Hesitant at first. But this game really delivers. It effectively makes you feel in command of a kingdom.
After playing the demo, I thought of this game as city builder with better graphics. I worried about there not being enough action - but Dawn of Discovery/Anno packs a whole lot of war strategy in a near perfect city builder.
The scope of this game is epic. The game freshens up the military aspect of real time strategy through its use of take overs and strategic placement and planning. Rather than controlling one unit, you control army's (small, large, siege engine. . etc). Your placement of these army's in enemy territory is crucial. You can wind up taking over half of an opponents island if you wish and then call a truce - useful if you just need some of their resources but can't handle their entire kingdom.
You can wind up being able to overcome a larger kingdom by using your pieces properly rather than just amassing a huge unstoppable force (however that is an option too, if you have the resources). I really enjoyed this style of play. The depth & fun of DoD's military style makes it very hard to want to return to something like C&C. It's almost sacrilege, I know, but it's true (C&C had it's day in the sun anyway).
I never got into the City Builders because of their lack of control. . . It felt like even if you built something to fix a problem (like pollution or crime) it did NOTHING. In Dawn of Discovery, that is not an issue. Everything you build has an effect, and if you are having trouble managing one area, your actions can and will resolve it. There is no perpetual slide of income that you cant resolve.
This is a game that is hard to pass up. If you had your doubts, try this game for a few hours. The "continuous play" is probably the best aspect of the game.