Economic gameplay is a big one for me, along with colony building as a second.
Then I think you will like it, like I do. Since these are, in my opinion, the two most solid parts of the game at the moment.
First, economic gameplay is pretty deep and interesting, despite some numbers being a little bit off. But that's more a general problem with the game, numbers must still be adjusted somewhat. Balance is not up there yet. But it won't stop you from having fun if you like the mechanics of building up your nation's economy from the ground up (almost) by yourself.
Politics are fine, not incredible, but at least better than in V2, even though that doesn't say much, to be fair, since politics were almost absent from the previous iteration. Influencing IGs and governement compositions to pass laws instead of just spamming elections/boosting pluralism in wait for reform support is a clear improvement. Again, political turmoil doesn't feel too, too threatening at the moment, so I suppose it's also mostly a "numbers" problem.
Diplomacy isn't as bad as some people make it. It does lack a few features, the most important one being "reverse sway" that should hopefully come with 1.3, and is not as deep as most would like it to be, sure, but it's overall very functional. I'd say it's on par with V2 on this point. The biggest problem here is probably the AI, which tends to make weird choices at times - like Prussia always attempting to take german leadership as soon as it gets the wargoal, without enough diplomatic support and promptly getting stomped. Thankfully 1.2 has at least drastically reduced "diplo cheese" making it a bit more engaging and rewarding.
Warfare is a new design and I think it was the right choice, but the current implementation is still quite rough around the edges, no doubt about that. Adjacent fronts should probably be merged, you should be able to move your generals to different HQs etc... And again, AI seems too passive sometimes. I've seen the UK not defend any of its oversea territories for instance, sleeping on its home island while its warscore was ticking down.
Colonization is mechanically better in V3 than in V2, period. As for its consequences, which are lacking a bit, this is tide with diplomacy and AI passiveness.
Flavour-wise, I think V3 1.2 is actually relatively stacked for a recent PDX release. It's got canals, monuments, unique IGs and party names for many countries, some historical characters, etc... I mean, I played CK2/3 1.0, EU4 1.0, HoI4 1.0, (and also Imperator...) and these were surely lighter in terms of flavor. Sure, it doesn't hold up to the same games after countless years of DLCs and patches, but I'm not sure it would be fair to expect as much anyway, so yeah, not great but not (that) bad either.
All in all, V3 1.2 is, in my opinion, a good game with a few problems. Most notably UI and AI. Performance isn't great either, and balance wise also, the game is too easy, you just get too much, too fast, of everything. Numbers should probably be tuned down all around so as to make the economy take a little bit more time and effort to really take off, same with colonies, population growth etc...
Yeah, I know, that sounds like a lot, but these are mostly things that could be fixed or rapidly improved in just a few more patches. Or even one big meaty patch. Annoying but not game breaking. Industrializing, colonizing, influencing IGs and growing your GDP and/or SoL is already both interesting and fun. Even if, currently, the challenge is more in learning the ropes, then how to "min-max" (and sometimes dealing with some weird UI choices), than being actually challenged by the AI, unfortunately.
How is playing the UK at the moment?
I didn't try UK yet but my favorite runs so far were as France and Two-Siciles->Italy, engaging in colonialism and global imperialism from the get-go. So UK shouldn't feel too different, just easier, with even more options. If you like to play as the big bad guy, pushing weak nations around and being the arbiter of your fellow great powers disputes, then I believe you should have some good fun indeed. Give it a try.
