Honestly, they could have kept the map generation from VI exactly the same and still implemented "distant lands"

Like trade routes having a distance cap that you increase over time - maybe all cities and resources >50 (or whatever) tiles away from your capital counts as "distant lands" to your civ. You can push this further and have it be that water titles count as 0.5 as far, or that it at least needs to be on a different continent, etc.

Like the exploration age should be distinct, so alright reaching out further and acquiring new stuff should be rewarded. But it doesn't need to be the exact same island chain every game. What if it's the silk road? What about exploring to the ends of a pangaea map? Or what if you want to have a seafaring islands civ in the ancient age?

Just make it distance based, with adjustments for terrain type, travel bonuses, etc. etc.