Might & Magic Heroes VII - Preview @ RPGFan

RPGFan published a new preview of Might & Magic Heroes VII. The overall tone of the preview seems postie, and as usual here is small sample for everyone.

If I saw one flaw, it was a lack of streamlining and conveyance for the player. There were several times where I blew past map objectives because I did not realize they were necessary to my quest. Menus could also be a pain to navigate or find relevant information. For instance, when I got my fortress, I noticed that I could assign a hero to act as governor and provide a bonus effect, but I had to exit out to the hero menu to learn what that hero's governor ability did. At one point, I spent at least a minute trying to figure out how to exit another menu. When I was a kid, I would have solved this problem by reading the instruction manual after unboxing the game, but those days are long gone. I don't want hand holding, but players need certain basic information in order to enjoy the more rewarding gameplay aspects.

I am confident that Limbic can fix these problems before the game ships. I am also confident that Heroes VII at least has the potential to make the franchise relevant again outside the diehard fan base. This means welcoming new players with no exposure to the storied franchise, as well as older players like me who have lost touch. Ubisoft and Limbic seem to understand that creating a "Best of Heroes" experience is more than simply Frankensteining popular game mechanics together into a graphical update. Rather, it is about capturing that ineffable, engrossing quality of the old and making it relevant to the new. It is no easy task, but so far, I like what I see.