Elemental: Fallen Enchantress

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 173 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 113 out of 173
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 173
  3. Negative: 30 out of 173

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  1. Admiral_Brad
    Oct 28, 2012
    4
    Everything in Fallen Enchantress is still bland and uninteresting. AI opponents seem to be able to prosper where the player cannot, even on Easy and it doesn't help that you cannot build anywhere except a few random locations.

    ...and it still fails to balance Offence and Defense. Is it really so hard to understand that it should be: (Attack-Defense) times # of Units not (Attack    Everything in Fallen Enchantress is still bland and uninteresting. AI opponents seem to be able to prosper where the player cannot, even on Easy and it doesn't help that you cannot build anywhere except a few random locations.

    ...and it still fails to balance Offence and Defense. Is it really so hard to understand that it should be: (Attack-Defense) times # of Units
    not
    (Attack times # of Units) - Defense
    The defense of units is virtually pointless in the face of the offense available. Not that you can afford to outfit your Heroes. I can build entire cities for the cost of single suit of plate armor. It basically means that Hero units become useless as they cannot survive a single blow in the later part of the game.

    Heroes are the only interesting part of the game, but they too are seriously flawed. In addition to the armor/attack system flaw and the cost of armor flaw the new leveling system, which could be great is flawed. The abilities that appear are completely random, meaning that whether or not my mage can actually cast better spells is entirely random. Instead the best option might be to make your mage swing a better sword. This is completely annoying. On more than one occasion I just selected a random trait because nothing was appropriate. The quests are okay but few and far between.

    Honestly on a whole you are better off grabbing a copy of the 20 year old Master of Magic. It is in everyway more advanced with better gameplay and, despite being 2D sprites, better looking.    … Expand
  2. kantfoo
    Oct 24, 2012
    4
    Extremely bland game. Graphics is absolutely awful. I don't need fancy graphics for my 4x games, but the hero portraits drawn in this one look like they were done by my 5 year old. Gameplay is mildly better but is BOOORING. The only saving grace is that it doesn't crash as much their last game, War of Magic, but that's hardly saying much. If you bought War of Magic like me, and this isExtremely bland game. Graphics is absolutely awful. I don't need fancy graphics for my 4x games, but the hero portraits drawn in this one look like they were done by my 5 year old. Gameplay is mildly better but is BOOORING. The only saving grace is that it doesn't crash as much their last game, War of Magic, but that's hardly saying much. If you bought War of Magic like me, and this is your free 'consolation' game, yea I guess you're stuck with it, but if you're looking for a new game to buy, go pickup XCOM or HoMM VI.… Expand
  3. moondoggie
    Oct 24, 2012
    2
    I love 4X games. In fact, MoM is probably my favorite game ever. Fallen Enchantress is not in the same league as MoM or other great 4X games.

    This game is buggy and crashes alot. The AI sometimes just stops working and you have to restart the entire campaign. The loot and items are boring and repetitive. The story is worse then a B movie skin flick. It's also the ugliest game I can    I love 4X games. In fact, MoM is probably my favorite game ever. Fallen Enchantress is not in the same league as MoM or other great 4X games.

    This game is buggy and crashes alot. The AI sometimes just stops working and you have to restart the entire campaign. The loot and items are boring and repetitive. The story is worse then a B movie skin flick. It's also the ugliest game I can recall in recently memory.

