Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era - Ubisoft returns to Enroth - coming to Early Access in Q2 2025

[Darth Roxor]

The cool thing about classic HoMM was that it was like a mythological wrestlemania of classical medusas, djinn and unicorns all duking it out in cool castles. Meanwhile Ashan is just whateverthefuck, to the degree that even the classical elements they ported (because HoMM couldn't exist without cyclopses and minos) are remade into 'original content do not steal' kind of shit that doesn't even resemble what it's supposed to portray.

 

[Kabas]

I love Might and Magic but I don't understand the bashing of the Ubisoft setting. It's one of the points that come up the most, yet is strikingly irrelevant.

They might be complaining about how ubisoft setting is generic but i don't think this is what people are actually complaining about.
It's rather about how ubisoft executed their generic medieval fantasy setting and how boring it was compared to what was before. You're right in the sense that it's more about the story and plot than the setting itself.

It could have been better. I mean, they got Oliver Ledroit to do some artworks for them. Same artist as that Requiem Chevalier Vampire comic book.

But does anyone remember any HOMM after 4 looking anywhere near this cool?
Townscreens from 5 came the closest probably.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I mean, they got Oliver Ledroit to do some artworks for them. Same artist as that Requiem Chevalier Vampire comic book.

well that certainly explains why ashan is so fucking bad

 

[Lacrymas]

The writing of base game HoMM4 set the expectations way up and HoMM5+ can't compete.

 

[Kabas]

I mean, they got Oliver Ledroit to do some artworks for them. Same artist as that Requiem Chevalier Vampire comic book.

well that certainly explains why ashan is so fucking bad

Huh, i thought everyone likes Chevailer Vampire? The plot is a complete nonsense but the art is pretty.

Shame that nothing in the ubisoft setting matches the coolness of this artwork though but i can't disagree that simple is better than whateverthefuck 'original content do not steal' nonsense.

Here is some cool sprites for the people, always wanted an excuse to post them.

 

[Sentinel]

HoMM games have never looked particularly good - they were always passable at best (talking about in-game graphics).

HoMM3 overworld suffers from all the readability problems that poster lined out, the only reason you forgive it is because you're used to it and it's no longer a factor.

 

[Hobo Elf]

It looks like Ashan in 2D.

That's exactly what this is. The game is marketed as a "return to Erathia", but the factions and and unit designs screams Ashan. There isn't an ounce of soul to be found here.

Ok, i'm not big on HoMM lore. Erathia is in Enroth and Ashan is the setting made for ubisoft m&m games? And why is Ashan hated so much?

I only played Dark Messiah so i don't really know. But i remember HoMM4 starting after the destruction of Enroth in Armageddons Blade in a new world with some factions merged together and a portion of old characters that survived.

The setting itself is a pile of meh. HoMM5, 6 & 7 were all made by a different dev team so there was no unifying vision to help give it a strong sense of identity. The classic HoMMs also had Might & Magic nostalgia to fall back on which helped solidify the setting(s) overall. My beef with Ashan was one part the overdesigned aesthetic of the units and another part some of the character designs (or even factions) which were copied whole sale from Warhammer Fantasy but in the most soulless way possible. Quick example in HoMM5 the Dungeon/Warlock faction became the most blatant Druchii ripoff and that's just scraping the surface. HoMM6 & 7 leaned less into copying Warhammer as a crutch but they still have the stink of overdesigned units and factions that get hamstrung by trying to fit a color scheme, which is a trap HoMM1-4 never fell into.
Or simply put: why would people care about a setting that doesn't have (m)any good games?

 

[ColonelMace]

Fair points. I was mostly talking about the setting as is, and not quite as its implications in terms of art direction. Yet I agree that the latter sucks big time in HoMM4 and onwards.
In this regard I can get why Ubi's setting keeps being mentioned.

 

[Dr1f7]

HoMM games have never looked particularly good - they were always passable at best (talking about in-game graphics).

