So, after playing Elemental: Fallen Enchantress for 10 hours, here is a short review.
After seeing this product rise, fall, and then rise again from the ashes, I felt I had to try it out. I haven't ever seen a gaming company re-release a game like Stardock has done. I am impressed with the single player experience.
There isn't a multiplayer element to this game, they probably learned from sins that you will have all your balance issues pointed out constantly if you do 
.
That being said, I enjoy this cross of Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic. I should note, both of these games bore me after about 30 minutes with their simplistic game play. This game leaves a pleasant feeling in your mind after you have played it for hours and hours, something that neither Civilization nor Heroes of Might and Magic ever achieved with my single player experience.
There is a world full of intricate lore with a lot of little tidbits here and there that show the love that went into crafting the game. I particularly enjoyed the epic quest that wins you the game, although I wish there were a few more "ending the game" quest options that were designed around each initial sovereign choice.
The negatives I see are that after you choose your sovereign in the very beginning you are "soft locked" into a type of play style (not as noticeable on easier difficulty settings). I prefer multiple paths to victory within each victory condition.
As I haven't played the game for too long since it's release I can't say much on replayability, except that there are a lot of sovereigns to choose from and that I haven't tried them all. Each Sovereign plays very differently. Yet, each race doesn't have the strategic depth that i'm used to playing with sins.
I particularly enjoyed the moment when a big bone troll destroyed my town nearest to it while my sovereign stack was far away clearing baddies. It reminded me that I wasn't playing Civilization!
The only thing I can see getting a bit repetitive is the combat. Yet at the same time, there is a reasonable auto-resolve battle option that isn't designed to screw over your stack for being "lazy".
I have to say though, I would enjoy larger maps, and more of them.
I would give this game a 9/10, taking off one point for no multiplayer. I know its a LOT of extra work having a multiplayer community, yet multiplayer communities keep games selling for far longer then they would normally.
+100 to stardock street cred, because they kept their word. Sadly there aren't many companies like them in the industry.
