• Character development - well done! - check!
• Tactical combat - needs an AI but otherwise well designed - check!

The strategic layer is where things become nebuluous. A big part of the problem is that the AI isn't finished, but currently winning the game involves bypassing most of the content. Everything on the map screen seems surperfluous. Does it really matter where, or how you build your city? Do you even need more than one? The wildlands are very cool, but are more likely to delay your efforts to win than help you. The only way to enjoy those is to let your faction enemies gain strength by letting them survive while you play in the wildlands. The tech tree doesn't really move things along. Most of the benefits from new tech are very incremental in nature. 

I don't sense there is a clear vision at the strategic level.