Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is the introductory box set that replaced Lost Mines of Phandelver. Tough act to follow, as Lost Mines has received almost universal aclaim and affection for both its adventure design and being a touch point for a new generation of 5e players first adventure experience. So how does Stormwreck Isle compare? I've recently completed a playthrough of this adventure and so I do consider this to be a true review based in my play and prep experience as a GM (Spoilers follow for the adventure)
Bottom line, Stormwreck Isle is a very easy adventure to run--perhaps even easier than Lost Mines. I say this for a few reasons. First, the structure of the adventure is simple and straightforward without being linear. Second, the smaller geographic bounds set by and island make facilitating travel easier. Finally, the encounters are balanced to a less deadly level that makes sense for players totally new to the game (rather than throwing four goblins that potentially TPK a new group at first level, this adventure starts with a much more manageable three zombies).
These positives are strong, especially for a new GM with new players. However, I also feel that the adventure lacks much of the charm of the previous starter set. Dragons Rest isn't as strong or memorable an adventure hub as Phandalin. It doesn't have as many interesting adventure hooks, and its NPCs are largely unmemorable. I say unmemorable because there are around a dozen NPCs in the adventure hub location. Nor is there character art for most of them, making a visual association even more difficult.
The campaign is built around three dungeon-crawls, making the structure simple for a new GM. They are also easily interchangeable with advice for modifying encounters based on the party being level one or two included. In my opinion the hook to the shipwreck is the stronger of the two, particularly because of the opening encounter with zombies. My experience running that portion highlighted a gap in adventure design with the party not exploring the deepest portion of the ship to retrieve the item bearing the curse of Orcus and creating new undead. The situation was salvaged in a more satisfying way than simply sending them back because they hadn't solved the quest in the way the designers intended because they killed or drove off two harpies, cutting off the supply of ships crashed on the rocks and thus halting the undead at least temporarily.
The Seagrow mushroom cave was a more difficult sell for me though, with a hook as written of "hey, I'm worried about these sentient mushrooms that normally give me stuff. Can you go check on them?" from an NPC. The overall dungeon is pretty simple and straightforward once you get past the entrance fight with the octopus summoned by the myconids and the violet fungi fight in the fungus grove. I do worry that trigger-happy groups can see these encounters as license to take out the peaceful myconids. The tension really isn't there for me either I this dungeon, with a few steamdrakes and a glowing crystal firesnake egg blocking the outpipe for the gas under the island. The need to break the crystal isn't clearly telegraphed in the text either, so you kind of need to lead the players to that conclusion through your descriptions of the smoke and smell. It's not necessarily something a first time player of an RPG will think of. And then as a reward the myconids give the adventurers the ruby morsel that has been keeping their leader alive to be used to brew an elixer of health? Seems a bit odd to me that they'd give that item up and that it basically equates to a one-use rare magic item.
The Clifftop Observatory works better as an adventure in my opinion, offering guidance if the characters leave and then come back that maintains the pacing and easy to implement by directing you to have the blue dragon be conducting a ritual and immediately trigger a boss fight upon return. This also makes the dungeon more dynamic than both the previous ones and ensures that the characters will get to fight and slay the blue dragon wyrmling, definitely meeting the promise offered in the name of the game, Dungeons & Dragons. The dungeon design also generally works, although it's not obvious that the characters can approach some of the towers from the water. There aren't any real choke points other than unlocking the area where Aidron, the bronze dragon wyrmling, is being held prisoner. The characters may not necessarily find this, or solve the puzzle if they haven't explored the other towers.
Overall, again the adventure is simple and generally easy to run, with a few rough edges. It is quick and has much smaller travel scope, meaning that it really can be completed in three or four sessions for most groups. It ties into further adventures set on the Sword Coast, but can be easily transferred as an isolated island to your setting of choice without much modification (it's a bit like the bounded island tutorial area from Runescape, or any videogame tutorial area, if you're familiar, dropping you into the "real world" once you finish the introduction). The locations and maps can also be easily repurposed or reskinned, giving you some interesting locations even if you don't employ the story of the adventure as written. The pregen character sheets don't tie as tightly to the story as those in Lost Mines, and they're basically the same pregen characters, so don't get excited about any new there.
Would recommend if you are introducing a new set of players to the game, but be warned that it needs a light bit of work to knock the rough edges off for story consistency and pacing. I would use it again as an intro adventure for a group that has already played Lost Mines, but ultimate prefer that adventure as a starter campaign.
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