I'm thinking of trying it because it's on sale, I was a big fan of Victoria 2 but always hated how it encouraged you to become a socialist/liberal democracy at the end of the game to maximize pop growth and the economy.

Looking over the artwork for Victoria 3 this game looks to be that but dialed up to 11. How bad is it? Is playing a reactionary absolute monarchy viable or are you bottlenecked until you enact the reforms the developers want you to take?