Gone to Gaia preview play and impressions

About Gone to Gaia, from BoardGameGeek:

Gone to Gaia is a sprawling cooperative roguelite campaign where players must safeguard the last remnants of humanity. Dive into a richly immersive world filled with tactical combat, evolving storylines, and unforgettable characters. Inspired by video games like Hades and Vampire Survivors, the game features meaningful leveling choices that dramatically impact your power, utility, and flexibility in battle-skills you'll need to survive the relentless creatures of the Tide. At the heart of Gone to Gaia is Bird's Nest, a mysterious floating town brimming with life. Every character you meet has their own story, problems, and perspective on the events unfolding around them. Who you help - or hurt - can alter the course of your campaign. You'll uncover a deeply personal story that rewards exploration, interaction, and even romance. As you journey beneath the surface, you'll face mutated enemies that travel in deadly formations, led by powerful and unpredictable leaders. No two creatures are ever the same. Fortunately, your Delver is packed with tools, abilities, and upgrades earned through each run - keeping the gameplay fresh and rewarding. The game is packed with hidden quests, unlockable characters, mysterious locations, and a dedicated Unlockables Box filled with sealed containers that can only be opened through specific in-game decisions. Gone to Gaia is a campaign-style board game, which means that you'll play through many sessions with the same 2 players, or experience the game in a dedicated solo mode. The campaign unfolds across 300 pages of material and hundreds of cards, and is divided into chapters. You can decide when to stop each session at nearly any point. Delvers will alternate between going on a quest and visiting the town. Quests are a combat-focused experience. Whether or not your delvers survive the quest, the story will pick back up with an interactive narrative in the town of Bird' s Nest, where you'll be tasked with investigating unfolding mysteries that threaten humanity . Gone to Gaia is a rogue-lite which means is that, during quests, you'll gain many powers, but at the end of quests, you'll also lose them. However, you'll still have the opportunity to acquire a variety of permanent powers. -description from the publisher