A very strange game with a very strange view of history. On the one hand you have the freedom to run over entire nations, on the other an extremely strict view of the overarching "progress" of humanity. This strictness ranges from the mostly understandable, like defined regions, to the absolutely bizarre, like "embracing colonialism" actually being a paid boost to trade and science, one you'd be stupid not to get. The result is a game that doesn't feel like it's being played so much as being history LARPed.

I'd be interested in a game with more creativity behind its systems but I've heard from a friend that even Stellaris is like this, somehow.