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I've played the demo for a bit, and my impressions are mixed so far. I haven't played parts 6 and 7, so I'll be comparing it to the other installments, and maybe to other strategy games as well (the ones I can remember).
Mechanics:
1. I'm glad they didn't go with the bland and boring progression system from the older parts (1-3), but instead came up with something new (?), reminiscent of a mix of parts 4 and 5 (which, by the way, was the only good thing about part 5). I can't say much about the available perks yet; maybe not all of them are useful, but some of them could definitely be decisive in a specific situation, plus some give bonuses with certain developments, etc. It looks interesting, at the very least. There's also something like classes, like in part 4, and the heroes can also attack.
2. There are two creature upgrades, and that's good. Plus, they can be changed for free. All of them have abilities, but you need to get used to the balance of power between the units, just like in the other parts.
3. I haven't fully grasped the Concentration charges yet. It seems like there's a point to it, and it might be a good feature. There are also Counterattack charges (I don't know how many there are or where to look). Maybe that's just what they called the regular counterattack. In any case, it was cool to remove a Counterattack charge from an enemy unit with a spell, and then attack it without getting hit back.
4. I liked some of the new spells, like the "Landslide" and others. And you can upgrade them. Is that necessary? I don't know; before, the bonuses from magic upgrades and artifacts that give magic bonuses seemed to be enough. Now there's this too. The guild doesn't look very convenient, but I guess you can get used to it.
5. Artifact upgrades. I didn't upgrade any of them while playing, but I already have a question about how it will affect the balance.
6. The Laws are reminiscent of the improvements from Songs of Conquest (maybe not only). It seems like a good feature, but will it break the balance in a long game?
7. People have already written about the size of the units, but on the hex grid, it's not as bad as it could be on a square grid. Although it's a debatable decision, and I don't know how much it will affect the game. In part 4, I didn't like the battlefield either, but for different reasons.
8. I hope they fix the map generator, because right now it doesn't work very well. At least in my case, the objects and buildings are arranged very chaotically, often too close to each other, which makes it all look like a jumble of random stuff that's hard to figure out, especially with the current visuals. It reminds me of the amateur generator for part 4 (or a buggy version for part 3?).
Update: On XL-sized maps, there's less chaos, and the objects are arranged better.
Interface:
1. Hero window. It looks like it could be improved. Maybe the skills could be placed in a different location and the size of their icons increased. There's a button for the biography, but when you right-click on the portrait, nothing happens, although it probably should.
2. Inventory. If you're playing for the first time, you really miss the description of the scrolls you pick up. It only shows the name of the spell, and you have to go to the spellbook to read it. If all the slots are already occupied and you find a new one, you have to replace it with an existing one, and so on. It's not very convenient to do this every time. Of course, over time you'll remember all the spells, and this won't be a problem, but for now it's annoying. Also, many of the names have been changed, although they could have used the old ones (I hope "Thick Skin" will be renamed to match the picture). I would also like a description of the artifacts.
3. Castle window. There are two questions here. (Not counting why there's a need to move the castle screen).
- Why is the upgrade for a building highlighted in a separate cell? It's a strange decision that only confuses things.
- The colors of the built and available buildings. For some reason, I want to swap them, maybe because of the lack of the familiar yellow color.
(People have already written about the icons for heroes and castles.)
Update: I also want to note another drawback: the lack of saving the path from the previous turn. That is, you sent a hero somewhere, he didn't reach that place, you skipped a turn, and at the beginning of the next turn, that path is not saved, as in the previous parts. Therefore, you have to re-plot it. It's okay if you only have one hero, and it's unlikely that you'll forget where you were going. But if you have several heroes, this can happen, especially considering the chaos on the map. I personally forgot where I was going with the second hero if the turn lasted a long time and there were several battles.
Update 2: Heroes hidden in the castle are displayed in the general list of heroes. Why? For forgetful people? You could have added the ability to select a castle, and then the hero would be displayed in it, but no, when you select a castle, the selected hero is always displayed. That is, they didn't separate these two components, as they did in the previous parts. And the general list of heroes is inconvenient. Yes, there's a small icon indicating that the hero is in the castle, but that doesn't really change anything. They could have put the hidden heroes in a separate column, since the castles and heroes are separated on different sides.
Update 3: I accidentally cast a spell three times during a battle when I opened the spellbook and clicked on the edge of the book. In the old parts, the book would just close in such cases, but here a spell is activated, especially considering that the units are visible on the edges of the book, and it seems like you clicked on them. And yes, you can hit your own units.
Visuals:
1. Map. In the first screenshots and videos, everything seemed better. When you play it yourself, and especially when you zoom in on the camera, it becomes sad. And the picture is the worst on the map, in my opinion. That is, in battle and in the city, it's still okay; you can only criticize the style there. But on the map itself, there are problems with the execution. The objects look blurry; they don't blend in with the landscape, with each other, and with the overall environment. Everything exists separately, and there's no sense of unity. This is the main drawback so far.
2. Heroes. I'm glad that some of the heroes from part 2 have been brought back (even though they've been slightly disfigured and given bad specializations. But that's a separate topic), but in general, the drawing in half of the cases leaves something to be desired. Starting with the proportions of the heads and ending with the style, especially in humans, this is noticeable. They are too different. They probably wanted each one to be unique, but as a result, some look like they're from a different game/world. In the end, among the knights, there are all sorts of cripples, prisoners, old men, and others. In other factions, it's better, maybe because they're supposed to be ugly. But there are really some good portraits there, including various mutants. And it's strange that the Chaos faction doesn't have a hero with glasses. But this point is more of a matter of taste, which doesn't really affect the overall rating. As well as the style of the creatures, but it's better to write about them in separate topics.
Overall, the game seems pretty good, but the visuals ruin it. I hope they fix at least the interface flaws, since nothing can be done about the visuals. The music in the menu is nice.
P.S. I also encountered a couple of bugs, but they're not critical for the demo
