Nice to have a review like that, but it's not exactly of actual value.

The graphics are not bad, but you have to strain it really bad to give it 4 out of 5. 5 out of 5 is just plain silly.

It's OK if they like the game and you don't.   It's just a matter of opinion.  Everyone has a right to their own perspective.

this guy has no idea what's going on.

Lots of cliches, little evidence (to me) of any real deep play or understanding that went into the review.  That's irrespective of his views on the game per se.

Never said I don't like it.

But what is a review worth (aside from the obvious advertisement) if the standart is so low?

To break it up for you:

Graphics are nice to look at. 3.5 stars out of 5. Another half star if immersion breakers like silly fences around settlements and the road graphics get an overhaul. 5 out of 5 is drop dead gorgeous. And that is something this game won't achieve ever. The Human Units have a tendency to look like they got a slight form of trisomy 21 and mountains are more of a bump in the landscape.

The graphics work and mostly don't take away from the game, good enough, but not maximum score.

I dunno, to some extent it depends on how much you like the stylization they did. I am actually a real big fan, I like the way the game looks like a watercolour painting. I don't know why that appeals to me so much but it really does. The graphics are not high poly/texture and so if photorealism is the thing that you like they aren't great, but if you are in to the particular stylization they chose, then they are quite cool.

I'm certainly not going to claim that my opinion is universal, just saying I can see why someone would rate the graphics highly, despite them being objectively lower end.

I find the graphics incredible! Very exciting in the early game to find yourself alone in a huge world surrounded by magic and monsters. The camera and resulting views are what give the game much of it's beauty in being able to afford various vistas of the realm.

I don't consider it or any game "perfect", but I would still offer 5 stars. It's going to be interesting to see where Stardock goes with Elemental over the months and years...

Graphics are fine imo.  I am sure this reviewer played one game and did not even finish it.  I would have given 5 out of 5 after my first 10 hour play session, but as you play more, you notice the balance and AI issues.

Agreed. This review seems a little dubious. Either A) he didn't really play this game all that long before he "reviewed" it, B ) he didn't actually play it and reviewed it based on videos or description or C) someone paid him to say/do this. 

I hate to sound paranoid, but I just don't buy it. A "perfect" score? Suurrrrrrrrrrre.

I'm more surprised he gave 5/5 to the sound. Both music and effects are extremely generic.

I suspect he wanted to give the whole game 5/5 and to achieve that had to give 5/5 in all categories.

The thing is, there are some seriously low reviews for the same exact reason (not enough play time.) These are the reviews crying, it's too hard, there is no depth, blah, blah.

It does not appear to count as a legitimate Metacritic review so my prediction of sub-80 is still perfectly intact. 

I wonder why no reviewer so far (and I read them all before I decided to buy the game) mentioned how buggy the game is. In fact it is the buggiest game I have ever played. From the game engine to the user interface, from trivial data structures like lists and queues over basic functionality like saving a game to more advanced problems like connectivity checking and pathfinding, no (technical) part really works as it should.

The artwork is quite good IMO (probably not 5/5 though) and the gameplay really exciting. Let's hope that one day the game will live up to the expectations. Right now it is still not more than a showcase (AKA beta version) of how it could look like at some point in the future.

Concerning the review: Some sentences are taken verbatim from the game description and some explanations are plain wrong.

Broadly speaking I agree (although it isn't the buggiest game I have played, just too buggy).

I've said this quite a few times, FE needed/needs much more polishing and bug fixing before it is anywhere near its true potential. However it appears Stardock, or at least Frogboy, disagree on the degree of the problem, based on several comments from them and the fact they released FE at a point which I think was way too early.

+1.

My mark is 4.5 stars out of 5.