I heard very little about this outside that it cleans up Elemental's mess. Anyone have an opinion?

I agree, it took me three plays to finally grasp all of the systems but each time I understood one I was amazed at the depth of the game.

This game is fantastic. A huge, huge upgrade over Elemental. Shockingly for a strategy game, even the included campaign is wonderful. The game is easily worth $20 if you like Masters of Magic back in the day.

If you enjoy Civ games and any of the Heroes of Might and Magic, you should get it. Check the Steam guides out when you first start to play. I wished they were there when I started; it would have saved me a lot of time reading forums.

I picked it up for like 5 bux on the Summer Sale but only have played it for about a half hour. Seems a competent enough of a successor to Master of Magic though.