As a sub-series of the "Might and Magic" world view, the "Heroes invincible" series has a status in the minds of SLG players as much as the "Might and Magic" body to RPG players. Unfortunately, 3DO went bankrupt, and these two IPs were acquired by Ubisoft, and they were transferred to the hands of multiple studios, and gradually declined after six or seven. So far, the most classic in many people's hearts is the "Heroes Invincible 3" (hereinafter referred to as "Ying 3") of the last century.
In the past two years, a new HD HD version has been released, but I feel that the overall mood is not as good as the old version
Whether H4, H5, H6 is a classic is controversial, but "Ying 3" is an undeniable generation of gods, you can see the shadow of "Ying 3" from many games in later generations, "Age of Miracles", "Believers", "Fallen Witch: Legendary Heroes", "Warlock King", "Endless Legend", are inspired by this work. Even in 2022, there are still fans of the series. In "The Time of heroes", which was released on March 2, you can see the shadow of "Ying 3" and even the entire series.
Rather than paying homage to and borrowing from "Ying 3", it is more straightforward to say that this game has copied "Ying 3". At least 60% of the game's content is completely copied from the predecessors, whether it is the external packaging of art and sound effects, or the core management gameplay of the game, there is no difference from the classics of more than 20 years ago.
However, I don't care about the plagiarism and borrowing of the game, as long as the game has its own characteristics and is fun, then I am willing to pay for it.
You can't say similar, you can only say exactly the same
The overall style of the game's art is pixel style, which is very different from the realistic style of "Heroes Invincible", but this does not prevent the production team from learning, and a large number of explorable areas in the game, both in shape and function, are directly copied from "Ying 3".
The Temple of Magic, a place to learn magic. Well, exactly the same
This relic is even more laughable, directly copying the truck in "Ying 3"
The four materials that appear here can be found in the prototype of "Ying 3": Experience Stone, Campfire, Labyrinth, dwarf treasure house (this dwarf treasure I really can't hold back, such a unique shape, can't it be changed?). ）
In addition to the interactive scenes in the game, all kinds of soldiers are also indispensable to learn from the predecessors, look at the posture, is to use "Ying 3" as a material library, you simply use the "Ying 3" map editor to get it. Of course, the horizon is broadened a little, and the series of works can be used as a reference. (Funny)
After the upgrade of the gunners, I am not called an axe soldier, I must call the halberd soldier today, no one can stop me! (Why not consider Dai Bing?)
The swordsman corresponds to the swordsman and crusader of the castle of "England 3"
Cavalry corresponds to The Knights and Cavalry of England 3
There are also griffins and royal griffins that match the color scheme of "England 3"
Like the expedition areas on the map, these classes not only resembled Ying 3, but even some of the core skills of the classes were the same. The typical representative of this is the evil god king in the hell city of "Ying 3", who is still engaged in the old business in "Hero's Time", which has to make me admire the dedication of the old evil god.
The King of the Abyss above can summon the Cap Demon below
Hey, isn't that a coincidence? They all look exactly the same
Not only in the microscopic shape and mechanism, but also in the "Ying 3" has a reference. The overall operation idea and resource allocation of the game are also consistent with "English 3" in terms of UI and art. Looking at the overall resources of Heroes' Time, they are only one gem less than the gold, wood, mercury, ore, sulfur, crystal, and gemstones in Ying 3, and the rest of the structure is exactly the same.
The picture above is "Time for Heroes", and the picture below is "Heroes Invincible 3"
The time system of Heroes' Time is also set to a weekly recruitment cycle
Of course, there are many more in the game, and here are only the similarities with the three generations, in fact, the image and mechanics of each generation of the game are not less copied. For example, the Paladin of the second generation of "Heroes Invincible", and the same building can choose different classes of soldiers, borrowing the design of the four generations. There are so many inventory here that old players can play on their own.
The overall operation idea of the game is also the same as that of "Ying 3": take the hero as the unit, explore outside, build inside, recruit soldiers, and dominate the world.
This comparison chart, I really want to spray the art of this game: the scene color is dazzling, the overall composition is sluggish and dull, and the recognition of the monster is underneath
Having said all that, I just want to say that this game's reference to Heroes is visible to the naked eye.
So is this game a pixel version of a classic old game? Leaving aside the 60% similar to Heroes 3, that brings us to the remaining 40%.
All that's left is Heroes 4.
As a pure SLG, although it has a complex equipment system and skill tree, the value bonus of "Ying 3" is always implemented in the battle between the legions. Whether it's attack, defense, or magic, the army is the end of the numerical settlement. Because of this, the characters in "England 3" must have an army, and a single character cannot become an independent individual. Whether it is the exploration and decision-making in the weekdays, or the decisive legion battles, they are all based on the turn-based system.
In order to enhance the sense of substitution, in Heroes Invincible 3, the interaction of all items and scenes will have a textual description, with a kraft paper-like cover, full of epic sense
Also to enhance the RPG element, the game also has adventure logs to complete side quests such as finding, returning something, or digging up the ultimate treasure
In contrast, "Time of Heroes" is very different, it is more like a hybrid of SLG + RPG + RTS.
The first is the SLG part of the game, which goes without saying. Daily exploration and construction copied so much of "Ying 3", and the part of SLG was not difficult.
And why is the RPG element of the game another core element of the game? "Role playing game" is naturally the stripping of "role". Yes, the biggest difference between this game and "Ying 3" is that the character and the legion are divided into two elements, and both can exist independently. And this part is very similar to "Heroes 4".
