1999 was insane! So many masterpieces: Planescape Torment, HoMMIII, Jagged Alliance 2, Alpha Centauri, System Shock 2, Tiberian Sun, Age of Empires 2, Unreal Tournament, Homeworld, Age of Wonders etc. Absolute peak of gaming industry!
Fun fact. In polish version of the game they translated multiplayer mode "hot seat" as "płonące pośladki" which translate directly as... burning/blazing butt-cheeks
I believe that when you make something with sincerity, people will feel that through your work. That's how Heroes III feels to me. The atmosphere, the artwork, the music, etc, is just... *chef's kiss*
It's not about nostalgia, it's more the passion that has been put into classic games and is mostly missing in modern games 😅 Great review, game still holds up to this day imo
i had no nostalgia towards the game. Installed it 2021. Never been more addicted to a game in my entire life. I think I casually sank 1-2 months, with daily 7-8 hour sessions. I regret nothing
Lady, you made a middle age man and a father so happy! Heroes 3 Might and magic are the gem. But man i felt so bad for you when you went from tutorial and then directly to a skirmish... but then found Campain... But i did read..... A new beginning... Lady, thats an Expert campaign aswell, thats the campaign after you cleared "Restoration of Earthia" xD Some part of me died abit inside, i hope you give it a new go and start with "Long live the queen" in restoration of earthia
@@Angelikatosh Another easy/tutorial campaign is the Heroes 3 Chronicles, where you play as the Barbarian faction - it was released in parts back when 3DO was trying to milk the franchise to stay alive, which didn't exactly please the fans, because new players won't bother to buy 8 separate disks for a game they won't play, and for all the regulars it was too easy. It's basically like the true continuation of the tutorial map, getting harder and trickier, perfect for a beginner. You can find the whole compilation on GoG and play it through the Campaign-Other menu in-game.
True HoMM3 players do not finish campaigns, they just play single scenarios. Joking aside, those scenarios are the main meat of the game, campaign is simply a good addition.
@@Angelikatosh It is true for me. I haven't finished the campaigns and i have played HoMM3 sence it came out. I only play scenarios. You can even play multiplayer on the same computer, that's what we did back when it was new.
Yeah... I still remember how thick the manual was for Civilization II. I think by the time I had Heroes III, they were no longer shipping the hard copy of the manual with it. It already had both expansions by the time I started playing it, but it really is a great game. Years later, my father started learning to play it and he still sometimes plays it to this day. He's in his 70s now. - haha
Speaking as one, I'm pretty sure all Slavs/Eastern Europeans are predisposed to like Heroes 3. I hadn't played it in almost 20 years but as soon as I fired it up again I knew it would hold up.
@@Angelikatosh It was 1999 when everyone was playing half-life, counter strike, and starcraft at the internet cafes. And so was my brother, playing Starcraft, cause we didn't have internet, so LAN was the best thing, and he took me one day with him. Over at another computer, I saw this guy play a game with creatures of all kinds, he was playing Inferno, so I saw the magogs and demons. I became glued to his screen, probably bothering him (a teen,maybe adult, having a 9 year old glued to him). Shortly after we had the game on our home PC and I still play it today. A fan expansion came out in 2010, and was last updated 2024, the game is more alive than ever, with up to 5k players on the online lobby, if multiplayer is your thing. There's many streamers playing daily. Ranked games, and tournaments happen too.
@@Angelikatosh Заклинания (за исключением нескольких особых юнитов) может использовать только Герой. Для этого ему нужна книга магии (у большей части героев она есть по дефолту, но у "тупых" Воинов ее нет и надо покупать отдельно в Гильдии Магии за 500 голды). . Сам список доступных заклинаний ты берешь в Гильдии Магии (строишь ее и тебе там случайным образом даются заклинания соответствующего уровня). . Также надо понимать что доступные заклинания ограничены самими Героями. Заклинания 1-2 уровня доступны всем героям у кого есть книга заклинаний. Для 3-го уровня и выше (до 5-го) тебе нужно изучить и развивать навык "Мудрость" . Непосредственно в бою, чтобы использовать заклинания нужно нажать на маленький значок открытой книги в нижнем правом углу экрана (он находится рядом с "щитом" = пропустить ход уйдя в защиту и "песочными часами" - отложить ход на потом)
@@bulanet271 The experience of a kid gawking at your screen while you gamed is probably a fairly common one for those of us that played games in internet cafes during that time. I'm not sure what game it was - possibly Warcraft 3 TFT or even Heroes 3, but I remember having a similar thing happen to me and the kid stood there, mesmerized, for probably half an hour. Personally, I found it fulfilling and wholesome to be able to spark that 'that's so cool' reaction from someone much younger than myself and potentially get them interested in gaming.
In my first time playing Heroes 3, back in the 2000´s, I ran out of movement and didnt know what to do. After a while I got bored and dumped the game. Months later I decided to give it another try, I somehow found the "clock" button to end your turn, OH BOY DID I A WHOLE WORLD UNFOLDED BEFORE ME, many adventures and battles awaited me. Became a fan since that day
These are the aha moments that I miss in new games. So much to explore and discover for yourself. Nowadays you're led through the park on a dog lead... The easier, the better... Just don't think so much 🙈
Heroes III is one of the greatest games ever made, along side Age of Empires II, both from the same year. I first played Homm3 in 2006 right before homm5 came out. It was completely by accident, when i burrowed my friend's burnt dvd containing Dawn Of War and several other games, one of them being homm3. He said i wouldnt be interested in it, its turn based not real time. A few days later i was curious, and decided to try it. From that day forward my life changed forever.
Those years (late 90s / early 00s) were so insane for gaming. Every year had these absolute titans of gaming coming out. These days yeah a lot of cool games still but not nearly as many are top tier. A lot of flash and less substance
Ehhh ... I don't know why you would mention that particular game in a video like this, but as someone who has uploaded a full zero death run on hardcore difficulty waaay back, I appreciate your taste. I still reckon that game has better first person melee than anything that has come out since.
@@littlezero6399 I might love the combat, but the story is horrendously bad. I'm personally willing to look past it, because the gameplay is so good, but for some people it might be a dealbreaker.
To put up with noises or smells from farming is an easy choice compared to not eating :) with that said i think homm3 was the best in the series! Thanks for another great video
I was born in '06. All my favorite movies are old. All my favorite shows are old. All my favorite games are old. And my music decades are '30s-'60s. It's definitely not about nostalgia, it's about the actual care and effort put into games rather than making them have butt loads of micro transactions or paywalls. Bioware is the only company I still trust with games. I loved Dragon Age and cannot wait for DA: Veilguard coming out on Halloween. I don't think it'll beat DA:Origins but I do have hope.
I think it's because back then they were often made by a bunch of enthusiast who didn't even know a thing about marketing strategies, focus groups and monetization models, yet they'd been allowed to make AAA titles. The industry wasn't yet developed, the publishers didn't know how to maximize profits. Now they know.
@@themediocremaster2388 A fantasy game have modern day propaganda. you shift the focus to rpg part while I just refuse to be a brainwashed sheep that is told what to think by ppl more stupid than me I cannot be shamed, intimidated or coerced to accept anything that dont benefit humanity.
Here is the usual full support for channel growth. I played this game with my roommate and her boyfriend a couple months ago and rather enjoyed the game. He had been playing it for years, but it was the first time my roommate or I had ever played it.
As a kid most of the games I got was random during holidays, and I remember when I got this it was an obsession like no other. In hindsight it teached me English and challenged myself more then school ever did, a thing I really appreciate now
Yeah the good old days of running into games by change in a shop or as a gift. and seeing the cower and letting the imagination run wild. i Actually found out about homeworld 2 from running into a disk cower by chance in a Magazine and tobbaco store of all places. They had the remaining stock of a dedicated gaming shop that closed before that.
@@Infernal_Elf The only real guide for game investments came from demodiscs. Either a cerealboxes (aoe1, desperados, roller-coaster tycoon) or the ps1 magazine (tekken, thps, final fantasy).
HoMM3 was my first ever game on computer as an 8-year-old. While stats were just numbers getting bigger and the language only legible, figuring out that you could end a turn was a challenge for a while. It did not stop me from playing and experimenting through the UI. Eventually I even developed a rather keen feel for the power of every unit by countless trial and error in a way only a kid could. While I seldom play it these days, only few games a year, it still holds a warm place in my heart for introducing me to a diverse fantasy setting that would ultimately lead me to my greatest passion - Fantasy TTRPGs. I appreciate you giving the game a try!
