In the Studio Profile I did on Kalypso a little while ago I talked about Tropico feeling a bit same-y. The series, in my mind, started to get a little stale. I hope this newest instalment in the series is the fresh breath of air the series needs.
Same old, same old?
At the start of the game, it immediately feels like coming home. The atmosphere, the look, the music and the dulcet voice of Penultimo all take me back to what made the previous games so relaxing to play. 
I immediately settle into my old habits, placing buildings all around the island, keeping some space for what I planned for the future. And there I hit the first snag. The transport system has been revamped. Now the Tropicans move slower, more realistically, urging me to actually plan out my transportation. Luckily the game offers some interesting new options in that regard.
My Tropicans can walk, obviously. But by strategically placing the right buildings, I can open up the option to go by car, by bus or even by cable car. And when a Tropican needs to visit the next island to visit the clinic or to go to work, there are bridges or boats to cater to that need.
The Archipelago
That brings us to what is at first glance the biggest change in Tropico 6. No longer are you limited to one island at the time. You now rule an entire archipelago. Several islands, each with their own characteristics are waiting for your benevolent rule. 
This addition makes the game more challenging, as resources are more scattered and getting to them requires more investment. It also changes the way the game is played. And that is closely linked to the new and improved simulation that is the foundation of the game.
The simulation
When playing for a while, you notice that things no longer work as you are used to. The basic mechanics of building, improving and finetuning are still there. But the way the Tropicans approach life has changed quite a bit.
An example. Quite early in my tutorial game, I noticed that my workers in a mine were not working. Obviously, I needed to know why that was the case. El Presidente cannot tolerate slacking off when there is money to made for the glory of all Tropico. So I dove into the overlays and the information I could gather about said workers. And it turned out it was my fault. They lived so far from their workplace that it took them ages to get there. And the workers are no longer the docile people they were in the previous games. They have needs and will fulfil them. If that means that they work less, or not at all, so be it.
So, about 20% of my workers were working. The rest was going to church, visiting a tavern or in transit towards the mine. As I proceeded in the game, I kept stumbling onto that particular issue a lot. Now, it does feel a bit unbalanced at the moment, the ratio between spare time and work seems to be a bit too much in favour of leisure.
One to look out for?
In the first few hours of playing, I really got into the game again. Despite my earlier misgivings about its repetitiveness, the series seems to have taken a new direction, while keeping what is fun to play with. Along the line, some mechanics, like the succession I really liked in Tropico 5 (I appear to stand rather alone in that), have bitten the dust. But El Presidente still rules with an iron fist and brings out the best in his subjects.
I for one am happy with the direction it is taking and see that the developers are responsive to the community, both in adding some things that have been on the wishlist since Tropico 3 and by bringing back favourites like the speeches. I hope they will patch out the graphics glitches I have been seeing and add some improvements to the UI. I will keep watching this game and have a little gameplay video planned for early next week.
Disclaimer: I got this beta-key for free from the developers.
