Heroes of Might and Magic III

One of the most successful games and perhaps the ultimate cult classic in Eastern Europe, While the West was obsessed with consoles, the Slavic audiences were spending hundreds of hours with this incredible TBS. Why? I guess we just love strategy, and there is not one game in the genre that came close at the time, or ever since.

For me, HOMM3 was, along with Tolkien's literature, the introduction to the world of fantasy and ancient history. The variety of the world is just incredible, with each of the fractions having a unique style, graphics (that still look great imo), their own personality. Humans in medieval castles, elves in enchanted forests, wizards in snowy towers, demons in fiery infernos, warlocks in dark dungeons, necromancers in dead cities, barbarians in highland strongholds, beastmasters in wild swamps, and finally the magical Conflux with the elementals. I even divided my entire music library into 9 categories based on that. Call that nerdism.

But the greatest thing about HOMM isn't just the world, but its gameplay. The combat system requires and practices analytical and strategic thinking, as well as thoughtfulness in your hero development and town management. After years spent with this game I'm still discovering new tactics and tricks. Even after all those years, the game still never gets old. The community is still releasing countless mods that extend the playing time to literally thousands of hours.

Flaws? No game is flawless. If you've played the game enough, you'll know how to exploit the game's imbalances. That said, learning about them is part of the joy so it doesn't feel like a flaw at all. Besides there are countless fan mods that change the dynamics of the game, so have fun with that.

This is the greatest game ever made.

Essential link for enthusiastic players: https://drive.google.com/f...OGRm/view?pli=1

It's funny how the excellent HoMM2 got such an otherworldly sequel and that it is hardly cared about due to that. Let's imagine a world where HoMM2 never got any sequels. It'd be a great, timeless classic. Yet here we are and this game is infintely better. Everything has been improved on, countless features and immense nuance has been added, everything is bigger and better. This is probably one of the greatest games ever made, it is the perfect pick for dreamers and strategists, as it will both provide you with a sense of timeless wonder and brilliance, as well as engage you with deep strategy. It is obvious that there is a lot of content, but I think that if you approach it from a competitive & skillful play angle, anyone would be surprised by the depth. Though, I'm not going to kid you, it is quite unbalanced. I don't think it takes away so much from the genius here, but it's still a bit of a shame.

If you are new to the game, then just the campaigns, scenarios, and self-imposed challenges can keep you engaged for at least 100s of hours, possibly much more. If you want true longevity, then try playing it with other people. It is potentially a huge timesink. Still, It's the feeling that is especially important to me. There is so much to say about it. There are so many reasons why this game is such an addiction. HoMM3 pulls you into a new world. HoMM3 is pure existence.

Only played a bit, but i find that this one didint age all that well. I like how it manages to merge city building with turn based combat and map exploration, but at the same time i dont feel it does any of these things well. The combat is way too simple to be interesting, and clunky to play. You are given the option to customize your heroes with different abilities and equipment parts that you find throught the world, which again is a nice touch but because the actual combat is so lackluster it doesnt really add all that much to the experience. The story and visuals are weak as well. It offers a fantastical setting with the lore from the Might and Magic series, but its unappealing to me. I understand how great it might have been at the time, but its lackluster UI and just overal experience really makes it a drag to play nowadays.

I like the basic concepts of it though, enough to be interested in Age of Wonders, which is basically the modern equivalent of this series.

Archangels downrated this game to 0.5 on Glitchwave just because Arch Devils rated 5.0!