Well it is on sale for the next day or so, so there's not a better time to grab it!
Lake most management games, it does have a bit of a learning curve but once you get it it's fairly easy to do. Do. You can also hand off a lot of tasks to your assistant/ the AI.
In terms of customization, there has never been more than there is in the ninth version, but without knowing exactly what you want to do, it's hard to speak on anything specific.
If you wanted a streamline game, you can send through historical very fast, or you could create your own world which will take you a bit of time to set up, but will also send quickly as well.