You should really take a look at Dark Messiah: Of Might & Magic. It came out the same year as Oblivion and its first person melee combat system is still unparalleled to this day.
@@Ronin3453 Heroes IV definetely has its merits. Was hit and miss on certain thing much of the opera was torture. but the way heroes worked was quite ground breaking and nice. And also u had the Barbarian Castle wich was tottaly amish in the approach to magic it had none of it :D and u could have heroes knock out small armies alone.
I have always felt that HOMM3 was the pinnacle of the series, from the clear mechanics to the beautiful graphics and the tactical intricacies that keep you coming back again and again, twenty-five years later.
You started on the wrong campaign. The Restoration of Erathia is the first campaign. You are playing the expansion which is more for veterans. This one, Heroes 2, and Heroes 4 are amazing games that I played. I liked 4 the best because the Heroes upgrade is more streamline and the Heroes fight in the battle. However, because of the latter, it can get very easy as you can just get major upgraded heroes in the campaign and not even have armies.
My grandma loves this game and I grew up watching her play it. I also enjoyed playing the second game as a young adult. I own the HD Edition of 3 on Steam and regular version on GOG.
i remember playing this game on old family laptop back in 2009, one of the games i open every 4-5 years to get that nostalgic feeling, best time of my life
If you like the soundtrack, check out Heroes Orchestra - a full orchestra and choir playing the music from HOMM series live. They have a channel on YT, and they play concerts in Warsaw if you're ever around it's well worth to check it out!
Heroes 3 is by far the best game in the series. 4:05 Don't forget that all games came with a written manual back in the days. Made things much easier - if you didn't understand a mechanic simply looking into the manual did usually fix things. This includes descriptions of all units btw.
I picked up Heroes III 2-3 years ago, I just missed it back when it first released, since I wasn't that much into turn based stuff, but the Soundtrack is just 100% memorable and it's a great game, best Heroes imho. You should try Divine Divinity (The first Larian game, it's not a Diablo clone, like a lot of people think) ... one of my favorite nostalgic games, I didn't play when it came out back then. And of course Gothic 1&2 :) And when playing games that old, it's always a good idea to read the manual if possible, afaik GOG always has these in the Extras. Nice chill video! :)
Heroes 3 has to be one of my most played games. I have at least 300 hours within it, likely a lot more since I used to play it with my friend at his house after school. I always loved the ambiance of the game, such a chill vibe. My favourite is likely Dungeon or Fortress as a faction, just like the evil guys I guess
You made me feel ancient when you mentioned the game came out before you were born. It would be awesome if you played through the game as it would nice to see someone play it for the first time. Especially after playing it so much over the years.
I know III and IV have a lot of fans too but for me, its HoMM 2. III and IV are great, 2 just really hits the spot for me. Just like with Shining Force and Phantasy Star, there's isn't a game in the series I don't enjoy but each series has a clear "best" for me where the combination of story, gameplay, quality, and setting just nail it. I'm old, so I was a teenage gamer when HoMM 2-4 came out.
Agreed. HoMM2 has wayy more charm than 3 IMO. (not that 3 doesn't have charm. it does) 3 is the more balanced game for multiplayer, but 2 just hits different overall. Luckily, we get to have both, so everyone wins :)
Yeah, Homm3 might be technically a better game in every way, but Homm2 is still my favourite game of the series. There might be a little bit of nostalgia bonus on that one though, since that's the game that introduced me to the series. But even without nostalgia, it's not a bad game by any means.
I just bought Heroes 2 complete on GOG, it's on sales now, all games up to 5, including Chronicles. They are all dirt cheap ($2.2), with only 5 being bit more expensive ($4.6)
It will be interesting to see someone who has had contact with HoMM3 for the first time after so many years. The HoMM3 phenomenon itself is also supported by the fact that even though the game is 25 years old, it is still being developed. Only not by producers, but by fans, and thanks to this this content is free and available to everyone, as long as they have the original game. And there are several development opportunities. The more interesting ones that I recommend are the unofficial HOTA add-on and VCMI. The first one adds new cities, units, artifacts and some mechanical changes. The second one is similar, but also includes new solutions, such as zooming in and out of the camera, better transfer of information about unit abilities, their level and faction, the same with artifacts and much more. However, it is rather content for players who are already familiar with the regular game, so as not to get lost with too much new content. Likewise, apart from the usual scenarios and campaigns, the biggest advantage of the game is that the games of chance and their templates [especially in the versions I mentioned earlier. Because there you can choose things that are not available in the basic game, that's when the most fun begins and the game doesn't get boring. And that's why, despite so many years, tournaments and championships continue in this part all the time. And the similarity to HoMM5 is not accidental, because this part was modeled on HoMM3, intended to be transferred in 3D, but it did not necessarily succeed. However, the mechanics and certain solutions [and even similarities in cities, where haven/castle, tower/academy are almost identical in both parts] and that's why you probably played quite similarly.
Great review! To your point about the tutorial: It's fair to remember that in this time of gaming manuals and handheld guides were standard, which means that the game developers counted on you to -read- about certain aspects of the games mechanics! So the tutorials could be more "watered down"; the customer expected a manual.
Lazy IT tip: Even if you don't have a printer, you can usually print things to a .PDF and read it on the screen. One common theme in the old awesome games of the 90's and the classics was they always came with a manual that had information that was helpful as well as world building. Huh, I guess I actually bought all the Hero's games on GOG. I really should give them a try. Part of the nostalgia trip is the artwork. Old games came in larger boxes and just looked awesome on a book shelf. I'm rambling now. Great video, always a pleasure watching your English content. Thank You.
I do in fact hope that you play it on live stream. Even if it won't be top tier gameplay, you might receive a lot of helpful information, and watching someone learn this can be greatly entertaining. The community is very welcoming and we could always use more publicity, especially after the huge recent Horn of the Abyss (I'm sure you've heard of that by now) update. Speaking of Horn of the Abyss, I feel like fanmade content for H3 deserves its own separate video - the love for the game that causes people to make new high quality content for it _to this day_ can serve as further proof that the game is genuinely good and not just nostalgia. Thank you for the video! Also always nice to spot a fellow H5 enjoyer!
As someone who's played H3 close to when it originally came out, many of us that picked it up for the first time weren't _that_ young (had acquaintances in their 20s play it, while I was in 7th-8th grade at the time). It was just an amazing game and it was widely played in net cafes all over Eastern Europe, to the point where it was hard to go into one and not find someone playing Heroes 3, with LAN matches happening often. It's one of the few things to ever bring all Balkan nations together in harmony, aside from removing Kebab. It still holds up, especially with the fan-made Era mod/expansion installed that came out quite a few years later. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other, newer mods that I haven't played that further improve it. PS: Play it! :D Pretty sure many of us would love to watch videos of you playing the campaigns. It would be great to hear and see someone discover Heroes 3 for the first time - it's always a treat seeing someone understand a mechanic or put together the lore.
*Watching in horror as she skips her turn without building on her town* Im just kidding I freaking love this game, there is a lot of small details in it that you might have missed: If you mix creatures from different factions (Like having a human and a demon) will give your entire army -1 to moral for each faction mixed (having 2 demons and 1 human is still only -1 but add a skeleton and its -2) If you dont know if a creature on the map is upgraded or not, upgraded creatures will be facing left while un/upgraded will be facing right In combat if you have a creature stand infront of another creature the one behind will get bonus defence against projectile The spell book can be found above the shield icon (if your hero has one), creatures does not have a spell book but some can still cast spells, if a creature has a spell they can cast its only on your own creature (hover your mouse over your own creatures and the spell icon should show up if the creature is able to cast) I hope this is helpfull
@@Angelikatosh If you got through h5 I assume you can get through this. But sadly this is one of those games where you can play for 20 years and still be awful at it. I was. I didn't realize how many things I didn't know until I watched ranked matches. Every new player will do one or all of these mistakes: play with one hero only. Forget to build, forget to cast spells. Not knowing how to use Wait, and taking fights poorly. Visit everything on the map - all of these eventually snowball into your defeat, because you don't optimize your movement and exploration. I can win a campaign map in about 2-4 weeks, but as a new player they just want to collect everything on the map, build every building, and take at least 4 months to finish a mission (taking their sweet time enjoying the game which is fair ofc). Though being very slow, bad building and bad spending habits lead to your defeat.
