@bokoen1 EU4 embraces gamification and has abstractions that are fun to interact with. EU5 feels like most mechanics are trying to act as a simulation you're meant to watch and mostly tinker with or automate.
Fighting with swords, guns, and plans were romanticized when they were happening. It's not a nostalgia thing. The Western genre exists because people back East obsessively read semi-fictionalized newspaper accounts of shootouts, then this lead into travelling shows, etc.