RPGWatch Feature: Elemental Review

VoxClamant brings us an early review of Stardock's Elemental.  We've already had to revise this article with the release of v1.06, and while there's no doubt there are more patches to come, here's how we see it at the moment.  An excerpt:

At the risk of horrendous oversimplification, this is Civilization-lite, a stripped down version of the Civilization series.  And that is its strength.  It centers on the fun, central parts of an empire-building, warfare, strategy game without adding the many additional layers of complexity that push some away from huge empire strategy games.  You have interesting tech trees, empire development, exploration and warfare.  What Elemental strips out in terms of complexity, it adds back in terms of quests, hero customization, tactical battles, and use of magic by your leader.

Read it all here.