Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is a turn-based strategy game that updates the classic Heroes of Might and Magic style. It introduces modern changes, especially for tactical fighting and customizing your faction. The game feels just like the earlier series, especially Heroes 3, with the same focus on building your empire, exploring the map, and upgrading your units.
What’s New?
Olden Era has four playable factions: Human, Undead, Underground (Dark Elves), and Underwater (Eldritch). This is different from HoMM3 because it leaves out the classic Elves and Demon Insects. Unlike older HoMM games, units now have two different ways to upgrade, each with trade-offs instead of just one path. For example, your Marksmen can choose between having no range penalty or getting double attacks, which adds new tactical choices. Also, your Heroes can earn two extra class upgrades if they meet certain skill requirements.
Castles now automatically give you gold and a new resource called “law”. You use law to power a faction skill tree. This skill tree gives you helpful passive boosts that balance your economy and army combat. The magic system is simpler now, reduced from many types to just four main schools: Light, Dark, Primal, and Arcane, plus a neutral school. Spells are grouped by power, and you mostly find neutral spells by exploring, making the magic system clear but still deep.
The combat includes melee, long reach, and ranged attacks. The game is all about unit positioning, using magic, and battlefield tactics, like keeping your ranged units safe while moving your melee troops forward. Simply put, you position your units, attack, use spells, and upgrade your heroes, just like the classic games. Creatures’ special abilities now need a new resource called focus, which they gain during battle by dealing or taking damage, stopping you from spamming abilities.
Great Replayability Even in the Demo
Heroes also use focus for some of their skills, adding a new layer of resource management during fights. Spells now have tiers and a separate leveling system that uses a rare item called “Alchemical Dust”. Leveling a spell makes it stronger and can add new effects, like hitting multiple targets. You can also use Alchemical Dust to upgrade Artifacts you wear, forcing you to choose between improving your current gear or finding better items.
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era offers three different game modes. The first is for combat only, where you simply pick your faction and units and start fighting. The second is the classic mode, where you fight against multiple factions on a random map and get stronger over time. The last mode lets you control only a single hero to battle against other players.
Even though this is just a demo, you can easily get 20 hours of play with great replay value. However, the early maps are too hard, with enemy groups placed too close together. I think the maps need better balancing because everything is too cluttered. The game also lacks soul; having so much going on makes it hard to focus on what you need. Yes, you still capture resource yields, but then you immediately face many enemies.
The Art Style Will Definitely Rise Eyebrows
Almost every point of interest has a guardian, forcing you into two fights before you can progress, which is annoying. Apart from these issues, everything you know about the series is still here. The game has a classic art style that many will like; it clearly has that recognizable look, though not everyone may agree. The UI is also quick and has helpful tooltips, but it also has some glitches, like overlapping menus and problems with the ESC key.
The art style is modern and hand-painted, however it definetly looks like a mobile game or a cartoon, which might not please those wanting a more realistic look. Let’s be honest here, even Might & Magic Heroes V has better graphics and it’s an older game. The cities and environments in Olden Era are richer and more over-the-top than in older games. They feature detailed, glowing buildings and fancy metalwork, and I personally really like how the city overview looks like.
Since the game was delayed until 2026, there is clearly still a lot of work to do. I liked what I saw, but I feel it’s missing one key thing to make it truly great and fun. Overall, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era gives a real nostalgic HoMM feeling. It uses great classic turn-based strategy and adds new, meaningful ideas that make the game deeper without losing the series’ core charm.
