Master of Magic was probably the very first video game I've ever played and has earned its place in my memory as a great game for this reason. I've played other games that have gotten close to recapturing the feelings I had when playing MoM, most notably Disciples II and Age of Wonder. I watched as the original Elemental came closer to release and even had an opportunity to try out a pre-release build - it's an opinion that has been expressed quite a few times, but it just wasn't for me.
Elemental - Fallen Enchantress, on the other hand, seems like it might be for me. It's compelling (I couldn't say why), it's got great art direction and I like the spells and combat system.
But currently my play style will always lead to me being extorted by the AI, bullied and then forced into waging a tedious war, that by merit of the AI's seemingly endless cities and resources, will become unwinnable or not worth the time and effort. I could adapt my playstyle to this new game but that would warrant a level of micromanagement that would render the game unenjoyable.
Here are a list of general observations I noted during my first day with the beta:
- The game remains very unintuitive.
- Diplomacy seems to have taken a big step backward since Galciv 2.
- The system for determining a faction's strength needs to be retooled to incorporate heroes with high levels and great equipment. I'd often be against an opponent where I'd be rated 20 and they'd be rated 200 but I could hold them indefinitely at a bottleneck. Their soldiers crashing and dying against my two champions without a second thought. At a certain point they should realize that my military is not "20" and re-consider their attack.
- Starting a game always feels slow and the early technologies seem like we should start with them.
- The AI needs to be toned down in their expansionist desires.
- None of the factions seem particularly unique. I haven't yet spotted the difference between "kingdom" and "empire" even.
That said, I feel that this game has plenty of potential. I really hope that it succeeds and I think that the team has learned from their mistakes. I think that by Fall, this game really could get it "right."
