throughout your entire empire. In the Exploration Age, you create Treasure Fleets, periodically spawning ships created by settling near prized resources in other continents. Finally, in the Modernity Age, you accumulate Railroad points, obtained by manufacturing resources in factories and connecting settlements with railroads.

The economic path is a worthy addition to the series. It’s the perfect playstyle for expansionists because victory can be accomplished with or without a powerful military. If you prefer building up your empire peacefully, creating early settlers and settling in unclaimed lands is viable. Alternatively, taking competing settlements by force is another option.

Rizal, the colonialist war freak

It’s time to address the elephant in the room. Can you turn Rizal into a warlord? Absolutely.

One of the most enduring victory conditions throughout the series, a military victory naturally involves building the biggest army and capturing other nations with it. However, while you can always just completely eliminate other nations from the game, it’s not the only way anymore.

To achieve a military victory, you need to accumulate enough settlement points, obtained by owning enough cities and towns. Captured settlements from other nations count as two points. This increases even further for captured cities following the same religion or a different ideology.

Combat has been revamped, too. Instead of just throwing bodies at the problem, Civilization VII makes army commanders necessary. While you can still just stockpile enough units, trainable commanders enable strategy. That’s because only commanders can earn experience by being beside units that engage in combat. In turn, these commanders provide meaningful combat bonuses.

Capturing cities is also different. Instead of a single-tile capture point, cities can wall off more than one tile. Doing so necessitates invading armies to capture all walled tiles. Invading cities is a much more involved effort, and I love it.

Plus, there’s a weirdly satisfying schadenfreude at turning Jose Rizal into a colonialist war freak intent on seeking vengeance against historical colonial powers.

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While other leaders add abilities that sway your playstyles towards specific victory conditions, Jose Rizal is a true all-rounder that can fulfill any legacy path using his sparse kit. Lacking a significant focus, Rizal is the perfect leader to learn the ropes of Civilization VII.

If you’re starting off on Civilization VII as either a newcomer or a veteran, Rizal is a great option.

SEE ALSO: Civilization VII review: Reinventing the wheel to make it better