So... Elemental, while inspired by MoM, is not MoM.

I'm coming to grips with that now.

I feel like they took everything I liked about MoM and threw it out the window. Buildings availability based on races/factions? Gone. Units unique to races/factions? Gone. Unique Heros? Gone. Diverse spells? Gone. Challenging and rewarding tactical combat? Gone. Leaders that specialize in only one "book color" of magic? Gone. Aside from some % bonuses, does it really make a difference on what faction you play as? 

The game is as dull as the barren landscape that it takes place in.

Is there hope? Yes, but I'm not too hopeful that SD will deliver. SD's track record of game support is stellar, but they don't appear to understand the "uniqueness" that Simtex gave each of their races and spell schools in all of their 4x games.

My only hope lies in the modding community. If SD can improve on the modding tools, someone is going to pick up the torch and give us the game we've been waiting for.