The current beta seems to have fixed the issues with the last beta, and is now in a playable state, based on about an hour of testing it.

However, Elemental still has some fundamental issues, and I'm not counting AI here, but actual game mechanics.

I think there is one recurring theme in this: Gradual, not exponential.  The core problem is that many things in Elemental gain exponentially, when they need to gain gradually.

a) The tech tree.  I think the exploding costs aren't a good thing.  Simply put, it overencourages beelining, and a massive focus on tech.  The magic system doesn't work like this.  I'd suggest going back to a more traditional model, if they can be doable in EWOM.  I think many of the fundamental problems EWOM has are caused by how tech is handled.   One of the earliest FE dev dairies says this system is yanked for FE, but it needs to be yanked from EWOM also, or at least smoothed out greatly.

Stat inflation on weapons/armor.  I really think the benefits to weapons/armor need to be gradual, not exponential.  I'd suggest using nethack/stone soup level values for armor/weapons

c) Stats.  Right now STR is the stat to put everything in still, CON occasionally.  INT/DEX/CHA needs more use.  INT should be a global modifier to research.  DEX needs to affect attack speed and dodge chances more, and CHA should affect building rates/tax income/luck in battle.