Gaming History: Heroes of Might and Magic 5 - “Back to basics with a few twists”

[@StefaNonsense]

"Drain them with your mouth!" should have been the tagline for this video :D Btw, in case people want a HOMM-like experience, give Fort Triumph a try kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Cqc6aBidiKpck

[@bachbaby6996]

Actually, I think 5.5 -- the modded version of 5 -- is the best Heroes game of them all. Also, the Seven Lakes map is just great fun when playing computers.

[@Ultrox007]

"You can't say anything bad about the Heroes 4 cutscenes" Well as much as I enjoy Heroes 4... SPAZZ MATICUS, A YOUNG KING ON A MAD QUEST TO RULE THE WORLD!

[@agihammerthief8953]

Precisely, a cutscene with SPAZZ MATICUS in it can't be bad.

[@cosmicthought3419]

I grew up playing HoMM5 with my dad when I was a kid far back. We spent oblivious hours playing multiplayer together. And even to this day, I have to congratulate the studio, cuz' to this day in 21st Century - There is no other edition of the game that beats the style of HoMM5, even if it doesn't entirely cover the majority of what the series offers. Although, in the upcoming editions the vampires definitely are an upgraded aspect. I am in my 20s nowadays and I will not lose hope that one day a modern, balanced and thrilled with story HoMM will appear on this already extorted market by Ubisoft. The first time I used Armageddon blew my brain off - You see it as an adult, I saw it as a smol boy who's playing his first computer game ever, who prior to that day only had a Saga Console and knew Sonic and some other games. :D I have every single edition of HoMM which I believe should speak volumes to how special this game is to me.

[@1stDragonlord]

I honestly like this game the most out of the Heroes games. I like the style of the towns the most in that game compared to the others. Most issues of the original release have been fully fixed in Tribes of the East Also that one complaint at the beginning about Orks being their own faction, isn't the Stronghold in Heroes 3 the same The passive hero also is from Heroes 3 back with their own turn like in Heroes 4 Heroes 5 tried to combined the best parts of both titles before and I think they did that with the yes pretty rough, but somewhat charming old 3D As an Edit on the loading time: the AI really does need that long with their turns, they take ages sadly

[@rollercoaster478]

This is how I feel about Heroes 5. Its not a perfect game, but it is a 10/10 for me.

[@daemonredfield3211]

Replaying HoMM5 after now having played through WoG and HotA, I was noticed several the quality of life features from HoMM5 were modded into HoMM3 by fans. Another thing which makes me appreciate HoMM5.

[@Azurie-e9s]

homm5 > homm3 as in star wars prequels > OT this IS NOT my opinion but cold hard FACTS

[@drazen1972cro]

I am astounded by the audacity of reviewing HoMM V without actually playing, not only expansions, but the base game all the way through. Playing half of the base game and then bashing it in a "review" is amazing to me. Real professional, you are.

[@lequinntessential]

Well, I have played the entirety of HoMM IV, including both of its expansions, and half of HoMM V, and I completely agree with the reviewer regarding AI loading times, the poorly revamped spell book interface and the zoomed-in, almost claustrophobic adventure screen. The cinematics are not well executed and I would rather read a wall of text. Heroes IV has a massively superior soundtrack, no contest. Mixed feelings about not being able to bring your hero, much less multiple heroes, into battle. The only good changes are the hero ability progression system, clarity of combat statistics (during combat itself) and week changes, as well as the ability to upgrade each tier creature differently. All things considered, I had more fun playing HoMM IV.

[@ayami123]

I love the Pony Kingdom Of Equestria where friendship is magic

[@Darkestestmatter]

I'm glad you are still making content. Thank you,

[@piotrkarp9562]

Best talent tree in HOMM series history. Hands down. Also, suoerb campaign on hardest diff level. My favorite HOMM game after 3.

[@erxer1]

Gog actually does have Tribes of the East if you get the Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Bundle

[@unacomn]

You are right. I guess the bundle wasn't a thing when I got it since mine only has hammers of faith.

