Originally Posted by it-ogo (Post 59395)

First some very general statements. Usually we don't really know why do we like a game. I can say (suppose) why HOMM V is bad: small number of castles killed the strategy and new battle mechanics killed tactics. But I can not say why HOMM IV is bad. It has many improvements which are very nice by itself. A fraction system, magic system, hero promotion system, battle system in particular were very nice with few minor faults. But overall gameplay was much worse then in HOMM III. I don't really know why.

Second, my position towards Disciples 2: I strongly appreciate its style-atmosphere-art and storyline, but the gameplay for me was slightly too boring. I did not finish expansion campaigns.

Then about KB:L. It has lesser potential and replayability then HOMM III mainly because of absense of random generated games and limited modding possibilities. It's too early to compare campaigns as KB:L expansions are to be made. But the battle system is better then in HOMM III. How do I mark it: a hardcore player have longer way to perfection. :) Many may have a pleasure of playing but few can make something like "no losses on impossible". So you are always have a way to become better tactician and strategist. It was not so realy in HOMM III IMHO - the cap of perfection was much lower.

And I really like the the concept of rune-sphere system of hero promotions (as well as its concrete implementation). I think it is the first system of that kind in gaming but I know analogies in the area of sensorics. That is what really can provide flexibility and specificity in the same time - that means great variaty of viable pathways and good adaptation mechanism.

It is hard to compare tactics in KB-HOMM with XCOM-Jagged Alliance. The latter have much bigger and diverse arenas while the former have developed magic system and those make different kinds of tactical systems. Now I don't see the way to combine it successfully. Maybe AD&D gives something intermediate.

Originally Posted by Zhuangzi (Post 59517)

It's funny because the first campaign in HOMM V is just absurdly easy, even on Hard. It's so boring; you just have to slog through it.

On the other hand, the Tribes of the East campaign is a real challenge for me right now on Medium difficulty. I just played the second mission, Last Soul Standing, and I had a LOT of fun. I won by the skin of my teeth. It's a timed mission and I reached the objective on the last possible day, and then died three times trying to defeat the castle guards (I am still learning this game :rolleyes:) On my fourth try I won with 2 archers and 5 zombies left. What fun I had! So I will try to forget about the HOMM V campaigns and see how far I can get with ToE. :cool:

Originally Posted by Smash (Post 59609)

it was very tiring, long and stressful, i won and go back to scenarios (aka skirmishes) for more enjoyable play :).

Originally Posted by MajorS (Post 59617)

Thats why i like KB so much, its pace is so much faster than any HoMM. The older i got the more impatient i became ;) Dont have time to grind/waste anymore. I just installed HoMM V again just to give it a try but im not even having half as much fun as KB. I dont care much about AI, strategy etc anymore. I just play for fun :D