What I liked:
A new, interesting map with beautiful cutscenes - in a situation of complete "starvation" in terms of what to play, it's a royal gift.
What I didn't like:
1) I don't like leveling up multiple heroes at once. Previous maps pleased me (IMHO!) precisely because the hero was a lone wolf.
2) Honestly, the hassle of learning spells didn't appeal to me. The main character spends time traveling to the library, and the others can only be taught through the 2nd hero, etc....
Okay, I'll look for a save file that allows me to predict the elf's appearance - the portal to the castle, I assume, if it appears at all, will be quite a while from now...
By the way, a suggestion: maybe put a scroll with a portal somewhere along the way to the dungeon - guarded, of course?