HoMM3 overworld suffers from all the readability problems that poster lined out, the only reason you forgive it is because you're used to it and it's no longer a factor.

wrong homm 2-3 look amazing
homm1 looks great especially considering it's their first entry
homm4 has some good things going for it
even homm5 has charm if you like wc3 art style

olden era looks like a mobile game. at the very least the towns need a complete redesign because those are strikingly awful
the fem-dev has some nice tits tho

 

[Carceri]

The writing of base game HoMM4 set the expectations way up and HoMM5+ can't compete.

A shame that the expansions of HoMM4 couldn't compete either with the base game. They weren't even close to it iirc. What happened with the writers of the base game, I'm not familiar with the behind the scenes stuff?

 

[Zoo]

HoMM games have never looked particularly good - they were always passable at best (talking about in-game graphics).

HoMM3 overworld suffers from all the readability problems that poster lined out, the only reason you forgive it is because you're used to it and it's no longer a factor.

wrong homm 2-3 look amazing
homm1 looks great especially considering it's their first entry
homm4 has some good things going for it
even homm5 has charm if you like wc3 art style

olden era looks like a mobile game. at the very least the towns need a complete redesign because those are strikingly awful
the fem-dev has some nice tits tho

I don't think HoMM1 is pretty, but its visuals are lovable. HoMM 2-3 are indeed amazing. 2 is more readable, but I never had problems with 3.

4 has its peaks, but it has very lows, too. Like its gameplay. But it is great fun, it has some innovations, it's different. I could never hate it. Of course the good written campaigns helped a lot.

There are great games with mediocre visuals or music, but I couldn't imagine a great HoMM without gorgeous asthetics and heavenly (or infernal) songs. OK, HoMM 5 with TotE is at least pretty good. But it is from an era with semi-early and mandatory 3D graphics.

 

[Storyfag]

some of the character designs (or even factions) which were copied whole sale from Warhammer Fantasy but in the most soulless way possible. Quick example in HoMM5 the Dungeon/Warlock faction became the most blatant Durchii ripoff and that's just scraping the surface.

The Sylvan town is likewise a ripoff of Warhammer Fantasy's Wood Elves, complete with War Blade Dancers. But, of course, Heroes 3 also lifted certain elements from Warhammer Fantasy, like Malekith and Nagash. But it was much more subtle about it.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

HoMM games have never looked particularly good - they were always passable at best (talking about in-game graphics).

HoMM3 overworld suffers from all the readability problems that poster lined out, the only reason you forgive it is because you're used to it and it's no longer a factor.

Holy mother of horrible fucking takes. This post is truly special in its very own way.

:golf clap:

HoMM6 & 7 leaned less into copying Warhammer as a crutch but they still have the stink of overdesigned units and factions that get hamstrung by trying to fit a color scheme, which is a trap HoMM1-4 never fell into.

One of the most bizarre things that 6 did was completely dropping some baseline factions and trying to replace them with that water-themed asian mmo thing. Probably some 260iq attempt to get ching chongs on the slam dunk train?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Huh, i thought everyone likes Chevailer Vampire? The plot is a complete nonsense but the art is pretty.

I hate the art in Requiem. It's the archetypical "everything is covered in a million jagged spiky bits and drawn in super rough lines to make sure you can't tell WTF you're looking at except for a very rough outline".

My beef with Ashan was one part the overdesigned aesthetic of the units and another part some of the character designs (or even factions) which were copied whole sale from Warhammer Fantasy but in the most soulless way possible.

This can't be stressed enough. The biggest stinker to me is Haven compared to H3 Castle.

Here we have castle units (except for some gay ass mod shit addition, please ignore)

Yep, those sure are cool dudes you'd find in a cool castle. I can hear the crusaders CLING CLANG walking sound merely as I look at them.

MEANWHILE HEROES 7 HAVEN

FUCK YOU

 

[Hydro]

I mean, homm 3 was cool and all, but it’s a dated game with dated, simplified mechanics. Copying it just for the sake of being a spiritual successor is just lame. Who’d want to do the same shit but with modern ugly visuals is beyond me.

