My wife and I love this game! We've worked through the game four different times at least 12 hours each time and look forward to playing it again and again. After four complete games we are probably only at 50 % of the game discovered. The game is large and takes up our entire gaming table with plenty to remember but we find it's easy enough to manage with both of us working as a team. We set up a word document to keep track of the keywords both found and required and this helps us progress through the games and from game to game. The battles can be tough but weapons certainly help. It's also been more enjoyable once we realized that you don't have to complete every event when travelling (just take the damage and carry on). We enjoy the sandbox aspect of exploring a giant map and with the first expansion the potential areas to investigate is huge. We also have the cave expansion but find that it's not necessary and we don't seek out the caves at all. Buy weapons as early as possible!
This game is a commitment both in time and price but I feel we've gotten our money's worth in the fun and stress of multiple plays.