Which installment of the Heroes series had the best campaign storyline for you?

Sorry for the off-topic post...

reducing the role of magic and increasing the role of melee combat (balance is needed:) )

Hmm... I've always thought the opposite... it's hard to imagine a decent hero without at least one school of magic, and I often level up Necromancers and Wizards with 2 magic skills... And a Warlock with two magic skills is also a viable option...

too many hero skills (in principle, this is not bad, but if you increase the campaign by, say, 10 times)

But why level up everything? Choose what you need most. ;) And besides, the more skills, the more leveling options, the more interesting the game. :)