[@erxer1]

@@unacomn could be

[@dnaseb9214]

This game was a little inspired by warcraft3, but not as much as you claim. Also the lore of Ashan is great fun. Ya the old stuff was wierd and original. But guess what, 3DO themselves erased it in heroes 3. So even they decided to change things.

[@AikanaroSauron]

Oh look, it's another episode of youtube "critics" having little clue about the topic and using the "boring voice" to make amazing game features appear unimpressive, just because they didn't come up with a joke about them to stick into their "review". Also, pretending like HoMM4 cutscenes are and always were anything but terrible, while trying to crap on HoMM5 cutscenes with a straight face is just the next level of delusional. I'm now actually thinking that this might be a joke "review" or trolling.

[@jovanchica1994]

THANK YOU! Today has been a bad day at work. This reminds me of a carefree childhood.

[@georged6915]

You are right, I've started with this game in the series and I love it the most. I love returning to it.

[@heroestornadorune5]

You say you haven't played Tribes of the East, but the limitation on the necromancy skill is only included in that expansion pack. As for the lore and the story, its actually really well thought out and planned from start to end with a lot of real world parallels to messages of morality, betrayal, and prophecy. The wizards created the Orcs using magic (science) to try and force the prophecy into happening on their terms and their time, but the actual way the Dark Messiah comes about in the game is only the result of a perfectly sequenced series of events that could have only happened at the will of the Gods and fate

[@dobyk5338]

I know the video's a bit old but I recently got back into HOMM 5 and I just think it's an underrated game. Is it a hidden gem? No, by no means. Is it better than HOMM 3? Of course not, even though I've never played the previous titles even I know it's not as good as them. But despite the shallow and mediocre worldbuilding and the boring and quite frankly braindead story, I still found a lot of charm. A lot of it has to be nostalgia since I remember watching my brother play it and then I got into it. The 3D rotating town screen bird's-eye view, the occasional cinematic angles during combat, the overall art style - there is something uniquely charming. It's like, the individual components are lackluster but when you put them together and you pair them with really good mechanics it somehow works. In particular I love the hero progression system and how in-depth it is. I also enjoy the general approach to spells and how they work. I also don't really care that the factions don't have individual might and magic hero classes - I don't really see the point given that in previous editions the only (noticeable) difference was different starting skills or specialties. Which is exactly what HOMM 5 does - just without the pretense of "classes". I also think the UI and map designs are fine. The creature designs are fine, ranging from numbingly boring (Inferno, Necropolis, Haven) to really cool and (imo) visually distinct (Academy, Dungeon, Sylvan). I also just love Academy. Everything about them, from their cold and callous demeanor to their agnosticism and complete disregard for the dragon gods, to their hubris and desire to play god. It's all just *chef's kiss*. I will never, ever buy the "a mage tower in a snowy terrain with a bunch of random creatures" eurocentric aesthetic of Tower. So for all it's worth, I think Nival did a pretty good job. I am very interested in trying out HOMM 4 and maaaybe HOMM 3, although HOMM 3's graphics are really grating on me, the lack of conceptual cohesion in the factions is super confusing to me (what is a naga doing in the snowy mountains again?!) and the art style kinda hurts my eyes. But I do like how complex it looks and probably it's worth giving it a shot just because of all the praise it has received and the HD edition will probably solve my issues with the graphics :3 In the end, thanks for the review and your thoughts!

[@MrDreamer80]

I agree HOMM 5 is very underated

[@Prince_Cheddar]

I quite like this installment. The factions each having their own unique ability like necromancy was nice, though some were are used more than others. The art style was quite stylistic, which means I think it still looks pretty good. I like the revamped magic system, where magic is split between buffs, debuffs, damage and summoning, which feels more natural that the traditional elemental system. I like the skill system, being pretty fun to play with the skill wheel and figure out how you want to a character to develop. For the bad, plot is rather meh. Some of the factions are a bit bland. For Haven, it's expected. Fortress has a single dragon unit and the rest are just different variants of dwarf. Sylvan has 3 units who are elves, dungeon has 4 units which are elves including the cavalry, meaning 7 units are just different variants of elf. The fact we don't have a magic and might class for each faction seems kinda lame. Something I personally really miss from Heroes 3 are the littile snippets of flavor text that show up when you find an item, explaining how your hero got it, or how you can give up gold in treasure chests to get experience. And, yeah, waiting for turns is baaaad.

