Thoughts on coming back to King's Bounty

[travelingoz]

Yep, I'm the same as Impy. Wotn was just too buggy and the game breaking bugs requiring a restart just seemed to be never-ending!
So, i too would like to hear from some more 'old hands' b4 i consider re-installing and purchasing the new DLC.

[camelotcrusade]

In that case, definitely give them some time to fix the bugs we're finding first. Just today I heard back from 1C support and I'm corresponding with them on my bug report. Hopefully this will result in a decent list of fixes.

Once those are ironed out it will be a matter of whether you like the new style of game play or not. It's not worlds apart from the first version, so if you disliked it strongly then stay away because you're not getting a new game. That said, I think the changes make it more interesting and also easier (which some players, not necessarily you grognards, will appreciate). Playing a game myself and comparing it to my friend's game has shown me just how different your start can be depending on your supply of level 4's -- which is a key feature it wasn't leveraging in the original early game.

A new downside is that without your flying horse the fedex quests are especially aggravating as sometimes "go here, report back, repeat" is a long ways away.

[travelingoz]

Originally Posted by camelotcrusade

In that case, definitely give them some time to fix the bugs we're finding first. Just today I heard back from 1C support and I'm corresponding with them on my bug report. Hopefully this will result in a decent list of fixes.

Once those are ironed out it will be a matter of whether you like the new style of game play or not. It's not worlds apart from the first version, so if you disliked it strongly then stay away because you're not getting a new game. That said, I think the changes make it more interesting and also easier (which some players, not necessarily you grognards, will appreciate). Playing a game myself and comparing it to my friend's game has shown me just how different your start can be depending on your supply of level 4's -- which is a key feature it wasn't leveraging in the original early game.

A new downside is that without your flying horse the fedex quests are especially aggravating as sometimes "go here, report back, repeat" is a long ways away.

Gameplay was never the problem. The rage that comes after the joy of finding super cool/rare artifacts/units/spells early in the game (you all know the kinda stuff i'm talking about!), then coming across a game breaking bug that required a restart and never finding those items again was what killed it for me.

[Zhuangzi]

Sigh. Up to level 13 in Ice and Fire now and I am getting frustrated, sadly. The game is JUST fun enough for me to play, but only because I'm cruising through pretty easily on Impossible Mage. Not no losses.

The main problem of WoTN, tedium, is NOT fixed in the early stages of Ice and Fire. Nordlig is actually quite fun but Vestlig not so much and Fastland is even worse. Fastland is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with WoTN. The island is almost completely linear and without a flying horse you basically just have to grind your way through it. Then when you're finished with that you can start grinding your way through Istering. Oh, and all the enemy stacks are undead. WTF!

To make matters even more frustrating, I'm finding it hard to find more supplies of certain high level troops, such as Warrior Maidens and Mystics. I'm nearly out of Soothsayers too. I thought I was going to have to use Slingers until I found more Berserkers. The creature xp system is good, but of course it rewards you for using the same units over and over. For some reason the Berserkers seem to level up faster than the other Viking units.

A team of Berserkers, Vikings, Soothsayers, Jarls and Mystics or Warrior Maidens is a fine team, but why must I use the exact same units for 93 fights now? Against the exact same enemies? Christ.

[Darkeonz]

Oh god I regret buying the DLC. While it improved warriors of the north a little bit, it just wasn't enough. I am level 43 now and the main land from legend is repopulated once again and I have to fight my way through it, once again!! I forgot this would happen.

I mean not only did they reuse the land from King's Bounty legend, but they actually went ahead and reused it TWICE!!!! I mean jesus christ it is lazy.

[Zhuangzi]

Originally Posted by Darkeonz

Oh god I regret buying the DLC. While it improved warriors of the north a little bit, it just wasn't enough. I am level 43 now and the main land from legend is repopulated once again and I have to fight my way through it, once again!! I forgot this would happen.

I mean not only did they reuse the land from King's Bounty legend, but they actually went ahead and reused it TWICE!!!! I mean jesus christ it is lazy.

Crap, I really don't think I can bothered with this. I'm level 17, just up to being back in Greenwort. I mean, the Viking lands aren't the best but at least they were new areas in WoTN. Being back in Darion just...sucks. Greenwort was SO much fun in TL (and I've replayed it recently so I remember) and now it's just utter fail in WoTN. Really, what were the devs thinking in making all the enemies undead? So boring, so dull. Greenwort is raped, the magic tower broken, and I can't help but feel like that's what WoTN did to KB as well

[KarlosCV]

Originally Posted by Zhuangzi

The creature xp system is good, but of course it rewards you for using the same units over and over....why must I use the exact same units for 93 fights now? Against the exact same enemies? Christ.

I think you rebutted yourself here

I personally strongly dislike the unit levelling system precisely because it nudges you to use the same units over and over again.