Your settings in HD Mod are not good, that's why you can't see units.... Try: Mode - stretchable 32BIT GDI; Source size - 1180x664; Stretch filter - xBZRx2 + bilinear 1.5xSharper
IDK what games you normally enjoy, but if you want suggestions for some good older games to try I can list some from my 40 years of gaming experience. RTS: Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 & StarCraft Beat em up: Streets of Rage 2 & 3, Golden Axe 1 & 2. RPG: Shining Force 1, 2, & 3, Shadowrun SNES, Lunar Silver Star Story, Lunar Eternal Blue, Dragon Force, Albert Odyssey, Disgaea 1, Mario RPG, Final Fantasy 6 (3 on SNES), Chrono Trigger, X-men Legends 1 & 2. FPS: Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 & Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood, Shadow Ops Red Mercury. Fighting: Mortal Kombat 2, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Greatest Heavyweights. Strategy: Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX (PS2), Civilization 3 complete, Star Trek TNG Birth of the Federation. Other: Metal Gear, Contra, Blaster Master, Ice Hockey, Super Mario 1, 2, 3, Super Mario All Stars, Super Mario World, Castlevania 1, 2, 3.
I remember playing homm3 first time. I was 14 yo and visiting my cousin, she is 6 years older and she showed me the game and went out with her bf. I had no idea what i am doing yet i managed to finish 2 missions of eofol devils which took me few good hours. When i got my pc a year later homm3 was my first (and for a long time only) original game i had (i had 2 or 3 pirated ones as well).
Regarding music: the track from Might&Magic 6,7,8, Heroes of Might&Magic 3&4 *all* use the *exact* same sound bank (the only difference is HoMM4 contains a layer of vocals), so if you put all five soundtracks together, it's very consistent and you have a nice playlist, almost five hours long. If you get the games on GOG, the soundtracks are easily accessible in the "Bonus" section of each game.
when i had my first pc in 2001, i had homm3 demo. there was only 1 scenario, dead or buried. random heroes but you begin as humans, your enemies are necro and underground, and it was at expert difficulty. i won it after trying for weeks. the only problem with homm3 is necro skeleton horde is broken. doesnt matter how many angels and dragons you get, the undead just sacrifice every free troop they get to raise more skeletons. and there was 1 hero who had necromancy special, which gains more skeletons after every battle. the rest of the game mechanics are simple. have 1 good hero with army, hire a gatherer hero in first turn to pick up stuff. while your main hero gets exp and fights, gatherer just picks up stuff to save movement of main guy. logistics, healing, haste, blinding or curse spells are good. ofcourse im talking about vs ai gameplay. pvp might be different, since people know the maps and could try to rush. and as far as i know, they ban picking necro in pvp. между прочем, я не удивился, что ты русская. я учился русский язык 5 лет и играл в доту с гопниками, чтобы достичь этого уровня. то, что я турок и что я выучил русский язык, чтобы знакомиться с русскими девушками - полная ложь
What's really interesting about old games is how the fact that you had those games in CDs in a box influneced how you experienced it. So for example, base campaign is "Restoration of Erathia" and the other 2 are from expansions. You'd normally know that based on front cover of the box. But, since you have no idea, you kinda jumped in the deep waters on that one. Also games used to have written instalation manuals and short guides in them, so you could read through what units do and what are those buttons on the interface.
JVC & NWC pretty much began with "Might & Magic", moved forward with "King's Bounty", and essentially combined the two to create "Heroes of M&M". HoM&M3 is simply incredible and exemplary in every way. Especially with the music. I even placed several homages to all of it in my own series of books ("Diamond Dragons"). 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
One of the lost arts that many will struggle with when delving back in time without a how-to guide is that a lot of games expected players to do two very important things: 1. Be self-reliant with experimentation 2. Read and keep the manual handy Taking notes is a plus, but not always necessary, even if manuals usually came with a couple of pages that allowed note taking without marking up important pages. Controls may have been explains, mechanics may have been explained, even important details to the story would be found in the manual. The loss of physical media spurred a necessity to include more elaborate tutorials, loading screen tips, and frequent reminders in-game. I guess I should comment on the real topic of the video... well, it's a master class in turn-based adventure-strategy games that stands the test of time, and could easily entertain non-gamers willing to give it a shot.
Yeah, this game definitely takes time to learn. It took me 20 years until I found out that the battle hourglass means to wait your turn, and that it it wasn't just a shield without guarding. And it took even longer until I actually played the Campaign.
My friend started this game as well just recently (half a year ago). He had played Heroes of Might and Magic 2, which translated into Heroes 3 a lot better, but even then he struggled with estimating the enemy strengths and general decision making. This game needs a lot of practice and figuring out until you become competent, especially the different tactics to use, and how to win in the endgame. It likely took him over 100 hours to become semi-competent.
Best Heroes of Might and Magic 3 video since SsethTzeentachs masterpiece :) I really need to play it at some point! Great Video, on wards to 100k Subs!
I think the most beloved part of HOM&M3 is the hotseat multiplayer. The lack of useful tutorial is something that I've seen in other old games (I remember being horribly confused by the fighting mechanics in Arcanum), altough I haven't seen too many that have print-out manuals. It seems to me that the manual/solution booklets that You got with the game were a way more common occurence, something that's almost unseen today, as the physical releases are on the decline. The majority of the kids my age have learnt the basics of the UI and gameplay of Heroes 3 while playing the game together at their friends' computer and we usually had a lot of fun even if we chose our factions based on which one has the prettiest or most badass units and the computer kicked our ass all the time, because we had no idea how the stats worked. Then again, HOM&M3 has a simplicity to the factions' progression that made it relatively easy to grasp without an extra long introduction, which with the nice, high fantasy atmosphere and the lovely soundtrack made it timeless. It's a kind of a game that you can still play with friends while hanging out, that's what I like about it the most. On the worse side of things, it's known to be a horribly unbalanced installment of the series, and some of the mechanics are quite easy to exploit. If I'm right, You started the campaign against the Necropolis, which is a notably overpowered faction. Playing as Rampart against them, especially in Gem's campaigns, can be a real challenge!
There are some scenarios that also good for learning, i would say 'All For One' scenario is one of these because this map is medium with only 2 opponent and it have majority of adventure objects to learn what their functions. This maps also have every single town in game as neutral except Conflux (if you want conflux in this map either use it on your own or have the opponent use it), so it's good to learn every factions' unit.
Oh, and about printing out the manual - I think you can like press F1 or find a helper file in a game directory that has text and screenshots explaining stuff. I remember it being pretty comprehensive, so it probably can be used for referencing at least, even if you don't want to sit down and study the whole thing.
Regarding the Tutorial - back in the day you had an accompanying manual in the form of a pdf file that explained everything about game interface and the basics about game mechanics. Look into your game folder and you will find it. Newer games try to do this in-game, but I like this older approach, you can use the manual as a form of reference book, to quickly find something you didn't pay attention to, or have forgotten after taking a break from the game for a couple of months or years.
I think a lot of the problems you had with the tutorial might be from not having the instruction manual that came with the game. It explains all the icons and that you need to end turns and all the rest of it. In the digital landscape of 2024 games don't come with manuals anymore but it really did help explain this one. :)
I was just listening to Heroes 3 soundtrack while working today. There is an orchestra in Poland for Heroes 3 music and they've even invited the composer of the soundtrack Paul Romero to play with them.
Hi, i was looking far a Heroes 3 retrospect, and i stumbled on your channel. Although it's not what i sought, i really liked your video. It's refreshing to see someone who does not have nostalgic feelings for this game giving an opinion. I love the fact you acknowledge the same positive points veterans also mention all the time. This means this game has a charm that does not necessarily is bound to nostalgia. This game is my animated picture book, every time i start this game up, i get launched back into my childhood. The Heroes universe is such a beautiful place. I also like heroes 5, although my feeling towards it is different. While heroes 3 feels to me like the LOTR movies = it feels like a real universe because the depiction of it feels natural and sort of realistic. heroes 5 and it's universe is more Like Warcraft or the Hobbit movies = still a nice feel, but it feels fake and more commercial.
I love playing retro games right back from Phantasy Star and Ys The Vanished Omens on my Sega Master System. I’m very nostalgic and have great memories of playing those games back in my childhood.
I'm 46 now and I remember getting the original HoMM1 as a demo when I was around 12. I became obsessed with the series and played all of them up to HoMM5. It takes a little time to get used to it if you are new. I have thought of going back into it but I realised I would need a new P.C and I really don't have the time any more to spend hours sitting there playing it. So I've decided I'll just watch play throughs instead.