[@danielw.8356]

I rather prefer factions that play to the units. More elves made the faction fill alive, same with the other factions. It got rid of the stuff that made no sense like Troglodytes, with shitty dark elf units, that then had shadow abyss watcher crab. The units made a unique world, because they were able to add uniqueness to the stories. Also idk how the story is bleh, every HOMM campaign before that was absolutely bland and just reskinned missions.

[@BurnBird1]

You can't possibly lack self-awareness enough to claim that HMM 5's map looks crowded while praising HMM 4's. HMM4 has the most busy and crowded map of any game I have ever played in my life. Every single step there's some sort of building or artifact or resource. I would honestly be more understanding if you argued the opposite, that HMM5's map is too empty, because there can be large stretches of nothingness on some maps.

[@TheNoodleGod9001]

I'm young enough that HoMM 5 was kind of my nostalgia game. I remember spending so much time looking at the little art book and units and stuff. And the campaign had the most wonderfully hammy voice acting. Raelag is such a cool dude. It's just kind of funny in a charming way. Also really appreciate how, in the campaign, you have a mix of exploration/travel focused chapters and longer more kingom-building focused chapters. Though maybe that's just me going from playing nothing but total war for a long time where it's always sandbox all the time without that much interesting on the map. God, what I would give for a game with HoMM style adventure-map-design with total war warhammer style RTS mass combat... But... Yeah, I think most of what you're saying is a matter of you having imprinted on HoMM3. I don't think these are issues you would have if you were just looking at the game itself, rather than comparing it to something else.

[@TheMoArtis]

Tribes of the East isn't an extension / DLC, it's a stand-alone and it's part of the Heroes 5 bundle on GOG. It's clearly the better way to play the game. And then modded with Heroes 5.5 it becomes a really good time waster. www.moddb.com/mods/might-magic-heroes-55

[@dragonlyra]

It's so great to hear someone prefers Heroes II instead of III. I thought I was alone with this opinion. Greetings from Hungary :)

[@driedjello]

This was the zenith of the line, IMHO.

[@sggdgtbgnhfffjjjhhhccvgff]

My favorite. Most underrated game. 😢

[@Ultrox007]

2 for Tablet (dosbox) / 3 for Skirmish / 4 for Story / 5 for Multiplayer That's my preference in Heroes games (still love 3+4 best)

[@sunnymaster6968]

The campaign is actually good beyond the super hand held tutorial. Not the story but they are interesting and challenging in my opinion

[@MrYanlowen]

I actually really enjoyed homm 5 and all it's expansions. So much that I just played it again recently.

[@igorthelight]

Did you tried HoMM 5.5 mod? Highly recommend ;-)

[@daemonredfield3211]

One thing I disliked about the skill progression, was the RNG element could screw you out of the skills you wanted. They added a map object in the expansion that lets you respec your skills, but this I wish this feature was more readily accessible.

[@ivandovranic5834]

:OOO I REMEMBER RAGE OF MAGES.... O.o Also haha, that minirant about vampires was hilarious xd have to say, beside amused I was also a bit annoyed, I mean this is Ashan, not Enroth/Axeoth, vampires can manifest differently on different worlds/settings (although i see worldbuilding opportunities in spades here, completely missed) but, just as I was about to type _ever heard of Blood Omen dude?_ you went on that "you ain't Kain, or that Soul Reaver dude" tangent" and brought me almost to tears, it was soo good!🧛🧛‍♂️🧛‍♀️ Also yeah, overall I agree in all important points, H3 was a flawed masterpiece, somewhat sagged beneath its ambition but immensely playable and enjoyable, rightfully remembered and beloved to this day. H4, a damn shame what happened to that game, not to mention team building it, they were at top of their game at that point, the 4 would wipe the franchise clean off if they were allowed time and resources necessary, even in such hastened state so many aspects of it overshine everything that came before, although consistency - wise, it sadly cannot hold candle to 2 and 3. Once again, a shame.

