Initial designs were 'worse' you were never supposed to actually control the units, you were to give simple commands (attack, hold, defend) and then the battle would play out.  Enough people whined about that (though I thought it was working well enough) and so now they have some kind of in between where you can have complete control, but the system was never really built to play that way so it doesn't quite feel right.

This is compounded by the size and movement ranges on the tactical maps.  It's a bit messy I think, but if you ignore the new features and just go with how they initially set it (using the general commands) it works more or less as intended.

Of course different people want different things out of the game, my opinion is if you want fully fleshed out tactical combat then EL is never going to satisfy you there, if you want to focus more on the empire and quests then EL should give you quite a bit of entertainment.

Buggy?

I've been in since they opened the alpha and I don't even know that it was particularly buggy back then.  What exactly is making you call it buggy?

As to the design flaws...  That's probably more a matter of personal taste than actual flaws, but either way, it's flawed as far as you are concerned.

Considering getting a ctd in alpha versions could be as simple as combining troops and giving a move order I'll have to doubt something here.

Since release though, yep, buggy.  I've run into various crashes or progress halting bugs, including an apparent memory leak, a lock up during map generation, and the End Turn button not functioning.  There are lots of minor issues as well, from spelling errors to having the troop level up notification come up every turn for a unit once it reaches level 10.

Indeed, some of the design flaws could be a difference in taste.  For example, I despise the stack o' doom, which this game has, while others might love it.  However, it's effect on balance can be separated from preference.  Some problems due to simultaneous turns, like unresponsiveness at the start of a turn (while the AI is moving) or endless chases involving quest armies that can embark, aren't merely subjective.

Yes, unpolished.  Insinuating that other games are worse (or released in a worse state) doesn't make this one better than it is.

If you like the game that is great.  I like some aspects of it, but not enough to recommend it or continue playing.

I have took the time to learn the game which is all about where to find simple stuff in their unconventional menu system.   Other than that I found the game itself very simplistic.  Yes, it has a unusual lore and all that, but if I wanted to read about such stuff I would read a book.  

I see EL as a £1.99 phone app, spruced up with some nice graphics and music, then flogged of to the unsuspecting public as a full price game.  

If you slow this game down you can read the subliminal messages that read as follows.....

This isn't the crap game you thought it was.

This game will make you powerful

This game will put 6" on your dongle and get you a girlfriend.

Protect this game with your life.

If asked 'is this game worth the money' Lie.

Flame anyone that say's anything bad about this game.

Play this game daily or you will burn in hell.

Yeah! But when there's no full moon, we are good buddy's in't we?  

This reminds me of a thesis that comes back to my brain, again and again as I read reviews of promising, newly released games.

The quest for high sales from "good graphics" is holding back the evolution of video gaming, and not just on consoles anymore.

I know that visuals are important, but I think players vastly over-reward visual quality to the detriment of their own enjoyment.

Indy games that can find graphics-neutral audiences seem to have the only hope of meaningfully advancing the medium beyond "here's that old game you loved, updated to maximize contemporary hardware capability."

It's the only game besides Tropico 4 that I've played the last 2 months.

I bought EL a couple weeks ago and have put in more hours playing it than I care to admit. It is a polished, fun game, and the combat system has really grown on me.

@Tattyhat - you are just a douchebag. Everyone can see that there is a lot of detail in this game, which is exactly what you won't find in phone apps. They tried a few really interesting concepts, of which many did not work, but you can't just brush off a massive effort like this... unless you are a douchebag. 

It's true that the game does not have a competitive AI, but none of the the modern 4X games have it. You are mostly playing PvE, optimizing cities, collecting goodies, until you encounter a totally cluless AI. 

Yea, that's true for now. I am hoping that changes with the next update. it's hard to program a strong AI like this out of the gate, so with our feedback, I'm hoping it improves. Right now, EL is leagues aged of ES.

Endless Legend sale on Steam - for 16 Euro. I just bought it, fantastic game. 

And which benefit you want, the more of a certain village you have the stronger benefit you get. You can also later on research more "assimilation spots" to integrate more minor factions.

The AI is working much better now with the new patch and has done some pretty impressive things in regards to tactical combat. I've lost some battles, despite outnumbering my opponent, and it was glorious.

My website is going to be revisiting it now that there has been some major patches. I want the site to do that sort of thing, which no one really does.