Heath is sorta special to me, because it was a gift from a dear cousin, who sadly passed away not long ago, at an age when he still had so much to live for.
It was one of the first RPGs that I played to completion as a kid, and it was perfect for someone who hadn't yet played all the classics of the genre. The slavic mythos setting is obviously its biggest draw, and I think it's worth playing for the bestiary alone - just to see all these weird bukas and volkolaks and read up on them in the in-game encyplopaedia.
That said, I don't think hack and slash is a fair way to describe it - the game has a tactical turn-based combat that is much closer to random encounters from Fallout rather than something Diablo-like. In fact, the game borrowed a lot from Fallout, including its perks and stat system.
There are several hubs/centres of activity with "social" quests - mostly of the fetch variety, but also some more unique ones.
For example, I remember a particularly impressive side story of a drunken craftsman who sunk to the very bottom of his village because he could not give up his favourite alcoholic poison. So, one of his friends asks you to find a special bird figurine somewhere in a nearby cave and give it to the master as a present. Sounds like a weird way to combat alcoholism, but when you do so, the master perks up, looks over the figurine and starts talking to you about its imperfections, and how it needs to be fixed here and there, and some components need to be replaced or brushed up, and he can't wait to go to his shop and do all that. And the alcohol is quickly forgotten. It's pretty simple, but the game is built on these kind of small things that tend to stick with you.
And indeed, it doesn't take much longer than 6-8 hours to beat blind. I think the biggest sin of the game is how OP you become by the end when playing a martial build, while mages, on the contrary, almost feel like an afterthought. Still, I would argue that the original Heath is much better than its sequels - not in the least because it's such a self-contained experience that does not overstay its welcome.
Also, the music is god-tier. Give it a go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlMQkVzlS-A