Edit: Playing more with the DLC it isn't *entirely* a flash in the pan on the timeline as the megafauna setting basically creates a second version of barbarian camps in megafauna dens which are like a combo between barb camps and tribal villages and they can stick around pretty long especially on higher difficulties and give you a nice boost with 0 upkeep megafauna units you can acquire (they fall off quick but are nice early game) and various exp rewards which come in real handy.

The new Messengers National Spirit is also fairly strong in its niche, not outshining any of the others unilaterally but allowing you to acquire a massive population boost to your homeland and acquire a LOT of outposts/pioneers which are very valuable (you just gotta protect them) if there's even a few nearby neutral minor nations.

Original Review:
This is definitely a maybe, see if you like the base game before considering this as its kind of just fluff on top of what the main game has to offer.

The upsides is, its more millennia, you get a new national spirit and a new government type for the early game, pretty cool.

The downside is, the new mini-era at the start of the game where you're crawling out of the ice-age barely lasts a few turns, along with the megafauna present, its really a blink-and-you-miss-it thing with all of the features being bundled up in the early game.

Its flavorful and cool but it really is just fluff at the end of the day unfortunately. The only thing that actually persists into the later portions of the game is the Messengers national spirit, since all the unlocked bonuses persist the whole game unlike the government bonuses.

Edit: Playing more with the DLC it isn't *entirely* a flash in the pan on the timeline as the megafauna setting basically creates a second version of barbarian camps in megafauna dens which are like a combo between barb camps and tribal villages and they can stick around pretty long especially on higher difficulties and give you a nice boost with 0 upkeep megafauna units you can acquire (they fall off quick but are nice early game) and various exp rewards which come in real handy. The new Messengers National Spirit is also fairly strong in its niche, not outshining any of the others unilaterally but allowing you to acquire a massive population boost to your homeland and acquire a LOT of outposts/pioneers which are very valuable (you just gotta protect them) if there's even a few nearby neutral minor nations. Original Review: This is definitely a maybe, see if you like the base game before considering this as its kind of just fluff on top of what the main game has to offer. The upsides is, its more millennia, you get a new national spirit and a new government type for the early game, pretty cool. The downside is, the new mini-era at the start of the game where you're crawling out of the ice-age barely lasts a few turns, along with the megafauna present, its really a blink-and-you-miss-it thing with all of the features being bundled up in the early game. Its flavorful and cool but it really is just fluff at the end of the day unfortunately. The only thing that actually persists into the later portions of the game is the Messengers national spirit, since all the unlocked bonuses persist the whole game unlike the government bonuses.