What were your expectations for Heroes 4?

I didn't expect anything from Heroes 4, as I didn't even know about its release.
My first game was the third installment.
And after that familiar third game, I looked at the fourth
I didn't like it very much because:
1. There are few factions, and their names are ridiculous.
2. I didn't like the fact that troops can move without a hero.
It turns out you can distribute ten imps into ten armies and go around collecting free loot, go to the enemies - collect their free loot.
3. I really didn't like that there are very few creature levels (only 4, right?).
4. I didn't like the choice (of the last level).
5. I really didn't like the daily growth (it's just absurd).
You can buy troops every day and send them to the hero.
6. There are fewer artifacts, and there are no composite ones at all.
7. After the third game, mixing troops in cities seemed absurd.
8. It's idiotic in battle - a ranged unit cannot shoot at an enemy unit if another one is standing in front of it.
9. I didn't like the graphics - it's just crap, not pseudo-3D.
10. The buildings inside the cities don't look good at all. If in the third game, as the city was built, each building complemented the others, then in the fourth, the building pictures are just stuck on top of each other.

1. There are six factions in the fourth game, and eight in the third (initially). I don't see a big difference. Moreover, the storyline in the fourth game is the clearest, most definite, and most logical of all the Heroes games. It's always clear why, for example, Order is an ally of Death, or why Might doesn't get along with everyone. The campaigns in the very first version of the fourth game detail the reasons for the emergence of this particular world order - a six-polar one. How the refugees from the destroyed kingdoms of the old world - Erathia, Bracada, Avlee - found refuge in the new world, fought each other, and formed alliances... As for the "ridiculous" names, keep your opinion to yourself. No one needs your unpleasant IMHO.
2. The enemy will never be able to collect "free loot," because first, you need to break through the defense, and secondly, even the dumbest AI will actively defend itself against single imps. And the fact that troops can move without a hero is natural, given the daily growth in the castle and the presence of the fog of war. The fog of war is revealed by placing single, weak units on the border of your kingdom, and a dragon can fly out of the castle and find the hero's army. It's all logical.
3. But there is a choice. There are a total of eight completely different creatures in the castle. There were only seven in the third game.
4. Yes, you want everything at once and in large quantities? Titans and dragon golems right away, and then go and destroy enemy hydras with black dragons? In fact, the need to make a choice diversifies the game much more than the upgrades that were in the third game. Choice requires strategic thinking and the ability to predict the situation.
5. Who's asking? Most of the time, armies are not interested in accepting "reinforcements" of 2 hobbits, 2 gnomes, and 1 mage every day. As a rule, everyone buys troops as needed - when a serious battle is coming. And some units, such as the black dragon, only grow once a week.
6. I can also sit down and play the second game for five minutes, and then say that there are "not enough artifacts" there. You just didn't take the time to learn the game before criticizing it. In fact, the fourth game has a very rich collection of artifacts, as do all the other parts of Heroes.
7. What do you mean by "mixing"? Do you mean the ability to hire a hero of an allied faction, for example, playing as Chaos, and order a necromancer?
8. Well, in life, it's the same... why should we shoot through enemy units? Moreover, I'll immediately disappoint you: even many spells in the fourth game cannot be applied against an "covered" army that the mage cannot see.
9. I have nothing to say about that... I just think that Heroes 4 is the pinnacle of perfection in isometric and 3D simulation. Only a person without taste could say otherwise.
10. You're just not used to the interior design of the cities. It's no worse than any other series of Heroes. It's even a little better than in the third game - now the ground on which the city stands is displayed, which sometimes changes it beyond recognition. For example, the Academy of Order looks very interesting underground.

P.S.: I still feel that my post will not convince Zik68. If a person has decided that the fourth Heroes is wrong, then he will most likely remain with that opinion until the end of the Heroes series... or his own.
Although such sharp reactions to the game are generally common... conservative people, accustomed to the third game, are often annoyed by the completely different order in the fourth. But you shouldn't say that this is a "completely different game." It's still Heroes, although it has been greatly transformed :smile12: