Overall, I think they did a decent job with Tropico 5. They tried to mix things up a bit while keeping it true to its roots. Some of the additions work very well, while others fall short. At first, I had some complaints about the lack of trait choices for El Presidente, but these were moved into the Constitution and Dynasty systems, which tend to be more interesting. The Eras work well for what they do, but I can see how some people may be turned off by it, as it can limit what you can build. The Research system is interesting, but like the eras, it just seems to delay what you can build. It would have been more interesting if there were branches that permanently enabled or disabled other research projects. The ability to renovate buildings is a very welcome addition, though it does tend to "reset" a building (pricing, costs, etc). Trade was made a little more interesting, and you can bring in some extra revenue with it, but you are not really penalized if you don't take advantage of it, which I am OK with as some people may not want to have to mess with that. Exploration isn't nearly as useful as one would imagine, since by the time you really want to start exploring, you've researched the tech that reveals the map. The higher emphasis on military and troops (not on an RTS level, it is still automated), was welcome, but can also be annoying. Once an invasion begins, you cannot complete any military buildings (as far as I can tell, they sit at 99% until you either repel all of the attackers, or they destroy your palace). I have not yet played multiplayer, though I do plan on it.
