den160
It's a shame that everyone mostly writes negative reviews, without even trying to find something positive. There's a "standard" that the author of the post is used to, usually it's the 3rd or 5th installment, and everything else is garbage by definition. Well, in general, this is understandable: this forum is mainly populated by fans of the first and fifth games.
I personally have played all the Heroes games, starting with the second, and besides the 3rd and 5th, I also really liked the 7th, if not for its terrible bugs in Multiplayer. After the 7th, I tried to go back to the 3rd and play HoTA, but I couldn't handle the graphics that are so outdated for today. I guess it's a matter of habit, and the most important thing is the gameplay...
But this also applies to the perception of new heroes by all those who write that "the interface is inconvenient," the buttons are not arranged correctly, it's unclear which units to move, etc. You just need to play not for a couple of hours, but for a couple of dozen hours, with different factions, watch a couple of reviews of the new features of the game, and everything will immediately fall into place. The interface is convenient (for example, you can select units with a single click), the units are well-drawn, the best from the 3rd and 5th games has been taken and combined + interesting new features have been added (for example, the ability to enhance magic and artifacts with alchemical dust, as well as city laws). The AI's intelligence has been significantly improved compared to all previous Heroes games, in my opinion. Just download the official demo and the leaked build of the game with the hotseat mode and the Hive faction, and play 5 different maps to the end before writing negative reviews.
A pretty good review of Olden Era can be found here here (I don't remember if this link has been posted here before).
In general, after 30 hours of playing, I liked it. In my opinion, OE managed to preserve the "spirit" and features of the best Heroes series, while the number of possible game strategies has increased significantly due to the innovations. If, in addition, there is a good balance and Multiplayer, then personally I will be happy to return to my favorite game after a long break after the 7th.
P.S. And the developer with Russian roots and their attitude to the game (Google Unfrozen if you don't know) inspires optimism.