Heroes of Might and Magic® 2: Gold

I haven't played much of HOMM5, but I've played a lot of both HOMM2 and HOMM3. HOMM3 has way more "stuff" and is more balanced. There's more monsters, maps, and castle types (spells are almost the same). However, HOMM2 is both mechanically and visually more impressive. I'm usually not into graphics much, but pixel art of HOMM2 looks so good. Even HOMM3's pretty map assets are mostly just taken from HOMM2. Mechanically, HOMM2 has a lot more unique creatures and castles due to massive strengths and weaknesses. Flyers, for example, can move anywhere on the map, totally disabling ranged units. However, ranged units are still some of the most valuable due to their ability to mow down pretty much every other type of unit without recieving counter attacks and therefore not taking any losses. My favorite unit in the game is the hydra, a big hunk of flesh that doesn't get counterattacked and hits ALL neighboring enemy creatures when attacking. On the flip side, it moves at a snail's pace and is totally useless against ranged units if you don't have haste. Every single creature has its own identity and importance (except mummies). Castles are also very tilted towards a particular playstyle, rather than having all the fun balanced out. Barbarians and Knights can get to their good stuff really fast, not needing all those extra non-wood/ore resources to get there. HOMM3 castles, on the other hand, don't have any major strengths or weaknesses.

the last time im playing this game was 7 years ago. I have completed all the campaign and keep playing it again & again. its time to bring back my old memories! wohooo! p/s : the game turn out to be laggy when my/AI heroes make a move. Yet, its consider as ok to me after play it awhile.. (using windows 7)

This was the first one of the series that I played and it was because of a demo disc (miss those) from PC Gamer mag. I fell in love with it immediately and bought the full game as soon as i could. I own the rest of the games and while 3 is the best, 2 will always be the first. Its kind of like your first significant other, it will always be special to me.

I know this was the 2nd game in the series, but hear me out. The very first HOMM game was barely out a year before this was released and I wouldn't recommend playing the first game except out of sheer curiosity. The developers clearly saw the need to expand on a great idea and got their butts in gear for this release in 1996. More heroes, more starting towns, more spells, the works. It's a good thing they did, or else this franchise could literally have been forgotten in time by now. Heroes of Might and Magic 2 is the game that popularized this franchise and paved the way for HOMM III and all the other titles after it. I would play this game from the moment I got home until I went to bed. I daydreamed in 6th and 7th grade thinking about nothing but this game. It became such an obsession. This was the first instance of video game crack that I can recall (and then HOMM III took it to a whole new level). The graphics may look primitive now but I honestly think anyone who truly loves the series will enjoy this game.

This game really stood the test of time - they should go back and start developing again from heroes 2