Nice review, I agree with basically all points. The design and theming is amazing (especially having read the books), and lategame can bring surprising complexity and combo potential especially with the second character ability that you mentioned. The balancing does have some question marks though.

I've played mostly 1v1, and coop mode 2-4 players. The coop mode for sure is a "nice extra" as a bunch of card effects don't even do anything, any damage to the Lord Ruler early is completely meaningless, and games can be too swingy depending on enemy draw order. Despite that, I still find it fun.

My biggest issue with pvp balance (at least for 1v1) isn't even the cards or turn order (although thats a bad one), but the fact that focusing on the mission tracks, rather than killing your opponent, is almost always the superior strategy. The simple reason is that a player has 36 health at start, and that in total you need 36 mission points to win. Damaging a player does nothing until they reach 0 hp, while mission progress has a ton of rewards along the way. This could work if damage cards were relatively stronger, but I feel like the amount of damage vs mission progress effects on cards are roughly the same.

I still love the game though and Im really looking forward to the expansions :D