    If I had my dollars to spend again, I'm buy XCOM or another decent 4X game.    … Expand
  4. jjhalberd
    Oct 31, 2012
    3
    I heard that the predecessor of this game, War of Magic was extremely broken on release, so it was with some trepidation that I bought this game. I'm happy to report that this game is mostly working. There are some quests which are bugged, but there doesn't seem to be any major broken features. Unfortunately, just because things are not bugged doesn't mean they are enjoyable. For example,I heard that the predecessor of this game, War of Magic was extremely broken on release, so it was with some trepidation that I bought this game. I'm happy to report that this game is mostly working. There are some quests which are bugged, but there doesn't seem to be any major broken features. Unfortunately, just because things are not bugged doesn't mean they are enjoyable. For example, the game offers extensive background lore, but the writing is so horrible that it makes skin crawl. I mean, I like pulp fantasy, but I live for pulp fantasy, but the drivel in this game is completely XXXX. The tactical combat is also very poorly done and shallow. I read on their forums that they purposely dumbed it down to emphasize strategic thinking. I infer that the game they really wanted to make was Civ + Fall From Heaven, but really, if you want to remake that, why not just do it? Why tack on a half-ass tactical combat? This game definitely has a lot of parts, but none of them are done very well and summed together provides a very tedious and boring game experience.… Expand
  5. allliefreemore
    Nov 5, 2012
    2
    This is a boring game that takes several steps backwards in the genre. The tactical battles are much worse than both master of magic, a 20 year old game, as well as heroes of might and magic, another 20 year old game, and ages of wonder a 10 year old game. There's very little thought or strategy in any of the battles. Where are range, line of sight, fortification, terrain modifiers? ThereThis is a boring game that takes several steps backwards in the genre. The tactical battles are much worse than both master of magic, a 20 year old game, as well as heroes of might and magic, another 20 year old game, and ages of wonder a 10 year old game. There's very little thought or strategy in any of the battles. Where are range, line of sight, fortification, terrain modifiers? There isn't even a little bump of hill in the map to create choke points or any form of stratetic combat placement. In reality, its a rts clickfest, just click attack over and over again, minus any of the excitement. The non-battle portions of the game is also done very poorly. The city builds are very uneven and you'll find your cities doing nothing for longs periods of time. Hence, they feel really stagnant.… Expand
  6. Scritty
    Oct 25, 2012
    4
    I had this free as someone who bought the original "War of Magic" (which was terrible). This is ok, but unless you are an obsessive about these things, this game just seems like a 2 year wait to make a very poor game into an average one. A 24 month wait for a big patch almost.
    After seeing how much other strategy games have improved since terrible releases "Sword of the Stars II~" and    I had this free as someone who bought the original "War of Magic" (which was terrible). This is ok, but unless you are an obsessive about these things, this game just seems like a 2 year wait to make a very poor game into an average one. A 24 month wait for a big patch almost.
    After seeing how much other strategy games have improved since terrible releases "Sword of the Stars II~" and "Hearts of Iron" - I had high hopes that this would go the same way.
    The graphics are still very under par. I have a game called "Braveheart" that came out 13 years ago (Red Lemon studios) the character GFX are more or less identical - really VERY poor indeed. Game play while solid is dull. After about 2 hours I felt nothing urging me to go on, every turn was a chore (and I play Dwarf Fortress, so it's not just a "bored with micromanagement" issue). It seems like the main aim of of this game was to "work" to make up for WOM which "didn't work at all" - The net result is a game that doesn't crash, has just about passable AI, but is really very dull and has aesthetics like the side of an outhouse. Where is the innovation that Stardock games used to have?    … Expand
  7. Mayonetta
    Oct 25, 2012
    1
    how did I get fooled into buying a stardock game again? the graphics are terrible, it's got the Stardock trademark boringness and blandness along with great nonstop crashes and glitches.

    how long have they been working on this game? 4 years? yeesh
  8. greywar
    Oct 24, 2012
    0
    They fixed the tech but seem to have forgotten how to make a game which is entertaining or fun. Massive problems with the races being almost indistinguishable, combat is still lacking behind what MoM established as a bog standard minimum nearly 20 years ago, Simply not a very well designed game.

