so my take on terra nova vs terra mystica is this - if you haven't played either and you're curious about it, try out nova and you'll definitely get a really nice taste of the interaction and decision space of TM, in a way less rules-bloaty, long, cutthroat game.
i love terra mystica but i haven't made it a priority to play gaia project or age of innovation simply because i don't think i quite have the appetite for their complexity. but i'm fairly certain that often i just gravitate toward the game i play first or more. TN feels a little oversimplified to me, but if i'd started with TN, then TM would probably feel bloated and inelegant instead.
yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness