2) That’s what it boils down to. The game’s style has been changed, which is bad. Changes, especially radical ones, should only be made when (almost) everything possible has been extracted from what is available.
For example, the style of the Undead, Demons, and Orcs has been radically changed. The Demons, for example, have changed from rather pleasant-looking, beast-like hellish creatures, which is approximately what demons should be, into a motley crew of aliens and magma elementals. In other words, they have lost their appeal and have simply become monsters that one just wants to destroy.
The Undead have also adopted some kind of repulsive style; some elements (ghouls, lamassu) make you want to vomit, and others (the spider) make you want to smash your monitor. In other words, they are generally not appealing and are repulsive in appearance.
The Orcs have also been disfigured in some units (shamans, cyclops); the cyclops has lost all resemblance to its former self, and the shaman is not an Orc, but rather, excuse me, some kind of prototype; you know what I mean.
Where is the fantasy? Where is the captivating, all-consuming, fairy-tale spirit of fantasy? Only the Humans remain… and that’s it. Two out of my three favorite factions have been disfigured. Fail.