Ok I'm going to bed
Spent 4 hours fucking around as Nazi Plains Ingen shithole.
Couldn't really do anything, couldn't balance my buget, I might be able to finangle my way through a war against my neighbors if I convince my allies to support me but also maybe I can't.
I think this game has the potential to be the greatest strategy game of all time. I'm not sure if it is or isn't yet. I can say that playing as Nazi Plains Ingens is pretty boring but I'll probably come back to them tomorrow because I'm genuinely curious as to if I can get them to work or not.
No idea if European nations are any better haven't even watched any streams or played them myself outside of the quick speed test I ran as England (also I can say the game has slowed down already just 5 years in but not to a crawl...yet)
I think it's extremely similar to Imperator which is a good thing (I liked Imperator) with a better economy system and a bit deeper character focus as well. One issue with Imperator was that it felt pointless to do anything other than blob. Maybe the economy stuff in EU5 will make it feel more fun to develop an economy instead. I doubt the character stuff will ever be fleshed out enough to make it similar to Crusader Kings where the whole dynasty eugenics thing is at least half the fun.
My overall impression is it's the best Europa Universalis game of all time, but Crusader Kings is still the game I actually enjoy the most.