Though combat can be fun for the most part – and being able to simply fight via the Duel mode without having to worry about resources and whatnot can be fun – it’s offset by the pathetic animations and sound effects. The basics of stacking units together for better effectiveness is never explained and any joy you may have in exploring the map is limited by the number of turns you can take. The problem is that Might & Magic Heroes 7 doesn’t do a good job at all when it comes to explaining some of the more nuanced aspects of gameplay.
![homm vii homm vii](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91WsEmVI2EL.jpg)
Unfortunately, the gameplay is more of the latter than the former. As a whole though, there’s a difference between stream-lining complex functionality and dumbing it down. Of course, you can modify your heroes’ abilities and skills as well and it’s very easy to spend points on combat-specific buffs, defense, leadership skills and much more. Resources are plentiful, each faction has their own special units (though there isn’t really that much of a categorical difference in units between each faction) and both buildings and troops can be upgraded for different benefits. There are also random events that pop up on the world map which command your attention, heroes to recruit and artifacts to be discovered. You can place a hero within a town to guard it from monsters or simply leave an army of troops there. Combat is turn based and there’s a fair bit going of strategy to be had. Your heroes traverse maps, gathering resources, building armies, capturing territory and clearing out monsters while upgrading the home base (or castle in this case). "The problem is that Might & Magic Heroes 7 doesn’t do a good job at all when it comes to explaining some of the more nuanced aspects of gameplay."Ĭoming to the gameplay, if you know the basics of Might & Magic Heroes, then you won’t be too lost. For that matter, what about detailed 2D portraits instead? The cut scenes within the campaign missions are two dimensional and look far better by comparison, even if they lack any real animation. It’s really weird and I can’t for the life of me understand why normal facial expressions and lip-syncing weren’t used. Many of these cut scenes which feature the various faction heads sitting around, discussing things, are filled with 3D models who’s mouths don’t move and who seemingly stare blankly into the distance. Unfortunately, doing worse is exactly what Limbic Entertainment seems to be trying. The point is that you could do a whole lot worse to acquaint me with the lore of the universe. This didn’t quite pan out so well in pacing terms during gameplay but we’ll get to that. In terms of campaign design, it was fun to experience such varied stories in a non-linear fashion. The story involves speaking with each representative and experiencing their background stories, engaging in wars of the past and essentially setting up the overall context for events that will bring everyone together going forward.
![homm vii homm vii](https://ubistatic-a.akamaihd.net/0004/prod/images/161005_Important/161005_Important_Slide.jpg)
Following the fall of the Falcon Empire, Griffin is interested in becoming king and consults a round table of the heads of the six factions, namely Haven, Academy, Sylvan, Stronghold, Dungeon and Necropolis. The story for Might & Magic Heroes 7 takes place after Shades of Darkness and concerns itself with one Ivan Griffin.
![homm vii homm vii](https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/FileUpload/7b/d21fb532497dd002a9c9a84fccaa24.jpg)
"In terms of campaign design, it was fun to experience such varied stories in a non-linear fashion."Īfter all these years, I really do feel the need to ask: What happened? Franchises change all the time or they don’t change at all but there are few that stay so tightly packed between the two extremes while doing their damndest to not welcome new players.
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Suffice to say though, the series is a long way away from the brilliance that it displayed under New World Computing. Over the years, the Heroes franchise has shifted to a number of different developers, eventually landing up at Limbic Entertainment which developed the sixth title along with Black Hole Entertainment and also made Might & Magic X: Legacy. The complexity of the gameplay, the different factions, the strategy required in battles and managing one’s resources and even the graphics all combined with a great story for one of the best turn-based tactical strategy games of all time.
![homm vii homm vii](https://images.igdb.com/igdb/image/upload/t_original/m5mwoansj1cs3jjlirmb.png)
Personally, I never really played every single title in the Heroes of Might & Magic franchise but I had a soft spot in my heart for Heroes of Might & Magic III.