I'm astounded by how much enjoyment this game still brings me. I've sunk so many hours and will probably sink a ton more as time goes on. This review is with the expectation that you're already familiar with the game or the series as a whole. With that being said, I greatly insist on installing the HD Mod and Horn of the Abyss fan expansion. The HD Mod is a necessity in order to play on modern resolutions, while Horn of the Abyss offers tons of improvements, reasonable balance adjustments, new items, units, tons of new map objectives and a brand new faction with its own story mode. A lot of people struggle with HoMM or the genre in general, because you have to control multiple heroes. However, there is now a very well refined single hero map template, called Duel, which brings all the fun of the series and compacts it into a very replayable, 1-2hour long session, based on how loosely you follow the rules.
Childhood classic! It's a group based action RPG with real time or pause to choose action combat. So if you're looking for a diablo-esq game, this is not for you. Regardless, the prerendered graphics are gorgeous and the game flows well. I'm not fond of the English VA, however you can luckily change it. You just have to find the the Chinese VA pack online and it's a simple matter of swapping 1 file for another. I highly recommend it!
