| Olden Era Playtest – Share Your Feedback & Impressions! | |
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted August 21, 2025 03:49 AM |
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Edited by Galaad at 10:54, 21 Aug 2025.
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Olden Era Playtest – Share Your Feedback & Impressions!
Hey everyone!
I just grabbed a key from Unfrozen Discord using /key and managed to get access to the Olden Era playtest. 
I’ve only played the first tutorial mission so far -diving in gently- but I figured it’d be great to have a thread where we can share anything related to the playtest.
Feel free to post whatever you like! (As long as it respects the NDA)
I’ll share more detailed thoughts once I’ve played a bit further, but so far my first impression is really positive. 
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gnollking 
Supreme Hero
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posted August 21, 2025 05:22 AM |
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Well, I've been playing a lot after getting the key, and I have to say the game is great. It's amazing. Also, hive will conquer all.
Don't know what else to say, since it's all still under NDA.
Hoping to be able to test the map editor soon.
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Syth1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted August 21, 2025 09:43 AM |
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At least tell us which faction you liked most and which skill(including spells) you like. That's not a part of NDA probably (spells and skills have been revealed anyway).
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted August 21, 2025 10:57 AM |
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I assume there’s no issue discussing anything that’s already publicly known. Correct me if I’m wrong, @Etharil.
And obviously, no screenshots or external videos.
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Ernsmk
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 21, 2025 05:54 PM |
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I have some more detailed impressions written out, but will wait for Etharil's clarification on what we can share out of respect for the NDA.
Bottom line: it feels like a classic Heroes game and it's fun.
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Etharil
Shaper of Lore
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posted August 24, 2025 02:08 AM |
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Galaad said:
I assume there’s no issue discussing anything that’s already publicly known. Correct me if I’m wrong, @Etharil.
And obviously, no screenshots or external videos.
Yeah, discussing all revealed content is fine, just make sure you don't spill the tea!
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Ernsmk
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 26, 2025 05:57 PM |
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Based on publicly released info:
So far my impressions from the playtest have been great. It's poised to be the best entry in the series since H5, at the bare minimum. Can't tell yet if it has the magic of H1-2-3 - but the bones are there to become the definitive modern Heroes game.
Importantly - it brings back the classic Heroes gameplay loop, gameplay isn't sluggish like H5, and is fun to play (unlike H6 and H7). You can tell the devs used H3 as their starting point. Multiplayer in particular feels like HotA.
Factions are distinct and fun. Every creature has interesting abilities. Atmosphere is great - creativity is dripping from every unit, hero, town, and map object. It doesn't exactly "feel" like Enroth, but it definitely doesn't feel like Ashan. It has its own identity.
There are a lot of systems and complexity. Skills feel more streamlined than I expected - it's more like H3 with an added bonus for each skill - and less like H4-5 with their detailed skill trees and skill interactions.
Maps are dense with objects and pickups. Map readability could still be improved a bit.
Battles feel like the modern King's Bounty games. Creature abilities and spells are varied and interesting. Immediately noticed the return of hexes and the strategic depth they give. Battles don't exactly "feel" like H1-3, but this direction works well.
I'm a little concerned how small everything is (seen on marketing screens and vids). The current UI is basic and it's hard to distinguish some of the resources and creatures from how small their icons & portraits are. I would like to see creatures scaled up 25% in battle and 50% in their creature screens - the models are good, but it's hard to appreciate the detail when they're so small (coming from a H1 purist where creatures are big).
I'm still a bit iffy on the art style but it's still a huge improvement from the Ashan games. Improving map readability and visibility of creature models would help here.
I'm not totally sold on the new spell system yet. The Mage Guild presentation with the constellations is a bit convoluted. Iffy on spell research and spell levels. May just take some getting used to, and it could feel better in single player/campaign games. I do like that you can always get access to Town Portal and other logistical spells so every game won't turn into the same race for Earth Magic + Wisdom + Mage Guild lvl 4.
Overall very impressed and excited to see more.
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The_Green_Drag
Supreme Hero
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posted August 26, 2025 08:56 PM |
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I'd say my overall impressions are luke-warm so far. I don't strongly dislike it, but I'm not in love with it either.
