From my experience, it just feels like a messy series of meaningless decisions.

There is too much and too little going on at the same time, with low readability (and understanding of how my decisions impact the game). For the most time, when I play, it just feels like i'm on autopilot. The combat I get a little bit more (the depth), but the empire management, long winded quests to just kill a unit that spawned in my region etc... yawn.

Examples of why I am feeling that way:
- I don't find myself being interesting in the resources, i just pop overlay and build where the UI is telling me to...
- I can't really venture too far, is it even worth it?
- I just pacify all neutral villages, because why not?
- I don't feel a strong sense of faction identity, since my armies are so small and composed of mostly random stuff i got along the way (which the game decided by RNG)
- I don't choose the quests, I just do them they're all laid out sequentially as a path for me to follow
- I don't care what my neighbor is asking me for in the diplomacy, i just click accept accept accept, it all feels meaningless anyway (whether he allies, open border or not etc. I have more than enough resources available for me absolutely everywhere, I could just stomp him etc. there's no incentive for diplomacy)
etc. etc.

Is it just me or the game feels like it's just playing itself... with no depth of decision nor strategy?

Can someone help me shift the way I approach the game? I think the universe is interesting, i've loved Humankind (and in contrast I find the decisions I take so much more meaningful and interesting) and usually liek theory-crafting / following a larger strategy. Even with changing civilizations at each era, i felt agency, meaning and cohesion towards what my vision was.