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#16
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Played the map as a "hero," completed it in 100 days. Mixed impressions. The map is very well-designed, I didn't notice any flaws in this regard, it's pleasant to move around. All objects are functional, but it doesn't lead to an engaging gameplay experience. I'll try to explain in detail why, and it will be quite lengthy.
First, and most importantly, there is practically no action on the map; it is static. At the beginning, you need to capture castles where demons are stationed. Then, a couple of not-so-decisive enemy heroes with an orange flag appear, and a hero with a red flag stands still; then, you need to capture another castle with a demon inside; that is, the player's hero is opposed for most of the time by stationary targets, and not by AI heroes in motion. There is no need to develop any strategy or think throughout the scenario; everything is very clear. Now, let's take a closer look at the main hero. It's good that he is based on Rutger, but why does he have the "light" magic skill from the start? Before capturing the first castle, the hero reaches level 15, and all these battles take place with an empty spellbook. In the first castle, we get one spell ("acceleration," which could have been obtained much easier), we capture the remaining castles, where building magic towers is prohibited (why?). In the end, we have 5 spells from the "hope" school, and hopes for random temples with spells were not justified. They didn't offer anything new, and the spellbook in the final hall looks poor. In the last battle, the demon has so many imps that there is no mana left, and there is nothing to cast. Near the castle, a "genie" is carefully placed so that the player can get rid of the useless "light" magic. In summary, we can say that the "light" magic was added by the author at the start to torment the player and take 18000 gold from him. It would be much fairer not to give the main hero a second skill or make it a non-magic school.
The main hero receives companions when capturing the second or third castle. However, the greatest need for them is in the first castle, where there is an opportunity to develop a secondary hero and benefit from his presence. The third hero given for capturing the last castle is completely useless. It's not even worth sending him to collect resources. Judging by the skills given, such as "battle mage," these heroes were intended for some battles. It's surprising. Secondary heroes would be much better off having "leadership," "logistics," or simply all racial skills. I would prefer to have one standard Elaine instead of these two non-standard freeloaders. The only successful secondary hero can be called Victoria (Iris), but she is not given for long-term use.
Building a level 5 magic tower is complicated. After I was able to build it, I felt like a complete fool, having wasted time and resources. There was no city portal in the tower, and all the other spells are fundamentally unimportant.
The map is advertised as "resource-limited." This is a strong exaggeration; there are at least enough resources. However, using the factory in the proposed form is pointless. Then there will definitely not be enough resources. Having learned from the experience of building a magic tower, I didn't take on tasks in the tavern. Why waste resources on them if everything is available, and the reward is unclear? Is it a quest for the sake of a quest?
The opposing heroes are boring. The author tries to create the difficulty of battles with a large number of troops involved. It should not be forgotten that these are not only melee heroes, but also magic users. The warlock has a large number of troops, but he can only cast two spells, one of which is built-in. It's a pathetic sight. The necromancer not only was afraid to attack my main hero in the city but even in the field tried not to encounter him. The barbarian turned out to be somewhat better due to the large army, which includes many cyclops. Krag didn't attack the city, but in the field, he still dared to attack. The hero with the red flag, the "log," didn't leave any lasting impression. The last battle, if it hadn't been the last, wouldn't have been worth mentioning. Two groups met, and their leaders, one cannot cast spells, and the other doesn't know how. The demon casts "meteor shower" again and again. The damage dealt to troops, of which there are less than 1,000 in the stack, is ridiculous. I'm sad to write about such planning errors in AI heroes.
The map in its current version is for those who like it; it may find its fans, especially among beginner players. In my opinion, this is still a beta version.