Pomazok1329
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This superb "old" RPG-style map in English only recently came to my attention, and I gained immense pleasure from playing through it; I regret not discovering it sooner! For a long time, I preferred purely strategic maps, but here I must admit: we are looking at a benchmark of its genre and an undisputed masterpiece, deserving of one of the top spots in various "Top 10" ratings, and one that every player interested in single-player maps must experience! Here are the main reasons why I am entitled to claim this:
1. Plot. There is one, it's decent, it contains a healthy amount of humor, and it is delivered in optimal portions: day by day, bit by bit, to maintain the player's interest without ever becoming tedious! And here I must immediately warn lazy players: if you truly dislike reading, it's better not to attempt this map, as the text contains necessary instructions and hints regarding what needs to be done and where to go.
2. Visuals. The landscapes of the world born from the author's imagination are as delightful as it is possible for them to be in "Heroes 3"! Only "Vengeance is mine" can be compared to it, and I have never seen more beautiful maps; everything is filled with immense love and meticulous care.
3. Freedom of action and restrictions. Since the map's genre is RPG, it is obvious that the player must perform basic actions in a given sequence—otherwise, it simply won't work. But you won't feel completely constrained here: there are taverns in the towns, and you can recruit any available additional heroes; secondary skills for the main heroes, except for the first two, are not preset, and you can develop them at your own discretion (though, of course, some skills are desirable or even mandatory); you can do things earlier or later, turn left or right at a fork—and it's practically impossible to make a fatal mistake here! It's also pleasant that we have a choice at the end of the game: either defeat all enemies or simply find the Ring of Gems and bring it to the Castle. Personally, after destroying the dragons entrenched in my home town, I decided: the remaining enemies are too weak, they sit in enclosed areas they cannot leave, and they can only be reached via Fly or Dimensional Door, and even with a fully revealed map (revealed honestly, via Cartographers or Airship!), it remained unclear how to reach the Portal of Glory to hire the angel.
4. Balance and difficulty. Someone somewhere wrote that RPG maps lack high difficulty because the main focus is on plot and visuals. I cannot fully agree with this: one can force the player to fight at their absolute limit even in RPG maps. Here, however, most battles are easy and are won either with minor losses (unfortunately, I didn't have Resurrection before meeting Cohlen Niuren) or with no losses at all. But for those who like it "hotter," there is one unpleasant (but not mandatory) battle: for the Tower belonging to the Orange player, whose garrison consists of 1000 titans and 200 master genies! It is unpleasant because, in my opinion, avoiding significant losses in it is impossible, but they can be reduced by trying different approaches. After defeating the mages, you will have no serious enemies left—except for the rusty dragons entrenched in your home town, but defeating them will no longer be difficult.
5. Clever author's tricks. Aside from "hide-and-seek" (hidden passages and objects traditionally hidden in jungles), which are completely expected in maps of this genre, there are no other unpleasant surprises here. From my point of view, this is a plus! One original trick (which probably wasn't known back then) serves to allow you to move forward across a lake at a certain point, but prevents you from returning by the same path; if you carefully read the message before walking on water, you will have no difficulties.
You may ask: why have I written nothing about the actual walkthrough of the map? That's exactly the appeal of a story map—when you don't know in advance what awaits you ahead! Therefore, if you've become truly interested—sit down and play it yourself! I will only provide my loose retelling of the description (It is the story of a simple lad who fell in love with a beautiful stranger and promised her to travel to the end of the world to return a ring stolen from her, without even imagining WHO stole it), provide my completion time for reference (7 months, 1 week, and 2 days, which is 170 days), and promise to provide advice and hints to those who need them—write right here! Good luck and enjoy the experience!
Actually, I finished the map and can't say anything good about it.
Completely ordinary, with boring battles, ridiculous secrets, and approach.
I'll write my opinion soon