Looking back 10 years since launch (and 8 years since I first started playing), it's a genre-defining game that remains relevant for a good reason. I think the hours I've played speak for themselves. The modding possibilities are also almost endless, and the biggest factor that keeps making me revisit this game.
That being said, avoid the latest DLCs like a plague. The base game itself is solid, and much of the content added by recent DLCs is, in my opinion, far inferior to many of the mods you can download on the workshop for free. I even suspect that the devs may be ripping off of existing mods and selling half-baked versions as DLCs. The only DLCs I would recommend, if any, are No Step Back (for the tank designer), Arms Against Tyranny (for the arms market and MIOs), and By Blood Alone (for the plane designer). I myself haven't bought these and only tried them via a previous subscription to get a taste. Everything after these, even Götterdammerung, feels superfluous and unnecessary to enhance the game, and I'd even say that given the poor track record of recent expansions, players should start boycotting new DLCs unless the devs change how they design new content.
Still, overall, the base game is well-developed, and if you want more content, I highly recommend mods. Especially total overhaul ones with far more flavour and depth than what the otherwise-decent base game already has.
Side note: This is an unpopular opinion, but I feel the game's alternate history paths have swerved too far in the direction of wacky implausibility. I'd prefer more grounded paths that actually make sense given the situation in the 1930s, no more resurrecting long-dead kingdoms empires out of the wazoo just for LARP's sake. More in-depth political mechanics would also be very welcome, countries should not be able to switch ideologies and trigger civil wars at a whim, there should be even more build-up than what currently exists.
TLDR: base game good, DLCs (mostly) bad, mods even better