    Disappointed.
  9. TheXand
    May 16, 2013
    0
    Might have been a good game if it weren't crippled by serious framerate issues. Go buy Heroes of Might and Magic 6 instead as that game is graced with a working engine at least.
  10. dallasc
    Nov 9, 2012
    1
    Fallen enchantress is another large disappointment from Stardock. It's a shame that the best game they've released recently is a retread expansion (Sins: Rebellion) for which you have to pay full price. The worst about thing this game is the lies and hypocrisy that the company puts out. They say that the game won't come out until it's fully ready, but it's clearly NOT READY. Buggy quest?Fallen enchantress is another large disappointment from Stardock. It's a shame that the best game they've released recently is a retread expansion (Sins: Rebellion) for which you have to pay full price. The worst about thing this game is the lies and hypocrisy that the company puts out. They say that the game won't come out until it's fully ready, but it's clearly NOT READY. Buggy quest? Check. Graphic slow downs? Check. Unbalanced game play? Check. If you go to the stardock, the fanboys are all saying 'Wait for the patch!' WTF? Why can't this company just release a finished game. Clearly, they released their game early again to catch the holidays. This is exactly what happened with their War of Magic -- And while Fallen Enchantress is quite the mess that game was, it's clear that Brad Wardell (stardock ceo) is lying again when he says he values gamers over profit. Well, this is definately, the last time I'm buying a stardock game.… Expand
  11. Yora
    Apr 25, 2013
    0
    If you are a TRUE RPG fan, DO NOT buy this game. It is a waist of your time. I was nuts over this when I saw the trailer Come to find out I'm playing RISK...? Srsly? If I wanted to play Risk I would pull out the game board and play it. Please learn to make an RPG right
  12. Blackadar
    Nov 19, 2012
    4
    FE improves on the hideous, buggy mess that was the original Elemental, but it's still a hodge-podge of disassociated systems that don't quite blend together well. The graphics leave something to be desired and it's still not entirely stable, though it's not unplayable and it does a decent job at trying to fulfill the normal 4X TBS checklist. But with fantasy 4X TBS games like Warlock:FE improves on the hideous, buggy mess that was the original Elemental, but it's still a hodge-podge of disassociated systems that don't quite blend together well. The graphics leave something to be desired and it's still not entirely stable, though it's not unplayable and it does a decent job at trying to fulfill the normal 4X TBS checklist. But with fantasy 4X TBS games like Warlock: Master of the Arcane available for a much lower price (and the far-superior non-fantasy Civ V available for the same price), it doesn't fill much of a niche in the gaming market today.… Expand
  13. sarahcohen
    Nov 23, 2012
    2
    Unfortunately, this is just a below average game with undistinguishing gameplay. Very frequently, I read on their forum how the game is "highly moddable" which I guess means that the company expects us gamers to finish their game for them. How horrible and lazy!
  14. evild4ve
    Aug 17, 2014
    2
    I got it because I'm a sucker for games like this. It hangs together surprisingly well - a combination of mechanics from HOMM3, Disciples, and Civilization/Warlock, and possibly Eador. There wasn't one single thing here I hadn't seen before in another game, that cost less. It's pleasingly challenging, a small map on normal difficulty takes about 2 days - the overall macro strategy againstI got it because I'm a sucker for games like this. It hangs together surprisingly well - a combination of mechanics from HOMM3, Disciples, and Civilization/Warlock, and possibly Eador. There wasn't one single thing here I hadn't seen before in another game, that cost less. It's pleasingly challenging, a small map on normal difficulty takes about 2 days - the overall macro strategy against the AI is well-balanced... but the closer you look at any one aspect of the game, it's like it works because they broke everything and it all cancelled each other out. No tactical positioning of units, battle scenery pointless, battle formations pointless since everything moves at the same speed and hits things, some spells ludicrously overpowered, boring micromanagement of unit equipment, time-consuming UI, it culminates in one big fight and if you win the enemy won't catch up with the experience and unit level games, and the writing and the game world are really really really boring. The tech tree makes no sense (Game developers note: Civilization's tech tree only worked because it's a rendition of human history). The hero upgrades tree is even weirder. But worst of all, worst of all, necromancers can't raise decent undead, let alone the unforgettable skeleton hordes of HOMM3. Sigh. Uninstalled.… Expand