[@Mrjacharles]

Loved the game, loved the cinematics, although must say I felt cheated at the end of this game XD good job on the analysis man :P

[@stanleysmith7551]

The #6 game wasn't made by Nival, but by Black Hole Entertainment and it's the weakest game of them all. Very buggy, no skillwheel, no 3D mouse look during battles (you have to use page up and page down to rotate the camera, WTF?!) Might and Magic Heroes 7 was made by Limbic Entertainment and in my opinion it's much better than 6 but worse than 5. Gameplay vise it's a mix between 3 and 5, racials and the skillwheel return, fun abilities for both the hero and monsters, although some shortcomings have been carried over from 6, the weird hero turn, spellcaster units lacking a spellbook (displyed as abilities) etc. It uses Unreal Engine 4, some maps look beautiful, some look really lazy and unfinished. Overall it's a decent replacement for 5, but it's not better.

[@malcolmthorne9779]

I actually enjoyed 5. Though it was kind of a let down. It felt clunky and like they hadn't really learned from the previous games (the hero progression and battle system from 4 was dropped entirely, for one.). But it kind of had its own style that worked for it (I liked the dungeon and inferno design) even though it felt like a shallow experience a lot of the times. It did feel kind of generic at times, but as a first go at the franchise by a new studio, I thought it was alright. I did expect them to improve with later games though. Which, unfortunately, they didn't.

[@dannydanny2789]

Battle system from 4 is one of the many things that ruined the franchise, it had no business being expanded upon. They took all the good stuff like caravans and made the hero able to have his own turn, that's pretty much all that needs to be taken from 4.

[@theultramage]

Shockingly to me, Rage of Mages 1 came out within a month of Diablo 1. I wonder how much inspiration there was from it, because i do remember doing a lot of LAN multiplayer to farm better equipment. And man, those endgame ogres...

[@Makedonche]

hamsters are giants. MINSC APPROVES

[@Manthys002]

Yeah It' s time to heroes

[@81Earthangel]

My favorite in the series.

[@mattpili]

reference to bg2 always brighten up my day

[@Bellathor]

Rage of Mages were great games. :D Heroes 3 is king, Heroes 4 had interesting elements and FANTASTIC music (even better than music from 3), Heroes 5 I tried a bit and it felt so generic I stop playing really really fast.

[@rodrigobueno8652]

I like HV in general, and ubisoft in setting, is vanilla but is somehow interesting, the problem is the story that is kind dumb and mainly th AI...god damm the AI is terrible, make the game so worse than it could be

[@LiveErrors]

I gotta be honest, while I may be biased, I don't understand almost any of your complaints about this game. You say things and i just flat out disagree

[@Blazbaros]

I will readily agree that it looks like Warcraft a little too much and it lost a certain Heroes charm that the previous installments had. What makes it more frustrating is that the concept artwork was done by Olivier Ledroit, who had such AMAZING designs that aren't quite realized in this game. tinyurl.com/ya3exqx8 This image here pretty much sums that up.

[@karry299]

Not sure if i agree with the statement that Heroes were still important in 2006. It was a fairly big release, but i wouldnt say people cared about Heroes series anymore. Certainly not in the way like, say, loads and loads of people still play DooM, for instance. Or even OpenXCOM.

[@jake_voorhees]

4TH COMMENT LOLOL

[@gentlesirpancakebottoms6692]

Heroes of kinda Warcraft 3 but not as good. At least when it comes to art style and story:P I have seen the little content and concepts there was for the original Homm5. It's a shame that it never got made. I really liked the style and lore of the original might and magic universe and I wish that atmosphere carried over. I also really liked where they took the story in Homm4 and would like to see more that world and characters.