It seems my initial estimates of it were pretty wrong. I had assumed that there was going to be one strategy per game (aim for the church this time; the market the next), but you really have to diversify and play off of whatever is best at the time. Locking yourself into one route seems not just sub-optimal - it's downright difficult.
I like how it feels as though you can't experience everything in one game, too. Due to the available resources, there's always a fork in the road where you have to make a decision; for example, commit to producing more tools to clean up at the market, or start offing family members to mop up the available victory points in the town chronicle. Like awaclus said, the number of viable strategies might not take a long time to uncover, but at least for the opening few games, each time feels like a new experience.
On another note, I like how tactile the game is. If it were just worker placement/resource taking, it might well have been generic. But you've got the seeding at the start of the round, where you draw resources from a bag randomly; and then the mass at the end, where you do the same with the clergy members. I feel like these elements, especially the latter, could've been represented with simple card draw or something; but they're turned into a kind of mini-game. It might seem a bit silly, but the I find the randomizer bags really quite endearing.
The base game itself is pretty neat, but I think the Tavern expansion with its "bonus point" cards is pretty close to essential. The downside is that some cards are much, much more powerful than others, and getting a lucky draw late in the game (when you've already completed the objectives) can feel a bit like you haven't earned it. But on the whole I personally like the benefits they provide and the extra depth they add to the game, as a change in the cards might cause you to consider another route you hadn't considered. Moreover, many of them encourage you to gamble on a certain strategy: you'll get a bigger pay off, but it might cause other players to try and dogpile your targets to prevent you from pulling it off. It's not quite Seaside level of, "is this still the same game?", but it does what a good expansion ought to: adds a lot of different paths to victory and replayability.
Apologies for length and all that.