I played the first one. It's awesome. Some of the designs and sounds really hit the spot.
Well, I'm also that same nonexistent player. I got acquainted with the third one much later than with the fifth, but I have a huge number of hours in it. Including the error simulator WoG, VCMI, mods based on WoG, and, of course, HotA. First and foremost HotA. HotA is truly one of the greatest mods to computer games, having literally managed to become the original game.