It's always interesting to see a new player's thoughts and how they navigate this game! I'm in my mid 20s but have played the game since I could talk thanks to watching my dad and being the inquisitive child I was, so I only have vague fluffy memories of being new and experiencing the wonder of exploring the game for the first time. Learning what all the units are and what they do, then about spellcasting and the magic system, and then artifacts and all the rest... I miss being filled with such wonder with what could be out there in the game! The lack of a proper tutorial is questionable to look back on, but only if you don't consider the manual the game came with that people back in the day would have happily read (with a proper attention span), and that I DO have very fond memories of reading through, as well as the physical copy of the Prima guide. It's also a shame that the campaign you played is from the 3rd set of campaigns and not the first, since the order in the menu screen is off - no idea why that was never patched! An (un)official expansion called Horn of the Abyss exists and provides so much new content (factions, campaigns, creatures, terrain, fixed bugs & graphics, etc.) - it's as close to an official expansion the game has ever received, and the quality equates to or surpasses that of the vanilla game depending on who you ask; think of "what if 3DO wasn't working on crunch time with budget constraints?" Another expansion called Day of Reckoning is on the horizon and also seeks to deliver this high-quality content in another new package. Both are definitely worth checking out! Lastly, I help maintain the wiki for the game (heroes.thelazy.net) which we update on an almost daily basis, so please do give it a browse and I hope you find it useful with learning more about the game should you choose to keep playing it!
I have so many old games installed on my PC, vell not a lot, but the my main games I loved as a kid. HoMM3 and 5, Dune2000, Quake2 and 3, Settlers3 and 4. All modded games so those are working well on modern computers and I can play on full screen withouht black bars ( 21: 9 ) . Amazing video! keep up the awesome work! Heroes3 was one of my very first games on PC I ever played. So nostalgic. I am 31y old Estonian dude and first PC gaming was in 1999/2000 for me when my uncle bought full PC combo with all the needed things like printer and whatnot. Only Diablo 2 is missing on my PC, the old one , not remastered. I tried many mods and never got it working like I wanted. I will try soon again.
A game I keep coming back to on a regular basis is Evil Islands. And I can't help but feel like the graphics, immersion and gameplay of that game can still keep up to this day due to being so ahead of its time.
It's quite refreshing to listen to you testing a game. :) Also I loved intro on this. I know a girl here who plays Skyrim always and always read on the lore. It's weird but I see it being normal when you make it normal :D I would love for you to try Gothic 2 or Gothic 3 on old games to re-review them.
Fascinatingly with Heroes III, there is a scenario map called Wayfarer in which you need to know all sorts of quirks with every unit, spell, and overworld reference to be able to complete it. Fascinating map that took many months to build, but an excellent and fascinating watch nonetheless. (I was never skilled enough to complete it)
It's not everyday you get a sorta review of this game from someone who didn't play it ages ago. Nice to get a new perspective, but I would have liked to see more comparison with 5 since you started with it and it's my favorite. I really hope the new one "olden era" that is supposed to release next year will be like a remake with quality of life features (auto-resolve for curb-stomp skirmishes, those get old quick)
Regarding Tutorials, since it was released back in '99, you still had thick game manuals that came in the box with your physical copy of your game. And arguably only after 2010 did devs stop making proper manuals for their games, in the 90's for a game like Heroes 3 you were expected to read the manual.
I recently tried playing this game for the first time in about 20 years a few months ago. I played it a bit and had some fun, but I didn’t feel too compelled to keep playing it for more than a few hours. I think for its time, this was a great strategy game. Ever since then, there are plenty of strategy games that offer so much more.
I hadn't thought much of HOMM3 which i had enjoyed playing long ago until i became aware of the Horn of the Abyss overhaul mod a few months back which is doing some crazily interesting stuff.
I think you should absolutely check out Mount and Blade: Warband. The mount and blade games are inspired off the heroes genre of games, at least in some parts like the overworld and town upgrading. Warband is an expansion off the first mount and blade game that essentially became a game in itself. The second game came out a couple years ago: Bannerlord. I think it's also very much checking out and brings some very much needed improvements to the mount and blade games. I'm suggesting Warband on staying with the theme of playing old games.
This was an interesting video, comparing nostalgia to actual quality of the game. And the awareness that your experiences with a later game might have helped your accessibility was a good way to show your academic integrity, for lack of a better term.
The Horn of the Abyss mod adds more factions as well as letting you pick higher resolution. It also fixes some of the game balance, in the vanilla game the necromancy mechanic of the necropolis faction is a bit overtuned for example.
One thing I realized in retrospect about old games like this is that they assume you read the manual. But when we go back to them, we never do. This is even more the case with NES and SNES games etc. To be clear, this isn't meant to be some kind of sneak dig at you. 😂 Just sharing my own experience playing old games.
The number of Heroes 3 games that me and my friends started as all nighters but never finished was plentiful. Not sure why we always started a new game but high school summer days well spent!
Synchronistic timing! Just installed this last night in preparation for a chill weekend, will be an almost new start for me too as it hasn't been played for over 20 years
What old game should I try next for this Good Game or Nostalgia series?
Two Worlds 1-2 (especially 2)
Diablo 1 or Diablo 2
Kind of obvious, but... The Elder Scrolls: Arena.
Dragon Age Origins is one of the best RPGs ever made, and that’s not nostalgia. I played it for the first time a few years ago during lockdowns.
Dark messiah of might and magic
1999 was insane! So many masterpieces: Planescape Torment, HoMMIII, Jagged Alliance 2, Alpha Centauri, System Shock 2, Tiberian Sun, Age of Empires 2, Unreal Tournament, Homeworld, Age of Wonders etc. Absolute peak of gaming industry!
You nailed almost every masterpiece, except Quake 3 :) Funny how most of these games are still being played today and even manage to gain new players.
fallout2, diablo
now that i think about it, yeah. Stacked fucking year, D2 came out then as well i think. And the only game i bought this year was Helldivers 2.
I was not thinking abut this like that. But when Im reading those titles. Yea, this is insane.
Also the peak of cinema: Fight Club and The Matrix came out in 1999
Fun fact. In polish version of the game they translated multiplayer mode "hot seat" as "płonące pośladki" which translate directly as... burning/blazing butt-cheeks
That’s kinda based tbh
We all know, a terrible seize with the grail castle... makes your butt-cheeks burn :D
They weren't lying tho
Мы говорим "жопа горит", когда злишься от того, что что-то не получается.
Multiplayer just gives the devs an excuse to put less effort into single player AI
I believe that when you make something with sincerity, people will feel that through your work. That's how Heroes III feels to me. The atmosphere, the artwork, the music, etc, is just... *chef's kiss*
It's not about nostalgia, it's more the passion that has been put into classic games and is mostly missing in modern games 😅
Great review, game still holds up to this day imo
FRFR
A lot of modern games just feel so soulless these days
Smaller teams with no suits shoehoring additonal profitability mechanics to please the glorious shareholder(s) overlord(s).
To be fair, they don't put passion into it, but they do put "THE MESSAGE" into them
@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay"theeee messssseaageeee"
i had no nostalgia towards the game. Installed it 2021. Never been more addicted to a game in my entire life. I think I casually sank 1-2 months, with daily 7-8 hour sessions. I regret nothing
Much much better than paying 90$ us for a Mount in WoW war within :D
Lady, you made a middle age man and a father so happy! Heroes 3 Might and magic are the gem.
But man i felt so bad for you when you went from tutorial and then directly to a skirmish... but then found Campain... But i did read..... A new beginning...
Lady, thats an Expert campaign aswell, thats the campaign after you cleared "Restoration of Earthia" xD
Some part of me died abit inside, i hope you give it a new go and start with "Long live the queen" in restoration of earthia
Looks like I decided to do this the hard way xD Will definitely take your advice and try the tutorial campaign!!
@@Angelikatosh Another easy/tutorial campaign is the Heroes 3 Chronicles, where you play as the Barbarian faction - it was released in parts back when 3DO was trying to milk the franchise to stay alive, which didn't exactly please the fans, because new players won't bother to buy 8 separate disks for a game they won't play, and for all the regulars it was too easy. It's basically like the true continuation of the tutorial map, getting harder and trickier, perfect for a beginner. You can find the whole compilation on GoG and play it through the Campaign-Other menu in-game.
