Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | First Impressions

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is in early access. I’ve been looking forward to this game because I’m a big fan of the first three games in the series. When I sat down to play this, I noticed a few similarities with my favorite game in the series.

Early Access Gameplay

There are currently six factions in the game. There is also a campaign mode, which is always nice to see. While I didn’t always mess around with the campaigns in the other games in the series, they were a fun alternative to the one-off scenarios.

The factions remind me of Heroes of Might and Magic III because you’re given a town name instead of a race or hero type. I like this approach, but I don’t think they went as far as some of the other games in the series. I don’t have a favorite faction as of yet, but I’m sure I’ll find something I really like.

Your units can be upgraded a few times, and you can recruit different versions of them. I think this is a great idea! It adds a little customization to the game. This might’ve been a thing in the more recent entries, but it wasn’t in III,  which is where I kind of stopped playing the series.

Everything that I want from a Heroes of Might and Magic game is here, as far as the gameplay is concerned. While I still prefer the third game to this one, I think this is a great first step. I’ll be very interested to see how things evolve until the full release.

Not sure about the graphics

At this point, I’m not too sure about the graphics in this game. It is still early access, and they might look better on a more powerful computer than what I have. They look fine for what they are, but they don’t look as good as the third game, which was released over 25 years ago.

The opening cutscene looks very good. It isn’t amazing, but it does introduce the factions. It does look a little better than some of the indie games that I’ve played.

The world map looks quite good. Everything is a little too smooth for my liking, but it is good for what it is. I found it a little card to see what my mouse icon was changing to, and that is something that I can probably change in the settings.

The city screen is going to take some time to get used to. I just don’t like the way it is laid out. There are some features that I like, and it is easy to tell what each button is by looking at it. There is just something about it that is throwing me off when I first look at it.

When it comes to the combat screen, I have quite a few issues. All of them are probably due to the computer I’m using. It does have a large battlefield, and you can see where you can move your units and where the enemies can move. The units don’t look as detailed as some of the other games in the series. Character sprites are fairly small, which isn’t great.

Overall, the graphics aren’t too bad. I do like some other things in this game from a graphical standpoint. Over time, I’m sure the graphics will grow on me as I continue playing it. Thankfully, they don’t take away from the gameplay.

Wrap up

When I looked at this game, I was hoping to see something that reminded me of some of my favorite games. I got that. It will be fun to see how things change as it moves through early access.

Olden Era felt like a game that was made by people who cared about the series. While I don’t like everything in this game, there is enough here to keep me playing. There is a lot for me to do in this game, which is a great thing.

I’m looking forward to seeing what this game turns into. Maybe there will be more factions or more maps. What I really want from this game isn’t something that I’m going to get. Olden Era is a good update to this series, even if many of the things that I like about the first three games are probably never going to be brought back. There is enough here to make me feel happy.

If you liked this post, please check out my posts about Heroes of Might and Magic or Banner of the Maid.