by pomomojo
1. KoT is very fragile. By this I mean that it is very dependent on the players. If everyone just goes for claws it will simply be a very short dice-chucking exercise. If everyone goes for VP it will easily outlast its welcome.2. The dice can always thwart your plans.
3. At various points in the game (usually near the end) your choices will be severely limited. If you take a lot of damage one round then the next one you will likely be going for hearts. If you are down to the final two then both of you will be sprinting toward your victory condition.
All that being said, there are plenty of opportunities for decision making. Yes, there is no choice but to go into Tokyo if it is empty and you roll a claw, but what if there is someone in Tokyo? Let's say you roll a claw on your first turn. Do you keep that claw and try to deliver a devastating blow to your opponent? Or do you keep that one claw but try to use the other dice to load up on energy? Or do you reroll any claws because you don't even want the chance of entering Tokyo? If you just do a single damage to the monster in Tokyo they might be willing to stick it out, in which case you will have moved closer to victory by reducing their health without putting yourself at risk.
Saving energy for an overpowered card seems great, yet I've found that when I spend too much time trying to collect energy, my more aggressive opponents (i.e. my kids) do too much damage to me. The cards are unbalanced, yet the fact that they require you to spend time not advancing toward victory makes them a situational decision.
I do like the theme a lot, but I'm not the sort of gamer who would play a game over and over just to make monster noises. Although there is a lot of luck in the game and your choices often get constrained, I am fascinated by the the subtle decisions that I have to make as I respond to my opponents.