Stardock Entertainment’s remastered title, Elemental: Reforged, has officially launched into Early Access on Steam. The release of this remaster is a return to the classic sandbox turn-based 4X strategy series, which casts players as the sovereign of a kingdom struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a war of magic. And it’s all on a brand new engine.
The original game’s release, Elemental: War of Magic, was released with 32-bit technology. In the release to the press, one thing was clear: Elemental: Reforged is meant to be a title that brings the studio and franchise’s legacy into an engine that lets it fully capture what the series was meant to be. That comes through loud and clear in the comments shared from Stardock CEO and Elemental: Reforged designer Bradley Wardell.
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He said, “Elemental: Reforged is the culmination of the vision Stardock had for this series since we started work on it over 15 years ago. The design of the game was ahead of its time, but limited by PC consumer hardware of the late 2000s. Now with a 64-bit engine, updated graphical fidelity, and a combination of features from all previous releases in the Elemental series, Reforged is exactly what we hoped the original game would be.”
The Early Access build is designed to showcase the new combined experience and give players a direct line to the development process. According to Wardell, the goal is to get players involved “as soon as possible” to ensure the community shapes the final product. While remake fatigue has been hitting me, hearing developers discuss the avenue remasters give them to bring their work to new audiences, the way they intended, with new tech, is a lens I hadn’t considered.
Additionally, Wardell said, “Each game had certain key features that the others couldn’t fit. For instance, War of Magic has family dynasties where characters could get married, have children, and the children visibly carried a blending of the parents. That meant even trolls and humans could have children. Probably best not to dwell too much on that.”
What is Elemental: Reforged?
In Elemental: Reforged, you will play as a sovereign in control of a kingdom looking to rebuild and unify it all in the shadow of a War of Magic. Originally released as a trilogy of games, this title will bring all three together, promising to balance strategic depth and narrative richness through the differences across the 4X sandbox titles.
The game’s key features, as shared by Stardock Entertainment, are as follows:
- Ultimate Fantasy Sandbox: Players can create their own leaders, their own factions, and build a fantasy civilization with its own history and lore.
- Unified Elemental Experience: Brings together the strategic depth, smart AI, and rich gameplay from Fallen Enchantress, the immersive crafting and quest systems from Sorcerer King, and the dynasty-building, terraforming, and innovative mechanics first introduced in War of Magic.
Rich, Dynamic World: Enjoy endless replayability through procedurally generated fantasy worlds filled with lore-rich quests, evolving environments that respond to your magic, unique fantasy civilizations, and bustling cities populated with individually simulated characters.
- RPG-Infused Unit Design:. Customize heroes and armies through an intuitive RPG-style character designer, crafting each unit with their own unique history, stats, equipment, and abilities, growing stronger with experience.
- Compelling, Short Tactical Combat: See how your designed units and characters fare in battle in highly refined tactical battles that reward strategic thinking, or leverage a sophisticated auto-resolve system powered by advanced AI for streamlined empire management.
Deep Quest and Story Integration: Embark on rich, narrative-driven quests seamlessly woven into the empire-building experience, influencing diplomacy, unlocking secrets, and offering meaningful rewards. - Modernized UI and Graphics Engine: Explore enhanced visuals powered by DirectX 11, seamless zooming from strategic cloth-map to detailed tactical view.
- Integrated Modding Tools: A comprehensive built-in modding and map-editing tools, and a fully redesigned user interface optimized for modern PC gaming with Steam workshop integration.
