You could probably write a whole essay on the things you wish Banished did. For what it does, it is pretty interesting, much akin to the base building portions of an RTS, mixed with survival.

Before the mods were introduced, I would have to say I leaned on slightly the side of disappointed with the game. I'd played it a few times and gotten some pretty decent cities going once I realized the crazy rules and outcomes of the game itself. Things like, nobody breeds in bunkhouses (Having had everyone die of old age, since by the time I made houses they were all too old to breed) or breeding so much they outstrip the food, and continue breeding.

I'm not sure how many build orders are viable, but when I heard there was one basic "Correct Path" I became very turned off because this type of game, without any real threat - I felt like that shouldn't be something with one way to victory, otherwise it would be pointless! I've decided that I won't look to see how close what I do to make successful cities is to the suggested one though.

With the mods, it opens up a lot more interest in the game. The ability to add more variety of houses, and tweak the overall settings gives it more reply value, and added interest. Though, even with that, it doesn't seem like a game you'd play endlessly, but having the ability to augment it does increase its life span.