Thanks for covering the game! I wanted to clarify something in case it wasn't clear. The baddies intents are revealed at the start of your turn but aren't enacted until at the very end of your turn. This gives the player knowledge and agency over the how they want to mitigate the upcoming attack. I'm glad that the dice placement/manipulation mechanics hit the spot! There's a lot of subtle interaction between the abilities that provide interested choices and potential for combos.
Great overview! I think your comment about the 2-4 player experience is pretty valid. I mostly play this at 2 as well, don't mind playing at 3, but at a four player game, you are lucky to get 2 turns per battle and that can be not ideal. I also see what you're saying about the "story". It doesn't drive the mechanisms like some story driven games but I find the flavor text really delightful and it, along with the artwork, creates a really immersive experience. I played this game IRL with 2 theater guys and they had so much fun role playing the different parts lol. All n all I NEED this game to fund on kickstarter so i can finally get my hands on a official copy and throw my crummy PnP version away! lol