Basically any decent RPG from the 90s has some element of resource management (mana, potions, food, whatever).
Mana, potions, non-essential food are all fine, since they are general resources. As long as you can sleep (or something) to restore health and mana, and there is enough loot that you can gradually build up a supply of stronger potions as the game progresses, there is no hassle with inventory management.
It is when there are dozens of specialized items or required food that it becomes a hassle in the early game or a time/money waster in the mid to late game.
Making the amount of resources available in a given moment proportionate to the player's need it's all but impossible.
Hence my negative view of reagents being required for spells.
Tell me something: Is your idea that "item management = a core" based on your personal experiences with games such Ultima VII, Underworld, Betrayal at Krondor, Darklands, etc. or is it just a prejudice?
As long as a Fire Armageddon is more powerful than a Fireball and a Fireball is more powerful than a Flare, you need a good reason for not casting Fire Armageddon against any ice spirit you meet in the game.
When balanced (the spells explicitly not being balanced in the alpha), higher level spells will take multiple turns to cast and have a longer cooldown, which may include time after combat has ended.
You are not going to have your mage waste a couple turns on preparing a powerful spell, if your warrior/archer will finish everyone off by then. You also are probably not going to cast Fire Armageddon if by the time it is ready the remaining opponents are in close proximity to both characters.
In a game with no random opponents, and every encounter specifically placed, what makes you think when your characters are at a high enough level to learn Fire Armageddon, that you will be running into a lot of single ice spirits?
1- Different casting times for different spells IS a solution to the high level spell spam problem. With the addition of this feature, Larians basically recognize the problem. Now we have to see if their solution is good enough.
2- Cooldowns after combat are useless. Probably the most exploitable restriction ever conceived.
3- This is a sandbox game, so there is no way to predict in what order you will meet what. Also it's normal, if not desirable, to have different encounter difficulties at any given moment of the adventure. The point of spell management is this: saving your best spells for the hardest encounters.
