Not too useful if you don't know what your next card is. (Net 1 extra action)
If your deck has a way to know what your next card is then you can use this card in one of two ways, streamline the VPs out of the deck, or build a killer combo on the mat. I think the first is very powerful and useful, the second is only so-so as you will be removing useful cards from your deck until you get them all on the mat and then play this card again.
That said using this card to keep your deck streamlined rocks.
Not too useful if you don't know what your next card is. (Net 1 extra action)
It's not that bad either. There are a lot of ways to play this. You can keep things set aside for a long time, in which case you will use Native Village like a Chapel early in the game to set aside Coppers and Estates. It's weaker than the chapel, but has extra actions which may come in handy, and it's better in the late game. Late in the game, you can pick up all of the stuff you set aside, gaining enough Treasure to get a province you wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. You also get back a few points for your estates.
Or, you can just pick up the extra cards as needed, which is not at all bad. Set aside an unknown card, and now you know what it is. Next time you draw Native Village, you can either pick up what you set aside, or set something else aside. You know what is on the village mat after you put it there, so you will never pick it up until at least one card is needed, meaning your cards are a lot more useful. The Native Village doesn't help you get more cards, but it helps you get cards at the right time.
Even following the latter strategy, you can do some tricky things like "hold" your bad cards until the deck is reshuffled, just so you don't draw them the next time through. It's a minor advantage, but if you happen to draw bad cards you can hold them until a reshuffle, and if you happen to draw good cards you can hold them until they are useful. It's all about control.
Am I mistaken or does this do EVERYTHING the Chapel does and a whole lot more (with one small side effect of not allowing you to remove Curses from your deck)?
Immediate impression suggests that I would use this card almost every time it comes up. Can hold good cards you don't need until later or bad cards (VPs) you don't want taking up space in your hand.
Am I mistaken or does this do EVERYTHING the Chapel does and a whole lot more (with one small side effect of not allowing you to remove Curses from your deck)?
I think you are mistaken. This card does not let you choose what goes onto your mat. Unless you happen to want every single card in your deck set aside, you take some risk every time you use it.
It still strikes me as a very good card though. I would imagine using it every time it comes up to set something aside until you set aside something critical, then use it to take everything back and have one sweet turn followed by slow thinning again.
