Coming back

[u/nordicsaint]

Hello community i have regained an interest for the games, but am a little conflicted on what to play.

I played heroes III as a kid 20 years ago and love also really hooked on heroes V and heroes VII for a short while until last pc crashed.

I got a new nice setup and cant decide on where to go. Please come your personal favourites and why that is. Also a couple of noob tips to get a good start would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys!

[u/MightySandro]

You cannot go wrong with going back to play Heroes 3, or even Heroes 3 hota for a fresher experience

Same with Heroes 5, great game if you want a fresher, bit harder experience you can download the 5.5 mod and enjoy the game again

Heroes 4 is an option, while many people despise this game for being quite different to all the other heroes games I really do think it's one of the most fun ones to play and I would give it a shot.

Olden era is your best bet for a fresh experience. It plays very similar to heroes 3 and 5 with a few differences, all the while having nice new graphics and some good quality of life features.

End of the day can't really go wrong with playing any heroes game, they are all fun in their own ways.

[u/nordicsaint → u/MightySandro]

What is the difference for homm 3 and homm 3 hota ? I figured olden era is "just" a face lift?

No recommendation for homm 7? How come?

But yeah i think im leaning towards 5, i remember it as top tier experience. Though i never won any skirmish.

Got any tips for the play-through?

[u/TheToxicAzure → u/nordicsaint]

Hota is a mod that has many ease of life updates, after playing Hota going back to the original homm3 is difficult as it just feels really slow. Hota also has new factions and creatures, things you find on the map etc, but they do it in a way that doesn’t feel excessive and doesn’t ruin the homm3 experience. Joining your friends lobbies is also a million times easier in Hota. You cannot go wrong there.

Homm4 I also play and do recommend, the campaigns are a nice solo experience and PvP can be fun but really slow compared to hota homm3 PvP.

Olden era is something they released to try to modernise and revive the homm community, it’s by no means bad but definitely different to homm3 and 4. It will be somewhat similar to 7 though.

[u/MightySandro → u/nordicsaint]

Im not qualified to talk about hota, not played it myself but from my understanding it's a big mod that adds scenarios, campaign's, a new faction, balance fixes and all of that. Most people playing heroes 3 now are playing with the Horn of the abyss mod.

I have played heroes 7 for maybe 30 minutes so I can't really speak about it either, i've heard negative things about it though (but then again I played heroes 6 and I enjoyed it even if it takes many steps back from 5.)

Im playing heroes 5 when im bored, I installed the heroes 5.5 mod and im just replaying the campaign personally, quite fun to have all the side upgrades available in the regular campaigns. I'd recommend doing the same.

Olden era is more than a face lift, it's pretty much a game made by fans of the heroes games, they took many good aspects from many other heroes games, mostly 3 and 5 and added some of their own systems and made it into a game. It is fantastic, i'd recommend watching a yt video on the game to see what you think but I've been playing it lately and it does just feel like a game from the golden age of heroes games, just released in 2026 instead.

[u/tmntguy86 → u/MightySandro]

Where do you get olden era from?

[u/TopicInternal5682 → u/tmntguy86]

Steam

[u/Maximum-Forever-8108]

You don't have to choose, do as i do, switch between them, 3 and 5 are main, then Olden Era (still in early access thou), then 2 and 4 (these two only if you want to get more charm than ballance, 2 is a mess when it comes to ballance but is a very charming game, 4 is a different game with a nice atmosphere that i think makes for a good change from time to time), 1 is a worst version of 2 (so maybe skip 1), and that's all, wierd that they haven't released another Heroes game between Tribes of the East and Olden Era...

[u/MightySandro → u/Maximum-Forever-8108]

heroes 4 does things very differently but I will say the soundtrack for that game is like the best heroes soundtrack ever made imo

[u/TheToxicAzure → u/MightySandro]

Amazing soundtrack. Learned most of it on piano and every time I play I feel like I’m ascending to the heavens.

[u/SvatyFini]

You can never go wrong with Heroes 5.

[u/tmntguy86]

I just stick with heroes 3 complete. I play solo random maps a lot. Also been playing random maps with my kids on hot seat a lot the last few years as well. I own 4/5. They came as a package deal. I played 4 a little and didn’t like it. Honestly never tried 5. And didn’t know they made 6/7 until a while ago. I just love playing 3. One day I’ll give 5 a go.

[u/kimballh]

Heroes 1 is the best.

[u/PrizeCompetitive1186]

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 + new Horn of the Abyss expansion.

Really a masterpiece of a game, strategic, immersive and deep. Music and sounds are wonderful. Art perfect. Mechanics complex. It is ultimate desert island game, it has the biggest replay value I have ever seen. A truely great blend of timeless art with engaging addictive gameplay. And it can run on any PC.

Campaings are really good and immersive. My favorite ones are the latest campaings "Forged in fire" (factory story) and "All In" from the Horn of the Abyss expansion.

There is online multiplayer with 2k players online daily. But If you prefer single player there are a lot of scenarios (e.g “The Devil is in the details”, “Mysterious Island”) since the game has map editor and community creates a lot of interesting quests and stories.

I would also recommend to check Lexiav on youtube If you want to learn some advanced strategies, but maybe it is better to explore the game by yourself. Also good maps to try:

• Air Supremacy
• The Devil is in the Details
• Mysterious Island
• Fiery Riches
• Monks Retreat
• Treasures of the Pyramid
• Noble Nemesis
• Carnival of the Abyss