FE ignited my hunger for a 2x strategy game. FE, however, is in Beta and doesn't have the magical awesome charm yet that I found in GalCiv2: Twlight, Civ 4, and... Civ 5.

I finally bought Civ 4 the other day and from the beginning, it felt polished and smooth. Progression through the turns was consistent and fun. It FELT like I was progressing. The interface was refined. There was no unnecessary clicking ("Done" buttons, "Build" buttons). I had something to do every turn. I was never just hitting next turn and my cities are always building something.

I don't find all of these to be true in FE. I'm not saying FE should aspire to copy Civ 5, but I hope you guys looked at it. I know in Gal Civ 2 you looked at Civ 4.

I don't feel like I progress in FE all the time. I get a lot of spells that I never have to use, and I have to research techs to get one thing I really need or want. I'm going to keep playing Civ 5 and FE and try to narrow down exactly why Civ 5 feels so smooth. FE, most of the time, feels awkward to play (it's gotten a lot better the last patch, but it's still awkard).