Heroes of Might and Magic® 2: Gold

This is coming from someone who never played Heroes of Might and Magic in the past. I started with the first one a few weeks ago. I dont have nostalgia for this game. I knew of its existence, but never played it. I'm changing that now. I'm sure glad I am, too. Heroes of Might and Magic II is largely superior to the first game in almost every way. It's basiccally the same game, but refined and with new additions. There are two new factions, both of which I enjoy. The Wizards and the Necromancers. I -love- the Necromancers, easily my favorite faction thus far. While the city management is quite similar to the first game's, there are a few new additions, like upgrading buildings (Which gives access to upgraded troops.) The battlefield is bigger, which is a welcome improvement. The game is so incredibly addictive, and I lost hours to it just wanting to do one more turn. The art style is great. It's a bit different from the first game's, but it grew on me and I really like it now. The soundtrack is phenomenal, especially the music it plays in the various cities you control. It is largely superior to the first game. But there were a couple of issues I had with it. It stuttered frequently, freezing for a few seconds and making me think it was about to CTD. Sometimes it did. The first game did not do this to me. The movement of heroes on the campaign map also stuttered, which drove me crazy until I got used to it. The campaign is much longer and more varied than the first. While that is MOSTLY good, some levels are frustrating and tedious, requiring intimate knowledge of the level or forcing you to play a certain way, usually by rushing. Crazy difficulty spikes. First game was more relaxed, I preferred that. You also get cool choices to make during the campaign which permanently affects the game. Unfortunately, there's only ever one right choice that's actually useful. Pity that. All in all, fantastic game. Can't recommend it enough. On to 3!

I dimesnion gated every enemy 10/10

A delightful romp into the past . This old favorite brings joy anew !

So, I have owned this on CD since it came out. I can't find anything better. Tried HOMM1,3,4,5 (and I guess there are more, stopped there) but nothing touches HOMM2. Tried tons of other games, a few I like, but nothing owns me like this game. Bought an old XP from a friend once I realized that was the last system that would play it correctly and ONLY so I could play HOMM2-it has no other purpose. I have not downloaded the GOG onto my Win 11 as there is no need. If you download and don't like it, as some have said, I hope it is not the game you don't like! It plays perfectly on XP via CD (you can actually rip an old original CD and it works perfect), no issues for me. 32167 and 8675309 forever! I don't need to win legitimately I just need to play (and win). This Jon Van Caneghem creation is his magnum opus.

The game works under Windows 11. Unfortunaely, there is a problem with resolution settings. The game was not running optimal fullscreen.