 

[Storyfag]

MEANWHILE HEROES 7 HAVEN

FUCK YOU

Ah, now I remember why I didn't bother with H7. Odious. Notice how the vast majority of those people are left-handed.

HOWEVER in the interest of Balance, you should have compared in-game vs in-game, not in-game vs cocnept/promo art.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I mean, homm 3 was cool and all, but it’s a dated game with dated, simplified mechanics. Copying it just for the sake of being a spiritual successor is just lame. Who’d want to do the same shit but with modern ugly visuals is beyond me.

It also remains popular (as in "people actually playing it" popular) even by modern metrics, is up at the very top with the biggest boys when it comes to fan development and active projects and wasn't really matched by any titles trying do so.

Like I said in some other topic, if you do actually top notch production values, get some nostalgia bait onboard (like Romero composing music) and don't completely feck up basic stuff (like "spiritual successors" tend to do) you definitely have a viable product. Thus, what they're doing here does makes some sense on the surface level. Problem is: 1. it's ubisoft, so lots of cancer added by default; 2. it's already obvious that people ubi got onboard for this didn't exactly get the "don't completely feck up basic stuff" memo.

 

[Laz Sundays]

JVC was still present as a consultant for Heroes 5, that's why it somewhat worked. When that bald ass spiderloving faggot Erwin took full charge with his obnoxious Ashan vision(H6) it was the beginning of the end.

The full story is a lot more complicated ofc, Heroes Community is a good source for details on that

 

[Vagabond Merchant]

Huh, i thought everyone likes Chevailer Vampire? The plot is a complete nonsense but the art is pretty.

I hate the art in Requiem. It's the archetypical "everything is covered in a million jagged spiky bits and drawn in super rough lines to make sure you can't tell WTF you're looking at except for a very rough outline".

My beef with Ashan was one part the overdesigned aesthetic of the units and another part some of the character designs (or even factions) which were copied whole sale from Warhammer Fantasy but in the most soulless way possible.

This can't be stressed enough. The biggest stinker to me is Haven compared to H3 Castle.

Here we have castle units (except for some gay ass mod shit addition, please ignore)

Yep, those sure are cool dudes you'd find in a cool castle. I can hear the crusaders CLING CLANG walking sound merely as I look at them.

MEANWHILE HEROES 7 HAVEN

FUCK YOU

Meanwhile in Olden Era

 

[babayaga]

Huh, i thought everyone likes Chevailer Vampire? The plot is a complete nonsense but the art is pretty.

I hate the art in Requiem. It's the archetypical "everything is covered in a million jagged spiky bits and drawn in super rough lines to make sure you can't tell WTF you're looking at except for a very rough outline".

My beef with Ashan was one part the overdesigned aesthetic of the units and another part some of the character designs (or even factions) which were copied whole sale from Warhammer Fantasy but in the most soulless way possible.

This can't be stressed enough. The biggest stinker to me is Haven compared to H3 Castle.

Here we have castle units (except for some gay ass mod shit addition, please ignore)

Yep, those sure are cool dudes you'd find in a cool castle. I can hear the crusaders CLING CLANG walking sound merely as I look at them.

MEANWHILE HEROES 7 HAVEN

FUCK YOU

Meanwhile in Olden Era

Dude looks like he has a dandelion growing on his back.

 

[Lacrymas]

I literally do not know what that is supposed to be.

 

[Aemar]

It's from Heroes of Might and Magic: Redaxium Era.

 

[Dr1f7]

I mean, homm 3 was cool and all, but it’s a dated game with dated, simplified mechanics. Copying it just for the sake of being a spiritual successor is just lame. Who’d want to do the same shit but with modern ugly visuals is beyond me.

let us enjoy our old classics, bi*c* libt*$! *uc$! there's plenty of modern games for you to f**ck off and play:

 

[Laz Sundays]

I wanna see a visually better, expanded Heroes 4 sequel, ngl

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I wanna see a visually better, expanded Heroes 4 sequel, ngl

Same.