True HoMM3 players do not finish campaigns, they just play single scenarios.
Joking aside, those scenarios are the main meat of the game, campaign is simply a good addition.
Is that true?? In heroes 5 I finished EVERYTHING, I couldn’t get enough 🤣
nah bruh, everyone who had the complete game played the campaign for the awesome music/cuscenes/voice actin/story
@@moracomole8090 I only played domination on random maps with different templates.
Usually Necro.
@@Angelikatosh It is true for me. I haven't finished the campaigns and i have played HoMM3 sence it came out. I only play scenarios. You can even play multiplayer on the same computer, that's what we did back when it was new.
@moracomole8090 shadow of death campaign is fire.
the game came with a thick manual, most old games do
that's where most of the info for figuring things out is
I miss game manuals so much
I remember that thing. Biggest videogame manual I ever owned.
The passion that used to go into games. My goodness.
Yeah... I still remember how thick the manual was for Civilization II. I think by the time I had Heroes III, they were no longer shipping the hard copy of the manual with it. It already had both expansions by the time I started playing it, but it really is a great game. Years later, my father started learning to play it and he still sometimes plays it to this day. He's in his 70s now. - haha
As a kid I loved the manual, read it over and over even before being able to play it.
Speaking as one, I'm pretty sure all Slavs/Eastern Europeans are predisposed to like Heroes 3. I hadn't played it in almost 20 years but as soon as I fired it up again I knew it would hold up.
It’s in our DNA
@@Angelikatosh It was 1999 when everyone was playing half-life, counter strike, and starcraft at the internet cafes. And so was my brother, playing Starcraft, cause we didn't have internet, so LAN was the best thing, and he took me one day with him. Over at another computer, I saw this guy play a game with creatures of all kinds, he was playing Inferno, so I saw the magogs and demons. I became glued to his screen, probably bothering him (a teen,maybe adult, having a 9 year old glued to him). Shortly after we had the game on our home PC and I still play it today. A fan expansion came out in 2010, and was last updated 2024, the game is more alive than ever, with up to 5k players on the online lobby, if multiplayer is your thing. There's many streamers playing daily. Ranked games, and tournaments happen too.
@@Angelikatosh Заклинания (за исключением нескольких особых юнитов) может использовать только Герой. Для этого ему нужна книга магии (у большей части героев она есть по дефолту, но у "тупых" Воинов ее нет и надо покупать отдельно в Гильдии Магии за 500 голды).
.
Сам список доступных заклинаний ты берешь в Гильдии Магии (строишь ее и тебе там случайным образом даются заклинания соответствующего уровня).
.
Также надо понимать что доступные заклинания ограничены самими Героями. Заклинания 1-2 уровня доступны всем героям у кого есть книга заклинаний. Для 3-го уровня и выше (до 5-го) тебе нужно изучить и развивать навык "Мудрость"
.
Непосредственно в бою, чтобы использовать заклинания нужно нажать на маленький значок открытой книги в нижнем правом углу экрана (он находится рядом с "щитом" = пропустить ход уйдя в защиту и "песочными часами" - отложить ход на потом)
@@bulanet271 The experience of a kid gawking at your screen while you gamed is probably a fairly common one for those of us that played games in internet cafes during that time. I'm not sure what game it was - possibly Warcraft 3 TFT or even Heroes 3, but I remember having a similar thing happen to me and the kid stood there, mesmerized, for probably half an hour.
Personally, I found it fulfilling and wholesome to be able to spark that 'that's so cool' reaction from someone much younger than myself and potentially get them interested in gaming.
Paul Anthony Romero’s music in HOMM3 is a core memory from my childhood.
"I'm blinded by reading the Elder Scrolls on a daily basis." Nice Moth Priest reference!
I can't believe HoMM3 is 25 years old already. One of the best games of all times imho.
In my first time playing Heroes 3, back in the 2000´s, I ran out of movement and didnt know what to do. After a while I got bored and dumped the game. Months later I decided to give it another try, I somehow found the "clock" button to end your turn, OH BOY DID I A WHOLE WORLD UNFOLDED BEFORE ME, many adventures and battles awaited me. Became a fan since that day
These are the aha moments that I miss in new games. So much to explore and discover for yourself. Nowadays you're led through the park on a dog lead... The easier, the better... Just don't think so much 🙈
Heroes III is one of the greatest games ever made, along side Age of Empires II, both from the same year.
I first played Homm3 in 2006 right before homm5 came out. It was completely by accident, when i burrowed my friend's burnt dvd containing Dawn Of War and several other games, one of them being homm3. He said i wouldnt be interested in it, its turn based not real time. A few days later i was curious, and decided to try it. From that day forward my life changed forever.
Those years (late 90s / early 00s) were so insane for gaming. Every year had these absolute titans of gaming coming out. These days yeah a lot of cool games still but not nearly as many are top tier. A lot of flash and less substance
Agreed, Heroes III and AoE II are among the best games ever made, especially strategy games. I'd also put Civ II in that category.
This video honors the 6th house and the tribe unmourned, i look forward to your next sermon
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Ehhh ... I don't know why you would mention that particular game in a video like this, but as someone who has uploaded a full zero death run on hardcore difficulty waaay back, I appreciate your taste.
I still reckon that game has better first person melee than anything that has come out since.
@@Danceofmasks It is an older game that is good and nostalgic. Why not mention it?
But first Arx Fatalis with Arx Libertatis mod! Then Dark Messiah.
@@littlezero6399 I might love the combat, but the story is horrendously bad. I'm personally willing to look past it, because the gameplay is so good, but for some people it might be a dealbreaker.
HoM&M 3 is not a good game, it's a fantastic game!
At this point HOMM3 is a religion I am a part of.
And it's a damn good religion.
To put up with noises or smells from farming is an easy choice compared to not eating :) with that said i think homm3 was the best in the series! Thanks for another great video
You got it! 🎉
I was born in '06. All my favorite movies are old. All my favorite shows are old. All my favorite games are old. And my music decades are '30s-'60s. It's definitely not about nostalgia, it's about the actual care and effort put into games rather than making them have butt loads of micro transactions or paywalls. Bioware is the only company I still trust with games. I loved Dragon Age and cannot wait for DA: Veilguard coming out on Halloween. I don't think it'll beat DA:Origins but I do have hope.
I think it's because back then they were often made by a bunch of enthusiast who didn't even know a thing about marketing strategies, focus groups and monetization models, yet they'd been allowed to make AAA titles. The industry wasn't yet developed, the publishers didn't know how to maximize profits. Now they know.
Wait what!?!? There’s a new dragon age coming out? Sweet! Da 2 and origins were great! As for oldies, same
yep. sadly the new Dargon age will have pronouns and other modern politics :/
@@ixirionoh no, not greater role playing elements in my role-playing game, the utter horror…..you’d have bitched about kotor letting you be gay, huh?
@@themediocremaster2388 A fantasy game have modern day propaganda.
you shift the focus to rpg part while I just refuse to be a brainwashed sheep that is told what to think by ppl more stupid than me
I cannot be shamed, intimidated or coerced to accept anything that dont benefit humanity.
Here is the usual full support for channel growth.
I played this game with my roommate and her boyfriend a couple months ago and rather enjoyed the game. He had been playing it for years, but it was the first time my roommate or I had ever played it.
90s and 00s fantasy video games were generally super colorful and storybook feeling, which I kind of miss. It gave it a mystical feeling.
For HoMM 3 lovers I would recommend:
* Hero's Hour
* Songs of Conquest
Both are pretty colorful ;-)
As a kid most of the games I got was random during holidays, and I remember when I got this it was an obsession like no other.
In hindsight it teached me English and challenged myself more then school ever did, a thing I really appreciate now
*taught ...Yeah I know, I couldn't resist. Also, yeah I know, English is weird with certain past tense verbs.
Yeah the good old days of running into games by change in a shop or as a gift. and seeing the cower and letting the imagination run wild. i Actually found out about homeworld 2 from running into a disk cower by chance in a Magazine and tobbaco store of all places. They had the remaining stock of a dedicated gaming shop that closed before that.
@@Infernal_Elf The only real guide for game investments came from demodiscs. Either a cerealboxes (aoe1, desperados, roller-coaster tycoon) or the ps1 magazine (tekken, thps, final fantasy).
