I've been playing the beta for3-4 days, now, and here are my impressions, so far:
First run:
I chose the snake as a pet, focused (somewhat) on emotion and interaction skills, and visited Myrkka I first, followed by Myrkka II and Mau. Let the spymaster guard Zorana's bedroom, even though I suspected her of suspecting the princess, and maybe keeping tabs/searching her belongings. When she's woken by an assassin, I immediately became suspicious that it was actually someone trying to pass along a secret warning or message.
I struggled to figure out the ways to investigate and befriend the various electors, and especially with recruiting too few advisors, which left Zorana ill-equipped to deal with the (ROT13) rcvqrzvp gung rehcgrq va Uneh, or rather, with the media aftermath. Because I didn't have a science advisor, I never managed to make it to some of the planets. By the time of the jubilee holiday, she was unpopular enough to be attacked by an assassin, and she died by electric dart.
First death.
Second run:
I wanted to do everything differently. Chose the bird as a pet and leaned into mechanical stuff for skills. I really wanted to unlock that damn puzzle box. I also had a feeling that it might be related to the alien snow globe, and/or to the alleged spy that the Novans had captured.
This time, I made the connection that yrggvat gur fpvrapr zvavfgre qb nf ur cyrnfrq zvtug or gur pnhfr bs gur Uneh rcvqrzvp, so I nixed that. Letting Esmarai live led to a complicated situation where fur zneevrq n jbzna jub pynvzrq ure onol jnf gur rzcrebe'f vyyrtvgvzngr puvyq. I'm still curious to know how the guerr-jnl pnaqvqnpl might evolve, but I didn't get that far.
This Zorana had such pitifully low empathy and etiquette that her popularity tanked pretty fast. I was trying to change her mood when she was knifed in a dark alley aboard her own palace. Rip in peace, Zorana.
Third run:
By now, I'd learned a few things and realized that empathy is absolutely essential, and etiquette and rhetoric are also vital. I hung on to both Vasily and Kxenia, which helped a lot with some of the lower knowledge checks, and I put a ton of studying into interaction and emotion. Putting a lot into menace backfired, because I got a Ren'py exception whenever I successfully blackmailed someone.
However, I did manage to recruit several interesting advisors. I've started on a spreadsheet to keep track of who's good at what. Near the end, Vasily even offers to step down so that Zorana can recruit someone in his place, but based on where I was situated, I couldn't find someone who was good at media on time. In retrospect, I should have immediately started testing who might do better in that role, especially (Kxenia has some special content that intrigues me; if Vasily has any, I've yet to find it).
This Zorana was fairly popular and managed to secure eight votes in advance. She won over both Ethexae and Yakau. I got her intrigue skill high enough to investigate Korundi, but I think there's a lot more to be learned there. Threats against her were especially low, even after she tried to sbhaq n pbybal va nyvra fcnpr naq tbg fperjrq bire ol gur nyvraf.
Surviving until the election was my main goal, and I succeeded at that.
Won the election 23 to 7. Humiliating for Lukomir, hope he's crying into his silken pillow after getting his ass handed to him by a teenager.
After the victorious election... well. The idea that gur rzcrebe unq snxrq uvf qrngu va beqre gb grfg gur urve had crossed my mind. The existing characterization seemed to imply that sort of thing, to my mind. I'm not terribly impressed with this character, I must admit.
The epilogue slides give some intriguing hints about achievements to attempt in my next playthrough. I think I might try focusing on engineering again, but with a certain amount of baseline empathy and such. I still want to unlock that puzzle box.
There are also many, many personal quests that I never got the chance to attempt. I've yet to try for a marriage alliance, other than one attempt (with Fire) that I rolled back, just to see how it panned out. I think spirituality and engineering might make an intriguing combination of skill/knowledge to advance. And, of course, in my next game, I want to optimize my advisors a lot more. Oh, and I've yet to try playing with high art skills. I feel like that might reveal a lot.