Btw maxed out Slingers are beastly but then you want to try something else, replace them with the new Scouts or Avengers and OMG, it seems the new shooters aren't doing any damage at all. Or you run out of the amazing Jarls and it takes about 50 fights before you get your Knights or Horsemen on the same level of dmg output.

On the plus side, they did solve the worst tedium - i.e. on the Nordling island. Yes the following islands are still bad but it wasn't that big a problem for me anymore.

And the new Ice Gardens island is quite interesting, although buggy and crashes a lot.

But on the whole, this is my second and last playthrough of WotN and in the future I'll only replay TL and CW.

[Zhuangzi]

Originally Posted by travelingoz

Yep, I'm the same as Impy. Wotn was just too buggy and the game breaking bugs requiring a restart just seemed to be never-ending!
So, i too would like to hear from some more 'old hands' b4 i consider re-installing and purchasing the new DLC.

I am enjoying the game to some extent, but it's still no AP/CW.

[BB Shockwave]

Five times in a few months? It always amazes me how fast some people can play... or how much time they have. I usually only get home around 18:00 after work, and barely have time to play 1-2 hours apart from weekends, plus playing KB no-loss is arduous - you have to redo battles every once in a while - so playing the games just once took me many months. I have played the Legend with all three classes (using different army setups), and AP/Crossworlds about 4 times, but it was a long process (am still finishing my CW gameplay with Mage/Demons).

But yeah, I recall how I replayed the demo over and over again when that was released. KB has taken the place as my favourite TBS for me - granted it lacks the major overworld strategy aspect of HOMM, but in the tactical battles part it outclasses the newest HOMM games. Especially after the disappointment that franchise has turned into ever since Ubi has taken over.

And yeah, I also played AP first in russian... found out you can easily put the text files in Google Translate and copy them back, and understand things despite the mangled english.

With the Legend, on my playthrough as a Mage I decided to go "Necromancer" and have an all-undead army. This was not easy until I got to the Elven lands, but you can get by surprisingly well with the lower level undead units + werewolves too. I ended up creating a new spell with a mod to reanimate undead troops like in HOMMIII, though, to make no-loss possible.

Originally Posted by impy

Thoughts on coming back to KB?

I never finished original WOTN, and that is a strong statement from person who spent countless hours playing former KB. Unless I hear from people like DG Dobrev, CKDamascus, FattShade and other dinosaurs of the forums it is worth it, I will not touch the DLC even if it was free. Saaad.

Same here. I put together a nice army (Jotuns, Ice dragons, viking units) by the time I stopped playing, but I still stopped because the bugs were annoying - the only valkyrie I found had an ability that did not work due to bugs (Christa's gift), many spells and skills crashed the game or did not work at all, or not properly, and overall the main problem was the "boringness" of the levels - none of the funny quests or clever maps of the other KB games was there. I played for 3 weeks maybe, trying to make myself to like the game, then gave up - and I rarely do that, mostly I finish all games I start (eventually, it might take years).

[Zhuangzi]

Originally Posted by BB Shockwave

Five times in a few months? It always amazes me how fast some people can play... or how much time they have. I usually only get home around 18:00 after work, and barely have time to play 1-2 hours apart from weekends, plus playing KB no-loss is arduous - you have to redo battles every once in a while - so playing the games just once took me many months. I have played the Legend with all three classes (using different army setups), and AP/Crossworlds about 4 times, but it was a long process (am still finishing my CW gameplay with Mage/Demons).

But yeah, I recall how I replayed the demo over and over again when that was released. KB has taken the place as my favourite TBS for me - granted it lacks the major overworld strategy aspect of HOMM, but in the tactical battles part it outclasses the newest HOMM games. Especially after the disappointment that franchise has turned into ever since Ubi has taken over.

And yeah, I also played AP first in russian... found out you can easily put the text files in Google Translate and copy them back, and understand things despite the mangled english.

With the Legend, on my playthrough as a Mage I decided to go "Necromancer" and have an all-undead army. This was not easy until I got to the Elven lands, but you can get by surprisingly well with the lower level undead units + werewolves too. I ended up creating a new spell with a mod to reanimate undead troops like in HOMMIII, though, to make no-loss possible.



Same here. I put together a nice army (Jotuns, Ice dragons, viking units) by the time I stopped playing, but I still stopped because the bugs were annoying - the only valkyrie I found had an ability that did not work due to bugs (Christa's gift), many spells and skills crashed the game or did not work at all, or not properly, and overall the main problem was the "boringness" of the levels - none of the funny quests or clever maps of the other KB games was there. I played for 3 weeks maybe, trying to make myself to like the game, then gave up - and I rarely do that, mostly I finish all games I start (eventually, it might take years).

Yeah, five play throughs of TL was pretty crazy. 300 hours in maybe 3-4 months. Something like that. I wasn't playing no-losses on TL though. I found no losses much easier in AP with the Paladin + Phantom trick, and again in WoTN I found it too hard (those bosses on the first island) so I gave up on that forever.