Six factions will be present in Might & Magic Heroes VII: the Stronghold orcs, Haven humans, Necropolis necromancers, Academy wizards, and, in two factions voted on by the fans, the Sylvan light elves and the Dungeon dark elves.

It’s a smart way to make sure that the diverse factions can all appear in the game without having to create an overly complicated story. Each faction will have four scenarios with their own maps. In the scenarios offered in the campaign, I played as the Stronghold (orc) faction, with a story describing how they freed themselves from the enslavement of the wizards of the Academy. YES NOAs he does so, a group of the game’s five other factions go to talk to him, telling stories of their history as methods of convincing him to take the crown for himself. Then there are turn-based battles, where you move those dragons and ogres, casting spells from the back with the hero. At the strategic layer, you move your heroes with their armies around to capture mines, find items, capture enemy castles, and improve your own. Le Breton describes the series as a “mix between chess and Pokemon,” but that may sell Heroes’ appeal short. So hearing that the developers were taking advantage of having six installments of the franchise from which to take the best ideas was probably the best possible introduction to the newest game.

The franchise has become something like The Simpsons of the turn-based fantasy strategy world: absolutely essential in the 1990s, wildly inconsistent in the 2000s, and reliably decent, if uninspiring in the 2010s. This might be an ominous introduction for many series, but it’s oddly reassuring for Heroes, entering its 20th year. We have no breakthrough features,” says Erwan Le Breton, Creative Director for Might & Magic Heroes VII.

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