I am having a great time playing Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion with my SO. It's easy to set up and the game introduces you gently to gloomhaven rules. The scenarios are very nice to play. We can't wait to play the next scenario when we finish one!
I've never played any Gloomhaven (cost/size is daunting 😅) but I've just backed Buttons and Bugs as a bit of an ease in and the fact that it's solo. Do you think Jaws of the Lion would be as satisfying solo?
The cost and size is daunting but it makes up for the variety of scenarios and enemies. The game box is literally filled with stuff with almost no empty space left.
On one hand playing solo requires you to play two characters so the decisions will get more complex as you have two characters to think about. On the other hand they made a digital adaptation of the board game where it plays exactly like that: you play two characters. And people seems to like it. So perhaps it's not so bad after all.
Personally I think I would miss the interactions with my partner if I were to play solo. Both the "we did such a good move the two of us" and "wtf did she do?" moments 😄
The campaign and character progression however is very entertaining - it would be the same playing solo.