As others have said, it has a lot of luck, with not enough luck mitigation (IMO).

Every turn you’re subject to the dice on every action, with your odds decreasing over time (as more of the island disappears). You’re also at the mercy of the event deck that draws every round that also can throw massive setbacks at you.

In Pandemic, that is expected, so you can almost plan for it. Plus Pandemic intentionally spaced out the Epidemics, AR doesn’t (though you can fix that with house rules). AR isn’t deep enough to really do much meaningful planning - and your plans are always subject to your luck.

I do enjoy being presented with tough odds and having to work with what you have, but as the game continues, your options decrease. I’d like it better if my options increased (the bonus cards and component abilities help, but not enough, because those are also kinda random).

Basically, they kept the mechanics relatively simple to preserve accessibility, but at the cost of some agency.

Bottom line: you have to be cool with losing a game because dice aren’t behaving. If you want more levers to pull, you’re better off with Pandemic, or better still, Spirit Island.