I love this thread too
1. I have done several dumb things in my first play-through. Let's see:
- the first ever stupid thing I did was during the shelter fights, when I had everything perfectly laid out, with the Demon tanking the werewolves. Then I see that I can plainly finish the fight no-loss if I throw a Scoffers fireball at them, just slightly damaging my already severely damaged demon. So I say, whatever, just do it. BAM! Crit, everyone dies, including the demon. Battle won. I wanted to eat my shorts afterwards.
- I went through like 30% of the game completely oblivious to the painter in Monteville. So I was like "what the hell is that and where the hell he is", until one of the later quests said I should go to Monteville and talk to the painter. It was a huge facepalm.
- this I've done since KBTL... I love destroying a perfectly laid-out plan with a single misclick or a stupid decision.
2. What I don't like:
- the AI isn't exactly stellar. It sure compensates with numbers on impossible, but you can fool entire stacks into doing exactly hat you want.
- the AI of summoned units is completely danger-unaware. Your summoned units immediately adopt the "walk on traps" hobby. This actually makes traps more of a hindrance after a while, than a boon. After a certain pooint of the game, I was just begging the enemies not to suicide on my traps, cause I didn't need any more.
- like everyone, I dislike how the three different characters are not thought out as equals. While I can understand the reason behind it - different playstyles (orcs are all-out berserkers with huge numbers thanks to lower leadership/hp ratios, demons are tough as they were since KBTL, and the Undead excel at hindering the enemy), it makes for an uneven start for all. It wouldn't have hurt to test a bit and come up with decent starting lineups. I can't say I like the idea of fishing for phoenix or something similar before I can even allow myself to start a game.
- I think that some skills need a huge overhaul to either balance them a tad or make them more enticing. Halving is the first thing that comes to mind. I think the percentages should be something like 3-6-10, rather than going on 15, as it can be exploited. If you're lucky, even on Impossible you can halve a stack that beats your attacking stack's leadership 3 to 1.
- I dislike the shelter fights bottleneck. It is unfair to Bagyr and Daert big time. They could have avoided that when designing the game. I thought at first that it was the devs' idea of discouraging us from doing no-loss playthroughs.
- I think the final battle is a bit underwhelming. While I really like the animations and the arena, if the spirit could have more HP and the stacks he summons could grow in leadership as the fight progresses, it would have been much better and more intense.
A quick note of what I like:
- the pen and paper approach to quests. As soon as I realized that the quests in KBDS are nothing like KBAP, and started taking notes, the game became much easier to me. That still didn't save me from lots of running around though.
- I like the diversity of the enemies.
- I like how the world is completely open to you, as it was in KBAP. You can still steal maps, run around, visit some higher level areas and then return and start playing for real. Nice.
- I like how they added teleportation and made us revisit the previously completed islands. In KBAP there was little or no reason to go back to an island to finish something.
- I like how some enemy heroes go absolutely berserk and start throwing armageddons when you start getting the upper hand. Makes it very challenging to do no-loss.
- I like the added variety of female troops. I really itch for another girl power-style play-through.
- I both like and dislike the fact that you can't easily cure/dispel conditions (burning, freezing, etc.). I like it, cause it makes the battle more challenging, but I dislike it cause the only way to react to it seems to be Turn Back Time, which makes the Dispel spell a worthless waste of crystals.
3. My name is Dobri Dobrev, I am originally from Varna, Bulgaria, now living in Essen, Germany. I am 33, working in the nightshift at a hotel. I have gold and bronze medals in chess (won quite some time ago), play football now and then, but usually busy myself with a good game or two before the next shift at work. I really like HOMM3 and their clones - hence my love for this franchise. Other games I really enjoy are XCOM, Skyrim, Civ5, Orcs Must Die 1&2, and just like Matt, the Majesty series.
4. Observations: I saw tons of Easter Eggs in this game. It was fun just poking your nose in Tristem and then having Blackie port you there at a safe location where you could go on a thieving spree. I enjoyed how KBDS doesn't take itself seriously at some points (for example, the Elvish poems, I loled at those bel-mel-liel etc. lines).
I really wonder where will they go from here. I would love to see a more open world + same type of in-depth quests in a new setting. I really think 1C is getting back on the right track with the franchise, they just need to open their horizons a tad more.