Arydia vs Sleeping Gods vs Imperial Assault or Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Hey, y'all -

I have a big milestone birthday coming up later this year, and while I'm mostly trying to focus on making the experience of playing the games we play a lot a nicer one (e.g., upgrading out of cardboard resources for Wingspan, larger neoprene mat for Return to Dark Tower), I've also been asked for a few "pie in the sky" kinds of thoughts on games to possibly add to the collection.

My wife, in particular, prefers cooperative games to competitive. Return to Dark Tower, LotR: Journeys in Middle-Earth, and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle are probably the most-played games we've got together (along with some friends), though this same group has had a great time with Clank! Legacy and Jurassic World: Legacy of Isla Nublar, and three of the core group of 5-6 are addicts -- I mean playtesters -- for Spirit Island.

Sleeping Gods had been on my radar for a while, and when as part of the poking around to assemble a "pie in the sky" list, Arydia came up. And Imperial Assault & the newest iteration of Descent appear to share a lot of the same bones with Journeys in Middle-Earth.

If you've played at least two of the above, I'd really like to see your breakdown of what you've liked (or not) about each and how they compare.