So, I didn't notice anyone making a topic out of this:

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/62HpoWQkAIVogVkoVk8JuJ/heroes-of-might-and-magic-olden-era-unveiled-at-gamescom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9gUEjbmcA0

Developed by partner studio Unfrozen, Olden Era's turn-based gameplay is split between exploration, with players taking control of a hero to find resources, build towns and castles, and gather armies of mythic creatures; and tactical battles, in which players pit those armies against opposing forces.

"With Olden Era, we go back to the origins of the series, aiming to recapture the same sense of magic and wonder of traversing a vibrant adventure map full of dangers and mysteries for the first time, building mighty faction towns and assembling massive armies of mythical creatures."

Probably DRM-ed up the eyeballs. Even if it isn't I have no trust in Ubisoft and the way they've (mis)handled the M&M franchise.

It looks like they saw Songs of Conquest and just realised "hey, we own the original they based this on, right? So we can just rip them off wholesale!"

That said, it looks quite good, if only because SoC looks great. I would sure like to play it (even if a clone of a clone is likely to suffer some defects), but the chances for a DRM free release from Ubi are next to none. we still don't have Heroes.. I'm sorry, Might & Magic: Heroes (rolls eyes at the pointless title alteration) VI and VII here, after all. And anyway, I haven't even played SoC yet, and that should have priority over the Ubisoft clone.

Graphics looks like any generic mobile game made in the last 10 years. But I guess that's what people like (not my taste though).

I will be amazed if it generally don't suck: made for modern audiences (whatever that means), gamepad controls adapted to M+K, loads of microtransactions, 50 editions at launch + a few DLC's and too much money invested to take risks with gameplay.

I've only played a bit of HOMM3 and Songs of Conquest. As mentioned above if you want a modern version go play Songs of Conquest instead, It's well made, looks good even with "pixel graphics", lots of content and if anything feels too balanced.

If you like the combat but not a fan of the turn based exploration, give King's Bounty series (Legend, Crossworlds/Armored Princess, Warriors of the North and Dark Side) a go. Graphics are decent, runs fine even in modern-ish laptop integrated GPU (like intel HD520/620 and above), very cheap, lot's of content and to my untrained eye feels way deeper than HOMM3.


TLDR: I'm skeptical as heck.

Lore of M&M before original HoM&M started is actually very interesting stuff - so great material for the game.

But if this is going to be based on Enroth (planet)... Then my assumption is, that it's gonna completely skip most (if not all) parts of that lore and... see there two possibilities:

1.They basically make from the scratch some story about things happening on Enroth in times before Morglin teleported on Enroth (so basically not-related too much to things we've learned previously.

2.It will be re-packed set of stories presented (or related) to the Tarnum's Saga (parts happening before Morglin's arrival).

I wish I could be wrong, but it will be probably one of those variants (with bigger possiblity of first one).

Pfft, Ubi. As others have said, that means that it'll be DRMed and won't come here, and also probably suck, especially since they claim to be trying to bring back the past glory of a series. We've seen how that's been going for the past 20 or so years...

If Ubisoft continues on the downward spiral courtesy of not only one but two upcoming studio-ending financial flops they may not be able to afford ignoring GOG as another sales avenue any longer and (re)start releasing here again.

Until then, any and all of their (future) releases - including this new installment in the HoMM franchise - may just as well not exist.

Totally unrelated but, have you noticed the way Pioneers of Pagonia is evolving into ?

Related, i actually read about it this morning and felt a bit interested all in all

Ubi won't put it on GOG so I won't have to consider whether to buy it or not.

I'd even say they look pretty good, very much inspired by HoMM3 it seems. But yeah Ubisoft so probably not DRM-free and probably not good either...

In a nod to the series' history, these skirmishes trade the rectangular grids of more recent Heroes of Might and Magic games for a battlefield of hexagonal spaces. This - like much of Olden Era - is inspired by fan-favorite Heroes of Might and Magic III (which still retains an active player base and community after 25 years).
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Don't really have a preference. Didn't mind the squares (see the screenshot) from Heroes V (stop playing Heroes V in widescreen FFS) nor the hexes. Both offer interesting ways to strategize. But I'd argue squares are ironically a bit more complex, as you have to care about 8 surrounding spots instead of only 6.

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One that would be a perfect introduction for newcomers to the world of Heroes of Might and Magic, while giving insights on the origins of some beloved characters for longtime fans and lore aficionados."
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Oh no, please don't be another Heroes Chronicles.....

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"All campaign missions have nonlinear events that allow hero choices, like encouraging a cowardly knight to fight alongside you or letting him flee," says Golubeva. "These choices will have consequences down the line. But the grander non-linearity comes from choosing the missions themselves - some of them are mutually exclusive. Do you support Sylvans or Temple in a conflict? Your choice will change the map of Jadame, the standing of factions, and fates of certain characters."
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Sounds very good. Campaigns are probably the largest weakness of Heroes III, so anything to improve them is great addition.

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"With every hero, we have several goals," says Golubeva. "Each must represent their specialization: if a hero grants bonuses to hydras, they probably look different from a diplomacy specialist or an arcane mage! We also want the heroes to look different from one another even if they share a faction or a specialization - each needs to be memorable, so we avoid making all attackers hulking brutes."
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Sounds good. Having every hero with a unique model would definitely be an improvement over the uniform look per class in previous Heroes games.

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"Heroes will level up as maps unfold, battles are won, and bonuses are discovered, and Olden Era gives players new ways to fine-tune their hero's build. Artifacts - weapons, pieces of armor, and other items that can be found throughout the world and equipped on your hero - return in Olden Era, and now impart extra bonuses if you equip more than one item from a set; the more pieces from that set you equip, the more bonuses you unlock. You can also adjust your build with subskills, a new addition that can augment a hero's "main" skills (once those are unlocked) with passive buffs and perks. "
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Ummm, what? How is that something even remotely new? Did they forget about Heroes V and how it already had everything they just mentioned?

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Either way, zero chance this appears on GOG in any reasonable horizon.

It will be a bare-bones game with MTX to unlock different heroes and experience multipliers, if their recent releases are any indication.

There will be Q&A stream on Twitch and YouTube today in about 100 minutes from now:

https://www.twitch.tv/keszu_h3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vae95-E47zw

Despite how some people casually use the word "rectangle", it properly means "a closed two-dimensional figure composed of four straight sides (a.k.a. a quadrilateral) all connected at right angles"). So, all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.