For Civ it is. It's a pretty big title. It's the easy entry into the genre of big sprawling tech+strategy games, but it's not meant to be EU4. I play Civ as a casual game when I'm burned out from EU4. (I should really pick up and continue my Mare Nostrum attempt.)

Ah, just had a good Mamluks run in EU4 :) Left Civ to Paradox (thru HOI1) after Civ4. Nice to see a fellow Paradox player

I see Civ as the gateway drug to Paradox games. "Do you think Civ is too shallow and insufficiently historical? Well, check out these games!"