  15. hfffoman
    Nov 5, 2013
    4
    This is a slimmed down version of Heroes of Might and Magic combined with a slimmed down version of Civilisation. This idea is good but unfortunately it isn't good enough. The heroes part is a feeble caricature of the original (for example a high initiative can be to your disadvantage because there is no wait function; the character development doesn't quite work either), and the CivThis is a slimmed down version of Heroes of Might and Magic combined with a slimmed down version of Civilisation. This idea is good but unfortunately it isn't good enough. The heroes part is a feeble caricature of the original (for example a high initiative can be to your disadvantage because there is no wait function; the character development doesn't quite work either), and the Civ part feels a little cartoony it is like playing Elder Scrolls and then switching to Torchlight. There are some clunky mechanics too, for example if your army travels through a city you have to take each member out individually in a complex click and slide action. Sometimes you click on a destination and before you can stop them, your troops have left the road and taken a vastly longer route, wasting 2-3 turns. The story game is particularly very weak. Feels like it was written by a GCSE student over a weekend. On top of that the scenario creator would crash the game consistently on certain settings. On the plus side, the menus are clear and you can work out how the Civ mechanics work more easily than in the original.… Expand
  16. theNILE
    Jan 28, 2013
    2
    I previously made a fairly negative review, after the patch 1.2 came out, the game has improved a little, some resource problems have been reduced and the waste of research end-game has been removed with repeatable tree-ends. Sadly, some minor bugs were still not addressed and as many others have put, this game is just mediocre. While you're able to customize a lot of options and on theI previously made a fairly negative review, after the patch 1.2 came out, the game has improved a little, some resource problems have been reduced and the waste of research end-game has been removed with repeatable tree-ends. Sadly, some minor bugs were still not addressed and as many others have put, this game is just mediocre. While you're able to customize a lot of options and on the fastest pace the game feels much better, I don't find myself wanting to keep playing. Even after I got into the game, when I drop it, nothing really compels me to continue playing. A few certain mechanisms of the game are still unexplained/bugged and pretty much nothing is explained when you begin to play making it hard to get into. The graphics, for a modern game are below par, sounds are good, I feel this game could of been a lot better.… Expand
  17. SethEvandor
    Jun 16, 2014
    2
    The graphics and animations are awful. Really, putting aside all the features and **** going to the core, in this day and age when pretty much every game is using a hexagonal tile system because it's superior, FE is simplified, bland, uninteresting, out-of-date - which is probably the best description - and provides nothing new. Similar titles provide a superior experience with charm,The graphics and animations are awful. Really, putting aside all the features and **** going to the core, in this day and age when pretty much every game is using a hexagonal tile system because it's superior, FE is simplified, bland, uninteresting, out-of-date - which is probably the best description - and provides nothing new. Similar titles provide a superior experience with charm, in-fact any older turn-based title I know pretty much kicks the **** out of this game.… Expand
  18. Renegade383
    May 22, 2014
    2
    As an avid 4x player I've played most of the recent ones, aside from Warlock 2 this is the game I most regret paying for. Could be worth it on sale, but it'd have to be really cheap. The game is boring, ugly and uninspiring. Initially had buggy quests.

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Best PC Game of 2012
63
#63 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. PC Gamer
    Feb 4, 2013
    85
    Fixes most of Elemental’s technical and design problems, making it an addictively complex and rewarding strategy game.
    Read full review
  2. Gaming Nexus
    Dec 17, 2012
    89
    A collection of average mechanics combine to make a big, complicated, pretty good game. It's no "Master of Magic", but there is real potential here.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Dec 12, 2012
    78
    Fallen Enchantress improves on the first Elemental game by leaps and bounds, but still fails to enchant. Heroes and armies are fun to play with, but the mediocre empire building lacks that something which really would hook you in. [Dec 2012]
See all critic reviews »