Whoa, initially I wrote off the second newest video as a respost of the ones we'd already seen given the name, but after the teaser ending of the first video, I took a look just in case, annnd..!

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/june-beta-elemental-war/100943

Part 2! Another 12 minutes of gameplay footage. (First half was pretty awesome too. )

Edit: Actually.. This DOESN'T seem to be a continuation of the Char Design vid.. Interesting.. It's starting from Turn 1 again.

Nonetheless, more footage is good!

Dun dun duuun.

Found where the first video on GT is from, it's from ShackNews (a separate article from the interview linked already in the news here)

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/64111

Has the second part of the video as well!

Edit: *sigggh* Actually, no, Part 2 is still just the second video linked above. Oh Shack how you tease!

oh man dumb me posted this topic and didnt put the link. FAIL

Hmm. I was looking forward to Elemental, but I have to say, these two videos left me thoroughly unimpressed. I know it's not the end product and that not everything that's going to be in the game has been shown, but still - what I saw I didn't particularly like.

Maybe it is time to re-evaluate my purchase decision.

Oh no, don't feed the trolls.

Says a troll.

I was voicing my subjective opinion of the beta based on the two videos, just like there are others who are genuinely  excited by it. Grow up.

Ah, I see - well in that case, my apologies for sounding trollish, it was really not meant to be so. I was really looking forward to this, as a long time fan of Heroes of Might and Magic and an admirer (I didn't get to play the game beside the demo) of the original Age of Wonders.

Regarding the early game as you describe it - that's what doesn't appeal to me all that much. I'd much rather have something to manage early on, and not have to hunt down NPCs across the map. The items and stats for the sovereign are also something I could live without (even though HoMaM had these, albeit in much more streamlined form). Like you said, it may not be the game for me - I'll certainly wait for the demo to try it out first.

On a final note, I'm sure this will be a great game, as all the Stardock (or affiliate? as in Sins) games have been so far.

I have to admit, that the video looked nice.  The RPG and sovereign give you more to do in the beginning than "wait ten turns for warrior to be built".

However, in one of the videos, he does some combat.  WHOAH, that combat just... sucked.  I'm going to trust that was auto-resolve, and I understand that there's an option, but to all the other people out there, they see that and they mental hang the game on the shelf.  It was a mistake to not even mention the tactical battles and that Brad was just auto-resolving the battle  (I guess).  Though I'll admit, it's combat that I'm most worried about.  They and the community has had nine months to iron out some of the gameplay details, but we haven't seen the combat yet.

I thought it odd that the two videos were on the same map (different playthroughs, obviously).  But I shrugged and happily watched them anyway.

Frogboy, for my part, I enjoyed the RPG aspect.  I think it is THE best solution to early game "let's wait around, oh!  I have a scout now!"-type play.  However, I did cringe at the combat bit, because to so many people (I'm not thinking the people here.  We're here because we drool at this type of game) the combat is what it's about.  They think about Total War or equivalent, and they want to see soldiers lopping the heads of of spiders.  Instead, they see a spider run up, get whacked, fades into the ground, and a stat screen pops up.  Not quite as engaging!  Hopefully gametrailers will post new videos once we get the full tactical combat reveal. 

However, with the focus on individual units, how large might battles get?  I know we have  squads to help with the management, but are we still going to see the thousands I at one time had the impression we'd see?  (Sorry, the idea of hundreds of soldiers rushing up to attack a giant mystical creature is always an epic picture.  Well, it's turn based, so I don't know how much rushing we'll get, but you know what I mean)

That said, the research, the city building and all that SHTUFF looked nice.  I think someone above mentioned the land being dull.  Now, it's true that it's based of the desert, but I've noticed that before.  The land looks very... undetailed.  The tiles that have things on them are very nice, but there's a sharp contrast between "important" tiles and "normal' tiles.  You mentioned in the modding video you posted a few days ago that you wanted to see animals running around on the ground.  Any chance this will be in?  What about some birds flying overhead, or some vultures that circle you in the desert?  These are little touches that make the game seem more detailed, which is a good thing in my opinion.

Oh, and as much as we may gripe or pick apart each new element of the game that is shown, it's because we REALLY do care about it.  I'm loving the rest of the game, I just don't take the opportunity to say THAT.  My concern rests on these new areas because well, I want the most awesomeness game ever.  So work harder, Frogboy!  hehehe...

I don't think you'll see armies that big.  There's nothing stopping someone from getting armies that big but it would be on a very very large map.

The focus has slowly migrated to having each unit matter.  I mean, you can always pretend that each  unit represents a division (ala Civilization).

I'm not sure what you're expecting out of the quick battles.  Quick battles in TBS's are pretty well established I'd think at this point.

Erm, well, even a turn, really.  To someone who knows nothing about the game, that's the only glimpse they got.  There's a lot that wasn't shown.

No magic

No turns

No control at all

No strategy (hence the rpg comments)

Now your comment highlights the difference between what we know, and what they saw in that battle.  That's a quick battle, but there are strategy games out there where you walk up with a unit, attack, and one loses.  Nothin' else.  That's what they saw.

Now, I'll admit, that I'm strongly on the "other side."  While I care about my units, if I had my wish, we'd have the big armies back.  I don't really want squad level combat, and the move toward this has been kinda disheartening (I've talked about that elsewhere, so ... well, no point in that here).  If I'm the king, I care about my army, but I don't have to know each soldier by name.  I'm a king, I know my commanders, and I trust them.  But if an individual soldier tried to talk to me?  Off with his head!

I feel the game has lost this feel with the move away from continuous turns and the focus on individual units.  This moves the game more toward a Civilization style combat system which I was hoping the game would move away from.  To me, the shoe doesn't fit.  I feel the game can and should be more than a fantasy Civilization game. 

However, my point was that to people who are uninitiated to the game, they didn't see any more depth than an attack/defense rating, which would have most people climbing up a pole shouting "booooring".  And, from what I understand, there is more depth.  Now that I know the video wasn't intended to even be released, it makes a bit more sense.

(sorry for rambling, and I apologize for sounding whine-y.  I develop games as a hobby, so I understand the decisions that have to be made, and you really can't make a game for everyone.  )

Nevermind, I think I'm talking more off topic than I am on. 

However, yes, you have.  Perhaps I should have hunted it up and played it.  I just have an idea of the most awesomeness the game would be (for me personally), but I've never played the source of inspiration!