«Это кто здесь не русский?» - получил с этого заряд смеха на весь день
HoMM3 was my first ever game on computer as an 8-year-old. While stats were just numbers getting bigger and the language only legible, figuring out that you could end a turn was a challenge for a while. It did not stop me from playing and experimenting through the UI. Eventually I even developed a rather keen feel for the power of every unit by countless trial and error in a way only a kid could. While I seldom play it these days, only few games a year, it still holds a warm place in my heart for introducing me to a diverse fantasy setting that would ultimately lead me to my greatest passion - Fantasy TTRPGs.
I appreciate you giving the game a try!
You should really take a look at Dark Messiah: Of Might & Magic. It came out the same year as Oblivion and its first person melee combat system is still unparalleled to this day.
5 - fresh take, 4 - interesting experiment, 3 - the holy grail, 2 - well-rounded gem, 1 - cute and innocent
Heroes IV is just built different.
@@Ronin3453 Heroes IV definetely has its merits. Was hit and miss on certain thing much of the opera was torture. but the way heroes worked was quite ground breaking and nice. And also u had the Barbarian Castle wich was tottaly amish in the approach to magic it had none of it :D and u could have heroes knock out small armies alone.
@@Infernal_Elf It is a good game, just not a great game. =)
I feel like you could do an amazing cosplay of Sarah from Labyrinth.
Oh wow! She DOES look exactly like Sarah if memory serves. Haha
I have always felt that HOMM3 was the pinnacle of the series, from the clear mechanics to the beautiful graphics and the tactical intricacies that keep you coming back again and again, twenty-five years later.
You may be interested in checking out 'Age of Wonders', with a similarly wonderful fantasy world and fantastic soundtrack.
I am playing the heck out of Age of MYthology Retold. Reviving my childhood
Stop it, you're ruining my theory that perfect girls don't exist
Yeah her russian one-liner with eye contact killed me dead, abit to attractive to be OKAY! :D
Your commander keen picture makes my day 😊
chill brah
If you zoomies didn't simp so much she'd be on OF by now.
Lmao
You started on the wrong campaign. The Restoration of Erathia is the first campaign. You are playing the expansion which is more for veterans. This one, Heroes 2, and Heroes 4 are amazing games that I played. I liked 4 the best because the Heroes upgrade is more streamline and the Heroes fight in the battle. However, because of the latter, it can get very easy as you can just get major upgraded heroes in the campaign and not even have armies.
My grandma loves this game and I grew up watching her play it. I also enjoyed playing the second game as a young adult. I own the HD Edition of 3 on Steam and regular version on GOG.
I didn't know a single english word when I first started playing this game, but it seems being a slav helped me a lot being proficient in it.
i remember playing this game on old family laptop back in 2009, one of the games i open every 4-5 years to get that nostalgic feeling, best time of my life
My lady you keep getting more and more of my respect with every new game u feature in your videos :D
Really refined taste in games
If you like the soundtrack, check out Heroes Orchestra - a full orchestra and choir playing the music from HOMM series live. They have a channel on YT, and they play concerts in Warsaw if you're ever around it's well worth to check it out!
Heroes 3 is by far the best game in the series.
4:05 Don't forget that all games came with a written manual back in the days. Made things much easier - if you didn't understand a mechanic simply looking into the manual did usually fix things.
This includes descriptions of all units btw.
I picked up Heroes III 2-3 years ago, I just missed it back when it first released, since I wasn't that much into turn based stuff, but the Soundtrack is just 100% memorable and it's a great game, best Heroes imho.
You should try Divine Divinity (The first Larian game, it's not a Diablo clone, like a lot of people think) ... one of my favorite nostalgic games, I didn't play when it came out back then.
And of course Gothic 1&2 :)
And when playing games that old, it's always a good idea to read the manual if possible, afaik GOG always has these in the Extras.
Nice chill video! :)
Heroes 3 has to be one of my most played games. I have at least 300 hours within it, likely a lot more since I used to play it with my friend at his house after school. I always loved the ambiance of the game, such a chill vibe. My favourite is likely Dungeon or Fortress as a faction, just like the evil guys I guess
You made me feel ancient when you mentioned the game came out before you were born. It would be awesome if you played through the game as it would nice to see someone play it for the first time. Especially after playing it so much over the years.
Ah reading..... modern gamer's one weakness!
I know III and IV have a lot of fans too but for me, its HoMM 2. III and IV are great, 2 just really hits the spot for me. Just like with Shining Force and Phantasy Star, there's isn't a game in the series I don't enjoy but each series has a clear "best" for me where the combination of story, gameplay, quality, and setting just nail it. I'm old, so I was a teenage gamer when HoMM 2-4 came out.
Agreed. HoMM2 has wayy more charm than 3 IMO. (not that 3 doesn't have charm. it does) 3 is the more balanced game for multiplayer, but 2 just hits different overall. Luckily, we get to have both, so everyone wins :)
Yeah, Homm3 might be technically a better game in every way, but Homm2 is still my favourite game of the series. There might be a little bit of nostalgia bonus on that one though, since that's the game that introduced me to the series. But even without nostalgia, it's not a bad game by any means.
I just bought Heroes 2 complete on GOG, it's on sales now, all games up to 5, including Chronicles. They are all dirt cheap ($2.2), with only 5 being bit more expensive ($4.6)
It will be interesting to see someone who has had contact with HoMM3 for the first time after so many years.
The HoMM3 phenomenon itself is also supported by the fact that even though the game is 25 years old, it is still being developed. Only not by producers, but by fans, and thanks to this this content is free and available to everyone, as long as they have the original game.
And there are several development opportunities.
The more interesting ones that I recommend are the unofficial HOTA add-on and VCMI.
The first one adds new cities, units, artifacts and some mechanical changes. The second one is similar, but also includes new solutions, such as zooming in and out of the camera, better transfer of information about unit abilities, their level and faction, the same with artifacts and much more.
However, it is rather content for players who are already familiar with the regular game, so as not to get lost with too much new content.
Likewise, apart from the usual scenarios and campaigns, the biggest advantage of the game is that the games of chance and their templates [especially in the versions I mentioned earlier. Because there you can choose things that are not available in the basic game, that's when the most fun begins and the game doesn't get boring.
And that's why, despite so many years, tournaments and championships continue in this part all the time.
And the similarity to HoMM5 is not accidental, because this part was modeled on HoMM3, intended to be transferred in 3D, but it did not necessarily succeed.
However, the mechanics and certain solutions [and even similarities in cities, where haven/castle, tower/academy are almost identical in both parts] and that's why you probably played quite similarly.
Very cool seeing someone go from 5 to 3! Interesting points and nice to hear the 5 music at the end!
Great review! To your point about the tutorial: It's fair to remember that in this time of gaming manuals and handheld guides were standard, which means that the game developers counted on you to -read- about certain aspects of the games mechanics! So the tutorials could be more "watered down"; the customer expected a manual.
Lazy IT tip: Even if you don't have a printer, you can usually print things to a .PDF and read it on the screen. One common theme in the old awesome games of the 90's and the classics was they always came with a manual that had information that was helpful as well as world building. Huh, I guess I actually bought all the Hero's games on GOG. I really should give them a try. Part of the nostalgia trip is the artwork. Old games came in larger boxes and just looked awesome on a book shelf. I'm rambling now. Great video, always a pleasure watching your English content. Thank You.
we absolutely love the classic HoMM 3
I do in fact hope that you play it on live stream. Even if it won't be top tier gameplay, you might receive a lot of helpful information, and watching someone learn this can be greatly entertaining. The community is very welcoming and we could always use more publicity, especially after the huge recent Horn of the Abyss (I'm sure you've heard of that by now) update. Speaking of Horn of the Abyss, I feel like fanmade content for H3 deserves its own separate video - the love for the game that causes people to make new high quality content for it _to this day_ can serve as further proof that the game is genuinely good and not just nostalgia.
Thank you for the video! Also always nice to spot a fellow H5 enjoyer!
As someone who's played H3 close to when it originally came out, many of us that picked it up for the first time weren't _that_ young (had acquaintances in their 20s play it, while I was in 7th-8th grade at the time). It was just an amazing game and it was widely played in net cafes all over Eastern Europe, to the point where it was hard to go into one and not find someone playing Heroes 3, with LAN matches happening often. It's one of the few things to ever bring all Balkan nations together in harmony, aside from removing Kebab.
It still holds up, especially with the fan-made Era mod/expansion installed that came out quite a few years later. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other, newer mods that I haven't played that further improve it.
