Either way though, their space roots are absolutely showing here as there seems to be an unbalanced against the historical games and their fantasy spin-offs
A couple points...
1.) Space 4x titles make up only half the games on that list.
2.) I suspect that -- directly or indirectly -- this is at least partially due to how many 4x games are set in space (versus historical, fantasy, etc.). Given the numbers, sheer Law of Averages meant that at least a plurality of the games on the list were probably going to be space 4x titles.
I would be curious why they didn't include one of the EU titles in this list.
Because they're not 4x games. The EU series are grand-strategy, just like the rest of Paradox's portfolio (Stellaris being the lone exception).
I'm not sure I would have put DWU in the #1 slot. Not sure who I would have though. I've been playing it again. While I enjoy it, there are some very frustrating and glaring issues with it.
DWU admittedly isn't my personal #1 either; I would rank it either 2nd or 3rd on my own list. However, given the degree to which a lot of folks *do* enjoy the game, combined with the overall influence/impact it's had on the genre (which was one of the criteria used to select their games for the list), I can see why it made the top spot.
I keep hearing people say Civ IV was the better of than Civ games...why? What changed that left that one king?
It was the last Civ game where the AI was decent (and without obvious cheating), and it doesn't look cartoony like Civ VI. It was also the last game in the series to not inflict that 1UPT nonsense on the player.