HOMM has been gone for too long; as a fan of HOMM1-3, this was in theory a welcome return to a formula that had been gone for too long. Unfortunately it's not there yet. Kicking towns up a notch to have upgrades affect the strategic map isn't a bad thing, but messing with the UI design to the point where recruitment is a matter of faffing around between buildings is not a positive step. The graphics are... ok, but not great. The HOMM series were better at pixel art because they had no choice, but in Songs of Conquest the art steps fractionally too far away from the cartoon style, leaving the impression of high resolution 2d or perhaps 3d graphics that have had resolution dropped - it's nice but just not quite clear enough. Combat is good, but doesn't shine.It feels slightly too fussy somehow. That said, a lot of these niggles can be cleared up before release and I hope to find myself editing this review for the better.
