The latest expansion pack has been released. Now, certain things are clear.

The atmosphere... it's like a fairy tale, everything is dead, you see... How long will the purists keep whining about the third game? When will we finally enjoy playing the seventh installment, maybe around 2012? Because someone will still be moaning: "Ah, but in the third game..." What atmosphere was there? A wild, unprecedented collection of European legends, Greek myths, and Eastern fairy tales? I've played "The Restoration of Erathia" and "Armageddon's Blade" and the thriller "The Shadow of Death" from cover to cover – it was quite engaging, especially back then – many years ago, but the atmosphere... Is it because all the dragons in those games were sitting around like puppies waiting for a bone? Is that the kind of atmosphere we need? At least Cunningham didn't give them too much to say... Did the pointy-eared elves bother anyone? Well, yes – those guys in green jester-like clothes, living in huts like "golden Ukraine" with thatched roofs ("estates" in the localization: D) – those were the FIRSTBORN. How can the fifth game with its archers even compare? The atmosphere was great... Especially when you were torturing the editor to introduce at least SOME differences between 16 (!!!!!) types of heroes. Oh, I remembered – in those games, warriors had to buy a spellbook for 500 coins. Brilliant. You accuse Nival of commercialization and Warcraft-ization? But Cunningham parasitically and timidly attached the series' name to the then-popular brand Might and Magic. A cheap marketing trick, and now, suddenly, Nival has gone mainstream. Their graphics are now "cartoonish"... Well, of course – it's a different story with the great third game – the designers showed the whole world... Especially the snakes, the goblins with Kipolov-style hairstyles, and the entire great collection of humanoid elementals. The atmosphere... :D :D :D