Four generations, both classes and heroes, can act alone, which is unique in the entire Heroes series. In this work, the hero can single out a million male masters in the later stages, and is the real "hero invincible"
In Time of Heroes, heroes and legions can also act separately, but the legions are less autonomous, they are not controlled, they will only use AI to approach the nearest hero, and they cannot undertake reconnaissance activities. But the hero has no limits at all, cannot be killed in battle, and can be reborn indefinitely. And when your legion is all killed, the hero will teleport directly back to the castle. When fighting an enemy, even if you are alone, you can rely on magic to defeat the enemy on the other side. It can be said that the infrastructure of this game's combat is borrowed from Heroes 4.
And the relationship between the hero's growth and numerical value and the legion is not very clear. However, from the design point of view, the attack and defense, morale, and luck of the six basic attributes still play a role in the legion
Curiously, according to the description of defense, I increased my defense a little, but the health attribute of the Knight Legion did not increase
The development of heroes is also completely out of randomness, with their own independent skill tree, each person's profession and strength and weakness have been determined at the beginning.
From this skill in the picture above, it can also be seen that the importance of the legion has weakened. You should know that such a skill is directly equivalent to the ultimate treasure in "Ying 3", and here, it is only a skill that is readily available within 10 minutes.
This feeling is very subtle, and the artifact that was previously thought to be worthless here is the same shape and effect. In my playing process, because the game is too similar to "Ying 3", I naturally played with the same ideas as before: opening the map, establishing a chain of troops, and always paying attention to the pace. Naturally, the focus is on town construction and the number of troops. Of course, then I was blown up by the other side with magic.
The only remaining authentic taste
Although the infrastructure of the hero is very similar to the four generations, it seems that the battle picture is very different from the four generations.
The root cause of this difference is that Time of Heroes changed the battle from turn-based to real-time, and the only remaining RTS elements can be seen as one of the few things that jumped out of the Heroes series. Compared with the four generations, the hero has a higher degree of freedom, and as the hero's signature, magic, has a separate CD in "Hero's Time" and plays a pivotal role in the battlefield.
However, the class strategy of "Time of Heroes" is not strong, you only need to simply line up before the battle starts, and make the basic operation of near the battle top in front and remotely placed in the rear. After you start the battle, the brush of troops will occupy the entire screen, and you can only simply direct the direction of their progress. But even the tutorial tells you that your operation at this time is useless, just watch a hilarity. As for the rest of the battle, leave it to double speed and magic.
Before the battle starts, you can simply adjust the position of the legion, and when the battle starts, the units will scatter and be a mess
As heroes were stripped from the legion and greatly enhanced, the restrictions on the clan in the game were also reduced. In Time of Heroes, you can lead countless groups of legions without any restrictions, and there will be no debuffs such as low morale between them due to different classes. The only limit is the number of legions that can appear on the battlefield on the same screen, depending on your command and, of course, your computer CPU.
You can't throw all of your legions into battle at once
This grouping, not to mention infinity, is also fast
Personal summary
Overall, you can think of Time of Heroes as a stitching monster between In 3 + Ei 4, only slightly different in the combat part. The game's simple brainless magic battles have wiped out the original strategic game, and to win, recruiting soldiers and upgrading heroes is the key, maximizing the numerical value is the key.
As a veteran player of "Ying 3", this game is naturally insufficient in strategy in my eyes, and the details are completely slagged by the old predecessors.
Without mentioning the art and sound effects, take action points. In Time of Heroes, the hero's action points are completely unaffected by the terrain. If you can see that my action points are 26, the hero can move 26 blocks on the map, and the dirt road next to it will be a decoration. In fact, all the landforms in the game, except for mountains and lakes, which cannot be crossed, whether snow, meadows or deserts, do not interfere with your actions in any way. Heroes don't have to look for local mobs to lead the way, nor do they have to find paths to reduce the cost of movement points, which greatly reduces the authenticity of the game and the strategic nature of the game's operation.
As for the tactical aspect of combat, it is even more lackluster. The game almost removes the player's control over the clans in battle, just pay attention to the timing of the magic. The key to victory lies in the cultivation of heroes. This makes it difficult to cross-level challenges in the early stage of the game when the hero and the army are not yet formed, and it is impossible to play the operation of Luna's single eating snake house treasure chest like "Ying 3", and the early development of the game will have an obvious bottleneck period, and the experience is not ideal. And the elimination of the randomness of hero attributes will inevitably lead to some heroes being too strong.
Such detailed operations as delicate as a magic skill are rarely available in Time of Heroes, and of course, the game has only been around for a long time, and many strategies have not yet been developed. But as an RTS, the overall strategic cap has been decided, and it can't be too high
All in all, this game is more lightweight and fast-food than its predecessors. The simple design and operation make it really more suitable for new players to get started. Among Steam's player base, the game achieved a "particularly positive" score. Drawing on the advantages of the third and fourth generations of Heroes Invincible, it has further simplified its operation and created a new battlefield. For that ancient, classic series of gameplay, it brings the vitality of the new generation and lets new players know the gameplay of the "Heroes Invincible" series.
Cut the point and pace it fast
However, in the eyes of a "Ying 3" player, its art design and core gameplay have copied "Ying 3" and "Ying 4", and they have not jumped out of the field pioneered by their predecessors, and their own unique flavor is also a bit dull and tasteless to me. While it was enough to satisfy my novelty for a few hours, after two innings, I wanted to get back to the GWC classic and embark on a new adventure again.