My recent experience with a Trek 7.2fx suggests that hybrids are not very well suited to anything off-road beyond the most manicured of trails. They're certainly capable of a lot more but at the expense of a lot of comfort and speed. I think that the off-road capability of hybrids without suspension forks tends to be overstated on these forums. This is of course coming from someone with limited experience, but I have noticed a distinct difference in comfort between my 7.2fx and even an old suspensionless 90s MTB on what I would have thought was very undemanding terrain. I expect this difference would be more pronounced with a modern hard-tail with suspension forks.

That said, a hybrid with suspension forks (such as the type you've been looking at) might be a lot better than a suspension-less 7.2fx. As you've experience of one on the conditions you'll be riding you're in a good position to judge for yourself if the comfort etc is satisfactory to you. Of course ideally you'd be able to try a hardtail on the same terrain in order to compare.

I veer towards recommending a hardtail over the hybrids you're considering. In the main this is based on the impression I've got from these forums that the suspension forks on hybrids are generally pretty poor quality. This isn't necessarily the case with DS bike you're considering, but insofar as you're considering it, I'd advise asking more knowledgeable people than myself for their opinions on the quality of the forks it has.