PS: Play it! :D Pretty sure many of us would love to watch videos of you playing the campaigns. It would be great to hear and see someone discover Heroes 3 for the first time - it's always a treat seeing someone understand a mechanic or put together the lore.
*Watching in horror as she skips her turn without building on her town*
Im just kidding
I freaking love this game, there is a lot of small details in it that you might have missed:
If you mix creatures from different factions (Like having a human and a demon) will give your entire army -1 to moral for each faction mixed (having 2 demons and 1 human is still only -1 but add a skeleton and its -2)
If you dont know if a creature on the map is upgraded or not, upgraded creatures will be facing left while un/upgraded will be facing right
In combat if you have a creature stand infront of another creature the one behind will get bonus defence against projectile
The spell book can be found above the shield icon (if your hero has one), creatures does not have a spell book but some can still cast spells, if a creature has a spell they can cast its only on your own creature (hover your mouse over your own creatures and the spell icon should show up if the creature is able to cast)
I hope this is helpfull
I’m sorry if that was painful, I kept forgetting to build and was rightfully schooled by the enemy 🤣 thanks for all the tips!! 🫶
@@Angelikatosh If you got through h5 I assume you can get through this. But sadly this is one of those games where you can play for 20 years and still be awful at it. I was. I didn't realize how many things I didn't know until I watched ranked matches. Every new player will do one or all of these mistakes: play with one hero only. Forget to build, forget to cast spells. Not knowing how to use Wait, and taking fights poorly. Visit everything on the map - all of these eventually snowball into your defeat, because you don't optimize your movement and exploration. I can win a campaign map in about 2-4 weeks, but as a new player they just want to collect everything on the map, build every building, and take at least 4 months to finish a mission (taking their sweet time enjoying the game which is fair ofc). Though being very slow, bad building and bad spending habits lead to your defeat.
Your settings in HD Mod are not good, that's why you can't see units.... Try: Mode - stretchable 32BIT GDI; Source size - 1180x664; Stretch filter - xBZRx2 + bilinear 1.5xSharper
IDK what games you normally enjoy, but if you want suggestions for some good older games to try I can list some from my 40 years of gaming experience.
RTS: Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 & StarCraft
Beat em up: Streets of Rage 2 & 3, Golden Axe 1 & 2.
RPG: Shining Force 1, 2, & 3, Shadowrun SNES, Lunar Silver Star Story, Lunar Eternal Blue, Dragon Force, Albert Odyssey, Disgaea 1, Mario RPG, Final Fantasy 6 (3 on SNES), Chrono Trigger, X-men Legends 1 & 2.
FPS: Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 & Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood, Shadow Ops Red Mercury.
Fighting: Mortal Kombat 2, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Greatest Heavyweights.
Strategy: Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX (PS2), Civilization 3 complete, Star Trek TNG Birth of the Federation.
Other: Metal Gear, Contra, Blaster Master, Ice Hockey, Super Mario 1, 2, 3, Super Mario All Stars, Super Mario World, Castlevania 1, 2, 3.
thanks for covering this game! the goat.
I remember playing homm3 first time. I was 14 yo and visiting my cousin, she is 6 years older and she showed me the game and went out with her bf. I had no idea what i am doing yet i managed to finish 2 missions of eofol devils which took me few good hours. When i got my pc a year later homm3 was my first (and for a long time only) original game i had (i had 2 or 3 pirated ones as well).
Regarding music: the track from Might&Magic 6,7,8, Heroes of Might&Magic 3&4 *all* use the *exact* same sound bank (the only difference is HoMM4 contains a layer of vocals), so if you put all five soundtracks together, it's very consistent and you have a nice playlist, almost five hours long.
If you get the games on GOG, the soundtracks are easily accessible in the "Bonus" section of each game.
What a pleasant watch! Glad you enjoyed this classic!
when i had my first pc in 2001, i had homm3 demo. there was only 1 scenario, dead or buried. random heroes but you begin as humans, your enemies are necro and underground, and it was at expert difficulty. i won it after trying for weeks. the only problem with homm3 is necro skeleton horde is broken. doesnt matter how many angels and dragons you get, the undead just sacrifice every free troop they get to raise more skeletons. and there was 1 hero who had necromancy special, which gains more skeletons after every battle.
the rest of the game mechanics are simple. have 1 good hero with army, hire a gatherer hero in first turn to pick up stuff. while your main hero gets exp and fights, gatherer just picks up stuff to save movement of main guy. logistics, healing, haste, blinding or curse spells are good. ofcourse im talking about vs ai gameplay. pvp might be different, since people know the maps and could try to rush. and as far as i know, they ban picking necro in pvp.
между прочем, я не удивился, что ты русская. я учился русский язык 5 лет и играл в доту с гопниками, чтобы достичь этого уровня. то, что я турок и что я выучил русский язык, чтобы знакомиться с русскими девушками - полная ложь
What's really interesting about old games is how the fact that you had those games in CDs in a box influneced how you experienced it.
So for example, base campaign is "Restoration of Erathia" and the other 2 are from expansions. You'd normally know that based on front cover of the box. But, since you have no idea, you kinda jumped in the deep waters on that one.
Also games used to have written instalation manuals and short guides in them, so you could read through what units do and what are those buttons on the interface.
Nostalgia rules!
I really enjoy watching you play
🫶🫶🫶
Hands down the best of the series. Am glad you were able to check it out and come away with a positive experience.
JVC & NWC pretty much began with "Might & Magic", moved forward with "King's Bounty", and essentially combined the two to create "Heroes of M&M". HoM&M3 is simply incredible and exemplary in every way. Especially with the music.
I even placed several homages to all of it in my own series of books ("Diamond Dragons").
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
One of the lost arts that many will struggle with when delving back in time without a how-to guide is that a lot of games expected players to do two very important things:
1. Be self-reliant with experimentation
2. Read and keep the manual handy
Taking notes is a plus, but not always necessary, even if manuals usually came with a couple of pages that allowed note taking without marking up important pages. Controls may have been explains, mechanics may have been explained, even important details to the story would be found in the manual. The loss of physical media spurred a necessity to include more elaborate tutorials, loading screen tips, and frequent reminders in-game.
I guess I should comment on the real topic of the video... well, it's a master class in turn-based adventure-strategy games that stands the test of time, and could easily entertain non-gamers willing to give it a shot.
Yeah, this game definitely takes time to learn.
It took me 20 years until I found out that the battle hourglass means to wait your turn, and that it it wasn't just a shield without guarding.
And it took even longer until I actually played the Campaign.
My friend started this game as well just recently (half a year ago). He had played Heroes of Might and Magic 2, which translated into Heroes 3 a lot better, but even then he struggled with estimating the enemy strengths and general decision making. This game needs a lot of practice and figuring out until you become competent, especially the different tactics to use, and how to win in the endgame. It likely took him over 100 hours to become semi-competent.
Best Heroes of Might and Magic 3 video since SsethTzeentachs masterpiece :) I really need to play it at some point!
Great Video, on wards to 100k Subs!
Thank you! Also, you really do. I recommend:)
@@Angelikatoshследующий ролик о Disciples 2 давай. :)
I think the most beloved part of HOM&M3 is the hotseat multiplayer. The lack of useful tutorial is something that I've seen in other old games (I remember being horribly confused by the fighting mechanics in Arcanum), altough I haven't seen too many that have print-out manuals. It seems to me that the manual/solution booklets that You got with the game were a way more common occurence, something that's almost unseen today, as the physical releases are on the decline.
The majority of the kids my age have learnt the basics of the UI and gameplay of Heroes 3 while playing the game together at their friends' computer and we usually had a lot of fun even if we chose our factions based on which one has the prettiest or most badass units and the computer kicked our ass all the time, because we had no idea how the stats worked.
Then again, HOM&M3 has a simplicity to the factions' progression that made it relatively easy to grasp without an extra long introduction, which with the nice, high fantasy atmosphere and the lovely soundtrack made it timeless. It's a kind of a game that you can still play with friends while hanging out, that's what I like about it the most.
On the worse side of things, it's known to be a horribly unbalanced installment of the series, and some of the mechanics are quite easy to exploit. If I'm right, You started the campaign against the Necropolis, which is a notably overpowered faction. Playing as Rampart against them, especially in Gem's campaigns, can be a real challenge!
There are some scenarios that also good for learning, i would say 'All For One' scenario is one of these because this map is medium with only 2 opponent and it have majority of adventure objects to learn what their functions. This maps also have every single town in game as neutral except Conflux (if you want conflux in this map either use it on your own or have the opponent use it), so it's good to learn every factions' unit.
