LogFAQs > #949698083

#64. Heroes of Might & Magic III (PC, 1999)
HOMM 3! I bet there's a lot of other similar games like this I don't know anything about and I bet none of them are anywhere near as good, and my main basis for saying that is none of the other games in this series are any good (as far as I know, I think I tried a bit of V and VI and it's just not the same at all).

This game has a campaign mode that I've dabbled in but sadly it's difficulty locked onto easy for most of the start of it, and I could never really push myself through it, but where this game is truly great is in its pre-made scenarios (that anyone can custom make and upload also) or its random maps. The gist behind this game, if you don't know, is each player controls a home base where you can build one building per day, usually troop generation but sometimes other bonuses or benefits like a Mage Guild to learn spells, or a Marketplace to trade resources at better rates, etc. You recruit a hero , with their own unique stats and bonuses, give them a bunch of troops and set them out on their way to explore the world- collecting daily resource generation, learning new skills, gaining experience, fighting monsters that might be guarding portals to other areas, artifacts, gold, what have you. Maybe you can even find another town and really pump up your unit generation!

As you manage your town, you will slowly build up more and more units, and explore with your different heroes (make sure to have a couple heroes specifically to attack and some specifically to explore!) until you run into your enemies, and you can engage them and take their stuff, or take their towns once you find them!

The actual combat comprises of your units and your enemy's units on a hexagon grid and you have it in usual Turn-Based Tactical RPG fashion, while you and your opponent launch spells at each other. That part is fine and mostly what you expect, but that combined with the unique strategy involved in how you build up your town, progress around the map, split up your units/magic/artifacts, delegate what heroes are doing what, and really just control your heroes movement around a giant map, probably featuring oceans and underworld, makes this a really appealing micro and macro-management game, layered over a tactical RPG. Tons of planning out, it can get a bit tiresome, but its fun and rewarding, with different strategies for every faction. Necrodancers are probably the most fun, generating hoardes of skeleton units as they beat up on rando stacks, so are Conflux with its elemental-based units, and Fortress but only because they have the best mid-level unit in the game, Mighty Gorgons, but every faction has its own unique touches and units.

Also note the version on Steam is lacking. It is missing all the expansions, random maps, and one of the factions. If you can get your hands on the original "Complete" version, check this game out if you haven't played. Though I think I'm probably overdescribing a game a lot of you have actually played at some point, but oh well. This game is micro/macro-management heaven. Also I played lots of hours of this game with my friend in college.


Next up: Pittsburgh, Dallas, Houston, Washington?

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