Stardock's strategy RPG Elemental: War of Magic has been as community-driven as ever, having been in beta for what felt like ages now, and the team as receptive as can be to feedback. Finally, I got some extensive time with the release version, a culmination of three years of hard work with a new engine and what could turn out to be a franchise. If you haven't yet, give my beta journals a read, as they're important to understand how the game has evolved since, and also the "controversy" surrounding the release.
You may have heard word the release version of Elemental is unpolished, unstable, and just generally not "ready." The big story anyway (from PC Gamer) was based on the version prior to the massive day 0 patch -- impressions following that cited instability as still an issue.
For me, Elemental played just fine even prior to the patch -- a crash or two here and there, and suboptimal framerates, but neither were actually big issues. And now the former has been addressed, while the latter is in progress -- the team has already assured a 20-25fps boost has been had through an internal fix.
Granted, hardware configurations vary widely, but it seems the publication in question expected the game to be 100% stable on their exact configuration on day one or else it's a disaster. Anyway, it's now up to their standards, so even the naysayers should be satisfied.
For the record, everything to follow is based on version 1.06 -- one version after the day 0 patch and packing mostly bugfixes and balance changes. Now that all that's out of the way...
First thing's first: Elemental is accessible, so if you're reading this, vaguely curious about the prospect of a PC strategy RPG but not sure it's quite for you -- it probably is. I know 'accessible' is a dirty word to some, particularly the PC community, but Stardock has handled it smartly, going with the "easy to learn, difficult to master" approach. Let's just say the learning curve feels just lovely, with tons and tons of depth and nuances and strategies to be discovered and expanded on over time.
The game currently sports a light tutorial integrated into the Campaign and sandbox modes, which do a nice job of teaching you the basics, and leaving the rest for you to figure out -- the manual and in-game enyclopedia help, too. Stardock has said they're going to be developing a full-on tutorial in the future (probably sooner than later), so the mechanics will be easier to grasp again.
Let me be honest: I didn't have too much of an idea of what I was doing in the beta -- it was definitely a struggle. Having come from that, though, the release version and beyond felt infinitely easier to learn and have fun with.
As Stardock will tell you, Elemental is comprised really of three major components at this stage. Firstly, there's the Campaign, which functions as a more RPG-style semi-linear experience. Here you'll be treated to an eloquently told story, though one not as engaging as it could be due to the lack of voice-overs and cinematics (as of now there are two, one at the start and end of the campaign). At the same time, it feels like a nice homage to classic titles which couldn't afford such luxuries.
You play a fixed character -- Relias -- who journeys throughout Elemental, helping leaders of foreign townships and the like, building resources and an army as you go. I really enjoy the campaign, although even besides the lack of VO and cinematics, it does feel somewhat like putting a round peg in a square hole in being designed with the toolset -- the focus (as has been stated) is definitely on the sandbox mode, and this is where it feels most at home. Don't let this throw you off, however: if you enjoy traditional story-based experiences, you should have tons of fun, just not as much as you could if the experience was tuned more toward this approach.
Currently the campaign consists of Book I, which you can beat in about two days of regular play. It's definitely short, but there will be further (free) books to come not long from now.
forums
