This game is a lot of fun for people that like the idea of playing a dynasty in the context of history. The historical titbits are rather interesting and relatively well written. The various roles you take on are capable of directly impacting the game world, which can be exciting. Building the houses and other sites and upgrading them is nice, especially since you're passing your estate down generation after generation.
However, there are not enough different roles to play. There are not many career paths and the majority of the elected/appointed positions have little to no value other than making you eligible for a higher position on the food chain. One problem there is that the computer players are not limited in this way. Many NPC's are elected to offices far above your station without holding any office what-so-ever - a feat impossible for the player. The combat, such as it is, is horrendous. This is not simply a condition of the game's era, either. The scheme for selecting your units does not work (dragging a box) half the time and you must individually select them from the bar at the top with their faces. Of course, they often all have the same face and their position in the bar is unrelated to their position on the battle field. Then there is the path finding - or complete lack thereof. I have one combat more than once by simply not doing anything and watching the AI also not do anything for the entire 5 minutes or so that combat can last. Really, quite disappointing.
The economy is almost interesting, but is mostly artificial as far as I can tell. Yes, you can flood the market with a product and lower its cost (screwing the competition), but it quickly 'resets'. There is also no way (as far as can tell) to determine the age of the wo/men you are to court for marriage prior to marrying them. I was quite the black widower in one of my dynasties - marrying women who died within the very game term I married them over and over - despite never intending to do so.
I'd say it's worth the price of admission, but one must understand that it's under-polished and be prepared to be deal with the flaws.
