I liked the land battles at the time, though they were definitely limited compared to its contemporaries. Dancing and sword fighting were unfun for sure. A modernization would be awesome, the closest experiences for me have been AC Black Flag and Rebel Galaxy.

What's the Civ VII dev team doing these days?

I can't help but wonder if those parts of the game kind of work as a dirty bit, a fat friend, that makes the rest of the game feel that much better.

Port Royale (and many other games) kind of take the core aspects of Pirates (open world, combat, trade, pinnace to ship of the line, retirement, piracy/privateering, and so on) and then try to expand on it allowing one to operate multiple fleets, developing cities, and many other such things - with no particularly annoying aspect. And they're enjoyable, but somehow don't come anywhere near Pirates, and I can't think of any particular reason why not.

Actually come to think of it, most of every great game I can think of also had some really really terrible aspects. For a more popular example, the combat in Skyrim is some of the worst in any RPG. But perhaps these failings make the rest of the game shine that much more.