I really liked all of the previous Stardock games, and I really want to like Elemental too. I'm not a really hardcore strategy gamer. I play lots of simply games like Civilization but not more complicated ones.
But I'm finding it really hard to play this game, mainly because I don't understand what's going on. I wish there was a more comprehensive tutorial since this is a rather complex game. I tried playing the campaign with the updated v1.05, but especially in tactical battles I still find myself clicking around the screen randomly, wondering "why on earth is nothing happening when I click? What are my units doing? How come I'm not moving?"
I found it difficult to even understand simple things like how many moves my units have on the main map.
I think there are many UI issues as well, despite the effort that went into developing it. The icons are really small and hard to figure out. It is not intuitive when a turn ends or when a unit should move, or even what the "Actions" do.
One UI issue: I go to a store to buy stuff for my group of heroes, but I can't see what's in their inventory when I'm in the store page. Maybe there's a function that enables me to do that, but I'm missing it.
My other disappointment is that the graphical and production quality of the game isn't really up to 2010 standards. For instance, the terrain on the main map looks really quite amateurish. The mountains look like blobs of melting ice cream. The unit and hero graphics, especially when seen close up, are blocky and unattractive.
The problem may be because Stardock is trying to make the game requirements quite low, for more computers to be able to use it. That's good, but unfortunately, the graphics really are quite poor in comparison to other similar games.
Another graphical problem is the overall art direction. The world of Elemental looks dull and empty. I understand it's post-Cataclysm and all, but landscape is really plain and uninteresting. Even the landscape in Civ 4 looked more vibrant. I don't particularly like the washed out water-colour art that Elemental uses. It looks very lifeless in comparison to the bright and exciting colour palettes used in games like Warcraft, Starcraft, Tropico 3 and Anno 1404. The picture used as the background for this forum is a good example of the uninspired art direction-- it's completely faded and dark. For a fantasy game, it was not a good idea to take such a conservative approach to the artwork.
I know that these issues probably can't be addressed at this stage-- the game is as it is. Still, I can't help but feel disappointed with these areas. I havne't played enough to say whether the actual gameplay is good, but the lack of a good tutorial, the poor UI and graphics make me feel reluctant to play the game.