Oh, and about printing out the manual - I think you can like press F1 or find a helper file in a game directory that has text and screenshots explaining stuff. I remember it being pretty comprehensive, so it probably can be used for referencing at least, even if you don't want to sit down and study the whole thing.
Regarding the Tutorial - back in the day you had an accompanying manual in the form of a pdf file that explained everything about game interface and the basics about game mechanics. Look into your game folder and you will find it.
Newer games try to do this in-game, but I like this older approach, you can use the manual as a form of reference book, to quickly find something you didn't pay attention to, or have forgotten after taking a break from the game for a couple of months or years.
I think a lot of the problems you had with the tutorial might be from not having the instruction manual that came with the game. It explains all the icons and that you need to end turns and all the rest of it. In the digital landscape of 2024 games don't come with manuals anymore but it really did help explain this one. :)
I was just listening to Heroes 3 soundtrack while working today. There is an orchestra in Poland for Heroes 3 music and they've even invited the composer of the soundtrack Paul Romero to play with them.
Hi, i was looking far a Heroes 3 retrospect, and i stumbled on your channel. Although it's not what i sought, i really liked your video. It's refreshing to see someone who does not have nostalgic feelings for this game giving an opinion. I love the fact you acknowledge the same positive points veterans also mention all the time. This means this game has a charm that does not necessarily is bound to nostalgia. This game is my animated picture book, every time i start this game up, i get launched back into my childhood. The Heroes universe is such a beautiful place. I also like heroes 5, although my feeling towards it is different. While heroes 3 feels to me like the LOTR movies = it feels like a real universe because the depiction of it feels natural and sort of realistic. heroes 5 and it's universe is more Like Warcraft or the Hobbit movies = still a nice feel, but it feels fake and more commercial.
I love playing retro games right back from Phantasy Star and Ys The Vanished Omens on my Sega Master System. I’m very nostalgic and have great memories of playing those games back in my childhood.
I'm 46 now and I remember getting the original HoMM1 as a demo when I was around 12. I became obsessed with the series and played all of them up to HoMM5. It takes a little time to get used to it if you are new. I have thought of going back into it but I realised I would need a new P.C and I really don't have the time any more to spend hours sitting there playing it. So I've decided I'll just watch play throughs instead.
It's always interesting to see a new player's thoughts and how they navigate this game! I'm in my mid 20s but have played the game since I could talk thanks to watching my dad and being the inquisitive child I was, so I only have vague fluffy memories of being new and experiencing the wonder of exploring the game for the first time. Learning what all the units are and what they do, then about spellcasting and the magic system, and then artifacts and all the rest... I miss being filled with such wonder with what could be out there in the game!
The lack of a proper tutorial is questionable to look back on, but only if you don't consider the manual the game came with that people back in the day would have happily read (with a proper attention span), and that I DO have very fond memories of reading through, as well as the physical copy of the Prima guide. It's also a shame that the campaign you played is from the 3rd set of campaigns and not the first, since the order in the menu screen is off - no idea why that was never patched!
An (un)official expansion called Horn of the Abyss exists and provides so much new content (factions, campaigns, creatures, terrain, fixed bugs & graphics, etc.) - it's as close to an official expansion the game has ever received, and the quality equates to or surpasses that of the vanilla game depending on who you ask; think of "what if 3DO wasn't working on crunch time with budget constraints?" Another expansion called Day of Reckoning is on the horizon and also seeks to deliver this high-quality content in another new package. Both are definitely worth checking out!
Lastly, I help maintain the wiki for the game (heroes.thelazy.net) which we update on an almost daily basis, so please do give it a browse and I hope you find it useful with learning more about the game should you choose to keep playing it!
I have so many old games installed on my PC, vell not a lot, but the my main games I loved as a kid. HoMM3 and 5, Dune2000, Quake2 and 3, Settlers3 and 4. All modded games so those are working well on modern computers and I can play on full screen withouht black bars ( 21: 9 ) .
Amazing video! keep up the awesome work! Heroes3 was one of my very first games on PC I ever played. So nostalgic. I am 31y old Estonian dude and first PC gaming was in 1999/2000 for me when my uncle bought full PC combo with all the needed things like printer and whatnot. Only Diablo 2 is missing on my PC, the old one , not remastered. I tried many mods and never got it working like I wanted. I will try soon again.
give HoMM games second chances, your heart will regret it. We wanna see you playing HoMM new game called Olden Era next year!
A game I keep coming back to on a regular basis is Evil Islands. And I can't help but feel like the graphics, immersion and gameplay of that game can still keep up to this day due to being so ahead of its time.
You mentionned Diablo 2 in some videos, could you make some D2R videos? It's a lovely classic. I went lvl 99 there for the first time.
My hype for pc games during 1999 was tremendous. I was a kid, but every game that I played that year simply left me mesmerized at that age.
It's quite refreshing to listen to you testing a game. :) Also I loved intro on this. I know a girl here who plays Skyrim always and always read on the lore. It's weird but I see it being normal when you make it normal :D I would love for you to try Gothic 2 or Gothic 3 on old games to re-review them.
Fascinatingly with Heroes III, there is a scenario map called Wayfarer in which you need to know all sorts of quirks with every unit, spell, and overworld reference to be able to complete it. Fascinating map that took many months to build, but an excellent and fascinating watch nonetheless. (I was never skilled enough to complete it)
OK I had a little jumpscare when she spoke russian. Did not expect
You couldn't see the slav in her facial structure?
@@yolobathsalts people are too diverse. I didn’t
@@OBryanAguiar it's written all over her lmao
@@OBryanAguiar bruh she even lowkey looks like bigtiddy kreegan temptress straight out of an inferno tavern wat u expec
It scared you?
I think the most time of the game, me and my sister spent our time in the map editor. That was so much fun :D
im a simple man. i see heroes 3. i hit like and subscribe
It's not everyday you get a sorta review of this game from someone who didn't play it ages ago. Nice to get a new perspective, but I would have liked to see more comparison with 5 since you started with it and it's my favorite.
I really hope the new one "olden era" that is supposed to release next year will be like a remake with quality of life features (auto-resolve for curb-stomp skirmishes, those get old quick)
Regarding Tutorials, since it was released back in '99, you still had thick game manuals that came in the box with your physical copy of your game. And arguably only after 2010 did devs stop making proper manuals for their games, in the 90's for a game like Heroes 3 you were expected to read the manual.
I recently tried playing this game for the first time in about 20 years a few months ago. I played it a bit and had some fun, but I didn’t feel too compelled to keep playing it for more than a few hours. I think for its time, this was a great strategy game. Ever since then, there are plenty of strategy games that offer so much more.
Will you do a letsplay/stream of this game?
Man this brings so much nostalgia back to me as it's one of the most played games when i was a teenager.
I hadn't thought much of HOMM3 which i had enjoyed playing long ago until i became aware of the Horn of the Abyss overhaul mod a few months back which is doing some crazily interesting stuff.
I think you should absolutely check out Mount and Blade: Warband. The mount and blade games are inspired off the heroes genre of games, at least in some parts like the overworld and town upgrading. Warband is an expansion off the first mount and blade game that essentially became a game in itself. The second game came out a couple years ago: Bannerlord. I think it's also very much checking out and brings some very much needed improvements to the mount and blade games. I'm suggesting Warband on staying with the theme of playing old games.
This was an interesting video, comparing nostalgia to actual quality of the game. And the awareness that your experiences with a later game might have helped your accessibility was a good way to show your academic integrity, for lack of a better term.
The Horn of the Abyss mod adds more factions as well as letting you pick higher resolution. It also fixes some of the game balance, in the vanilla game the necromancy mechanic of the necropolis faction is a bit overtuned for example.
One thing I realized in retrospect about old games like this is that they assume you read the manual. But when we go back to them, we never do. This is even more the case with NES and SNES games etc. To be clear, this isn't meant to be some kind of sneak dig at you. 😂 Just sharing my own experience playing old games.
The number of Heroes 3 games that me and my friends started as all nighters but never finished was plentiful. Not sure why we always started a new game but high school summer days well spent!
Synchronistic timing! Just installed this last night in preparation for a chill weekend, will be an almost new start for me too as it hasn't been played for over 20 years
HD mod is a MUST have! ;-)
Dark messiah of might and magic next!