This was the first HOMM game I played. My uncle introduced me to this series and I instantly fell in love. However, just a year later HOMM II was released and improved a lot of imbalance in this first game. HOMM II is really an updated, superior-in-every-way version of this. I've actually seen people rate this above the second game, which makes absolutely no sense from a pure game design standpoint. HOMM II is not flawless by any means, but there is absolutely nothing this game does better. This game is still playable but its definitely the least polished of any HOMM game. It existed in the days before patches so you just have to take what you get, and it has the worst mod support of any of the franchise titles.
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.
There's so many things about this game that are depressing. Maybe it's the 15-20K hours I've dumped into it in the last 17 years. Maybe it's the understanding that I'll never play a game with this replayability ever again. Ubisoft taking a steaming dump on all the later sequels is certainly a factor. No other game in existence has made me whisper softly to it "you...complete me"