My biggest gripe with the gameplay is that it comes off as Homm: PvP edition. Feels like the game was built from the ground up with templates like Jebus cross in mind so that gameplay can be quick and streamer friendly. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the player, but for me it is a negative. The adventure aspect of the game is hardly present, and that is an important part of the homm gameplay loop.
One such example that was revealed recently is how the grail is handled. No more obelisks and puzzle maps, a great mechanic present since H1 that which pushed players to explore the map, replaced by a much quicker process for the sake of "competitive multiplayer". I'll have to wait to give more specific examples, but many more like this come to mind.
Combat is decent. I like the focus abilities and the return to hexagon battlefields. But it also doesn't feel like Homm since it ironically borrows from the Homm-like games. Specifically, the smaller battlefield size along with every unit size being one-hex makes the combat feel more like I'm playing Kings Bounty, Disciples, or Songs of Conquest.
Faction laws are mostly a good addition that further make the factions unique.
I don't care for the magic system or most of the spells really. Was hoping for some classic Homm spells to return. I also think the spell upgrading has zero depth to it.
I don't like the way the new resource is used. Definitely a downgrade and I would much rather just have sulfur back.
The Adventure map looks great and is Olden Era's biggest selling point, I think. Townscreens look great as well. Nice to see individual creature dwellings on the adventure map again.
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Ernsmk
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 26, 2025 10:09 PM |
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Agreed with you there Green Dragon. Would not want this to get dumbed down and streamlined into a PVP/streamer focused game.
I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that the multiplayer "flavor" I got is due to the playtest being on multiplayer template maps like Jebus Cross with all the pickups and dwellings and everything. Not how I like to play Heroes but it matches the format multiplayer Hota players are looking for.
I'm assuming (hoping) the full game will have an equal/greater focus on the singleplayer experience with adventure scenarios and campaigns that are designed like normal Heroes maps.
Another thought: how does everyone like the alternative upgrades? To me they aren't distinct enough to justify having the choice, and it's hard to manage your hero's 7 army slots when there's 3 versions of each creature joining from dwellings, diplomacy, etc. Feels bad to have to turn down a nice stack because it's the wrong upgrade.
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Etharil
Shaper of Lore
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posted August 26, 2025 11:55 PM |
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Hey Green Dragon and Ernsmk - the PvP feeling may stem from the fact that the playtest content, including the templates, is currently more multiplayer-focused (as these systems are built with network stability and multiplayer in mind) and does not feature singleplayer-specific content like scenarios, the campaign or some more singleplayer-specific templates.
Based on that, it is reasonable that you may get the impression that you currently do and I fully understand it. Nonetheless your feedback is much appreciated and I'm glad you, for the most part, enjoy the gameplay loop so far! I'll forward it to the rest of the team for further analysis!
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Abekat
Tavern Dweller
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posted September 03, 2025 09:29 PM |
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First of all, im exited that a new title is soon to be released!
I havnt played 'the playtest', but I've seen a lot of vidoes, so here are some 'constructive criticism':
- Sounds: please make sounds more impactful. Attacks, movement and spells All sounds dull in combat.
- animation (in combat): looks even more dull. Its almost like the creatures are hovering over the battlefield. Maybe improved sounds can make this better, but as I see in the videos, the battles are 'too smooth' and almost lifeless. And magic-shooting creatures shooting those 'smooth cloud things'. Way too soft and not intimidating at all.
- UI: I saw a comment on youtube and now I cant ignore it; "blue boxes all over the place!" Menus, hero screen, creature hiring, overview of resources, building screen etc etc looking boring and blue and again lifeless.
- Creature size: so you decided to go for one-size-creature only. Fair enough. But can you somehow make tier 6 and 7 (and 8) more intimidating? Like someone wrote on youtube; make the dragon stand on two legs and spread their wings (or something). Look at those troglodytes.. Man theyre big! And what, tier 1?! Somethings not right.
I know its not the final game, but please look into this. Take a look at Heroes 5 and compare to 6 & 7. Even the artstyle of H5 was not considered good by many, but it had good gameplay and a lot of 'charm', which 6&7 didnt. I didnt even play H7, and barely H6, because of the missing 'soul', wack UI, too smooth animation and just forgettable sound design. Shooting with the lich in h5 actually felt good. Nice beam and a lovely wierd sound followed by creatures that felt that nasty poison cloud.
I cant wait to play your new game though, but please consider making the game more organic 
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