I could not pre-order Elemental (due to needing to pay with Paypal) but I when I was able to to order it from the official site on the 23rd of August (one day before the official street date) I was more than happy.

Today is the 5th of September and I felt it was time to look back at the last 14 days. Answering the big question - is Elemental worth buying - I would have to say: Yes, but... And this "Yes, but..." I will try to illuminate in the following sentences.

For completeness sake I will mention Master of Magic, the 4X turnbased fantasy strategy game against which many still measure any new game in this genre. And despite what many claim, a Master of Magic 2 with all the nostalgia for the first game dusted off, would be an average sequel at best - innovation is needed in this genre in which MoM still holds the throne after 16 years.

So does Elemental: War of Magic bring this innovation? Sadly only in parts.
The graphics and sound effects are good, though not outstanding.
The mod-ability is outstanding however, promising that Elemental might still offer something new in five years time.
Stability and balancing is a bit of an issue, but with patch 1.07 Elemental is approaching the maturity of a release-worthy product.
New gameplay-elements, like the growth of the city on the map and the Sovereign-Dynasty system promise some of the much needed innovation.
Unfortunately it seems that at times the drive for innovation has led to re-invention of the (square) wheel, where good pre-existing gameplay elements have been discarded in favor of a new, but less-functionable and enjoyable system (e.g. the tactical combat, or the magic system). Remember "Good artists copy, great artists steal" - take the good bits of the pre-existing system and make it even better.
Flavorwise, I am sad to say that much of the game has a "samey" or "vanilla" feel to it - besides the distinct changes between empire and kingdom the factions feel rather identical, with only numerical differences, the spells lack that special something, and unit design boils down to "slap the best weapon and armor on the dude".

So all in all, yes, I do not regret purchasing Elemental and I would recommend to buy it, but at the same time I feel a bit disappointed for not living up to the (perhaps unfairly) high expectations I held for it. As it is right now Elemental will give you a somewhat decent amount of fun for your buck, but it is still far from dethroning the King of the genre. Still, I trust the Elemental team to realize the game's potential. For those that need a numerical scale in reviews, I'd give Elemental - as it is right now - a 6.5 out of 10.