First, if you are a parent who wants to buy a funny fantasy strategy game for a kid or casual player, be warned. This game IS HARD, even with all the fixes, the game has some scenarious that will frustrate you and force you adapt your tactics and overall strategy. You simply cannot win with the same strats through all the game and that is good.
First technical issues, technological progress was not nice to this game, you NEED to atleast limit the fps around 30-60 max, becouse sadly the spawn rates and building speed is tied to it. You can win some mission without it, but eventually, you will hit a wall. For another issues, check other most liked reviews or community, one nice find i tested personally, if your games crashes becouse of memory leak, lowering your graphics actually works, i was able to finish monster final mission becouse of this thing alone.
Now when this game works, it's pretty cool. the gameplay and ideas work really well, you can actually see the economy loop happening in front your very eyes = heroes get money from you and monster = heroes buy potions/items/ pay the guild fees = your tax collectors bring it back = you reinvest and the circle is complete. There is one MUST HAVE building you always need to build = market!!!! It generates money passively and your heroes NEED potions, or they WILL die. I will also give you one money hack. Your guard towers not only protect, but also serve as a dropping point for your tax collectors, always build a guard tower in front of the market and you will have steady and save income. Next good ways of passive income generation is trading post and magic shop (again, the shop just generates income on it's own). It's also a good idea to upragde your castle fast, since it gives your more of everything.
The music is very good, the advisors voice is legendary and the game is pretty funny with it's parody of the fantasy tropes. Mages, oh brother how i hate them, the amount of babysitting you need to provide for the old geezers before they hit the level 5 is just insane lol, but worth it, since their damage pottential is one of the biggest in the game. Honestly, mage towers alone are valid reason for building the guild alone.
You NEED the money, without steady income, you will eventually hit a dead spiral, when your heroes will be dead at the graveyard, you will not be able to ress them and stronger/numerous monsters will appear. Dont be afraid to restart the scenario and try different aproach, sometimes, you wont even need certain guilds or abilities.
One example for all, i think the first serious wall players hit, is the dragon scenario. Dragon is on the North and sometimes comes down. YOU CANNOT fight him, my advice is just never build anything north from castle, let dragon burn a castle little, he will always eventually leave, no problem. Just build everything on the south part of the map. Now, the another issue is wyrms, those magic flying fireball spitting chickens. The south is infected with those, If you try to use rogues or warriors, they will just die. This is time for hunters (range attack and best against beasts) and clerics combo (heals which means they can "tank" and also range attack) to shine. With clever micro and quick destroying of the wyrms nests, you should be able to stabilize and eventually, finish the scenario. Keep in mind, you can later add other heroes just fine, you kinda always need warriors, since they are the best tanks with taunt ability, but you need to babysit them early, which you just cant afford in the early game.
Today, i finished all the campaigns, one chapter of my life is complete, after like 15 years. I am... content.
