Ok, so before we start, I know that fun is a subjective thing, I know that what you might consider to be "fun" (a.k.a. washing car windows) might not be the same as "fun" for me (a.k.a. assembling Bionicles being 26 y.o.).
But here's the thing - with the below we are just getting closer to something that I would consider "fun for everyone".
And as I sit here in my trousers and my Pokemon t-shirt, let's have a look at Heroes of Might and Magic II, while comparing it to (oh my god we are indeed almost there!) HOMM III. With this post continuing the HOMM post series, you can find the previous one here.
As always it would be amazing to see what you people think about all of this and if you have anything you would like to mention or note, whatever that is, be sure to let all of us know! Don't just hide there in the shadows :)
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars
Now we are in 1996 and this is the second (arguably third) entry in the series which is the first HOMM title to be published by 3DO. The series took a much more serious turn story and design-wise, which you can already see by comparing the new intro screen with the colorful and jolly HOMM1 screen.
The campaign is also much more engaging, with the first HOMM game having just an outlined objective for you, HOMM II features cutscenes and an actual campaign to play through following a story of two brothers fighting to take their deceased father's throne.
The gameplay and it's design is quite similar to the previous title, having of course its own additions and improvements that will be further refined in the next title.
Taking a look at map navigation (and comparing it to HOMM III) we can see that it is still also quite similar to the first game, yet the map itself is much more detailed with more objects you can collect and locations you can visit.
Combat also happens in the same manner already adopted by the series, however the battlefields are now bigger and are able to fit more units. The units themselves are now upgradable (is this even a word?) which increases the investment potential of each city you own. Leveling your hero has also changed and is now very similar to what you will see in HOMM III with you being able to pick and increase the level of expertise of your skills upon leveling up.
HOMM II introduces two new factions - Wizards (prototype of the HOMM III "Town") and Necromancers (prototype of the HOMM III "Necropolis") with the older ones ( Barbarian, Knight, Sorceress and Warlock) being carried over with minimal changes.
This is in short how the game looks like compared to its sequel (and to the prequel in the earlier post), I guess it might even be worth to go into more detail, but it's such a monumental game series that you can't just cover it in a single post and that's not even my goal here. The goal I have is to encourage people to get into the series it they haven't yet and to pick it up again if they are already familiar with it. And most of all to have a good discussion about the above in the comment section, so if you have a moment, be sure to let us all know what you think.
I myself am now super excited as we are creeping up closer to the title that made me start this post series, as you may have guessed it's HOMM III, so stay tuned for the next post this week, and don't forget to watch the full 11+ hour gameplay of course!