So I got the game and I've played it for far too many hours, now. Some observations about the first game I tried:

- Played as China, numerous saves and restores at critical points to save me from screwing it up too bad as I learned the ropes.

- Getting into an alliance is deadly! Every time I did so something weird happened. Eg: the Italian airforce shows up to help Japan kick my butt, and several variations of the Soviet Union invading China.

- When going it alone, it is ridiculously simple for China to conquer all of Japan.

- Game is very much like the Strategy First family of games (Europa Universalis, and Hearts of Iron, in particular). Quite a bit streamlined, though, which is a good thing. I do miss the option to let several turns pass while waiting for a defined checkpoint to occur. Having to trigger and evaluate every single turn in a 500+ turn game is a bit much.

- Does anything terminate the game other than the player deciding he's had enough?

Some observations on my second game:

- Played Brazil in a different scenario. Gave myself the personal goal of conquering all of South America.

- Seems impossible. Every time I declare war on someone, the US declares war on me. (Except for the lucky case where Argentina joined Germany's alliance - then the US stayed out of it.) Brazil does not have the economy or raw materials to stand up to the US.

- Doesn't seem to be anything significantly different between the two scenarios I played. All the countries seem to do the same things, regardless.