Civilization for me... I don't mind the newer versions but I'm old enough that I've played it since Civ I and I do sort of feel like it's lost something as the graphics have improved and animations were introduced.
Still, irrespective of the version, every game is a little different and eats hours like nothing else.
I do sort of feel like it’s lost something as the graphics have improved and animations were introduced
Have you tried Unciv? https://yairm210.itch.io/unciv It's a free and open source remake of Civ 5 and already supports many of its features. I really enjoy playing it as it's much less hardware intensive which makes for near instant loading times and keeps the computer nice and cool on hot summer days.