I've tried to keep my first Steam review as concise as possible, but it's really hard without omitting important info. I do hope someone will find the following information useful. This review is for HoMM 7 in general, not just Trial by Fire.

Good things in HoMM 7:

1). Campaigns: quite good in their simplicity and the way they are structured as being helpful tales/legends for main character to listen to, definite improvement over HoMM 6 story, but don't remember what Trial by Fire campaign is about, can't vouch for it.
2). Hero models: minotaur, gnoll, genie etc. heroes finally have corresponding models running around, been waiting for this small detail for decades.
3). Flanking mechanic: you do more damage while attacking from the side and even more when you attack from behind, I think it’s a great addition.
4). Town building process: basically good old building progression, but with a town level, similar to HoMM 5. Creatures basically use a bit “relaxed” 7-tier system, since there are 3 core creatures, 3 elite and 1 champion, like in HoMM 6. But it feels like 7-tier system, at least to me, and I really like it. Not only that, it also contains building choices, like HoMM 4, although it doesn’t concern creature dwellings (except growth choices), because only tier 7 “champion” can be chosen (some good old rivalries from HoMM 4 are back, like black dragon / hydra choice 😊). Town areas of control are still there, but you can do neat things, like plunder mines and there are tons of hero abilities associated with those areas – overall, vast improvement over previous game. Thankfully, no more destroying towns and re-building them as your faction, horribly realized idea from HoMM 6.
5). Hero skill wheel: there now not 2, but 6 classes in each faction! Which, of course, can be either bad or good, depending on how it’s balanced. But, if we are talking purely from a perspective of choice and complexity – it’s great. So many different heroes, with different classes and stat priorities, specializations are back, there are also faction-specific skills (like necromancy), an ability to set governor for a town from HoMM 4 is also back + the new skill wheel is very nice, because it’s fully customizable. Also, there is an option to enable some random skill progression, for those who miss it, I don’t really know how it works though.
6). Creature synergy: so many different things to try, but again, it may be a good thing or a bad, depending on how it’s balanced. Nevertheless, my point is that in HoMM 6, despite creatures having more abilities, I never really felt like any of them matter or there is some sort of tactical “creature co-op” going on, expect maybe when playing Sanctuary. Another improvement over previous game, in my opinion. Those synergies make themselves known and I feel like I’m actually building some tactical plan, especially in Sylvan, where I can never ignore who is standing next to Sun Deers lol. Purely subjective, probably, but I can assure that a lot of synergies of different kinds are there, you will feel that presence and plan according to it.

Honorable mentions: back to 7 resources, mage guilds are available again, enjoyable soundtrack

Bad things in HoMM 7:

1). Some AI behavior: been said a lot everywhere, not really much to add. It just does really weird things, like using weak units from garrison when it has hundreds of its own, choosing weird pathing and actions to avoid Fortress hero’s rune like it’s the worst thing ever, bizarre choice of spells in general etc.
2). Town screens: wouldn’t call them bad, just quite uninspiring. I even dislike nonsensical town screens from my favourite HoMM 4, such a random structure placing. I think HoMM 7 is a bit better than HoMM 6, but it needs a lot of improvement if it’s to stay 2D and match HoMM 1-3 in quality or return to wonderful 3D screens from HoMM 5. All in all, I don’t really pay much attention to those anymore, but when I do pay – my opinion is as above.
3). Recycling a lot of music from Clash of Heroes, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and now from HoMM 6: while I enjoy a lot of those themes, I would really like to see more new compositions. If it’s an homage to a previous game, make it like water theme, that sound similar to HoMM 4, don’t just copy-paste or remix music from previous games set in Ashan again and again (or even HoMM 2 and Might & Magic 6).

In conclusion, HoMM 7 basically follows HoMM 3 and HoMM 5 most faithfully, while also managing to pay homage to HoMM 4 and improve upon things existing in HoMM 6. It’s a great game with a lot of potential, but, unfortunately, it was never meant to be realized by the developers, since Ubisoft never gave them a chance to make a 100% properly functioning worthy successor or even a new best game on the series.

A bit of personal HoMM history , that may have shaped my opinion of HoMM 7:
First game: HoMM 3, but played HoMM 1-7, a lot of spin-offs and tried some Might & Magic games.
Consider best games to be: HoMM 3 and 5
Most favourite game: HoMM 4
Least favourite game: HoMM 6

Don't buy it yet. It's so buggy, it's kind of impressive that they dared to release it. So far I've had bugs like:

- getting a "you lost!" screen instead of a victory screen when I cleared the victory condition
- a hero disappearing from the map altogether after a battle
- victory objectives with which I couldn't interact

And so on.

So wait for a few weeks/months before buying.

How do I even write a review for a game that's not even ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ functional, and is such a massive disappointment?

Almost every aspect of this game makes me think of HOMM3 where it was done better. This comparison is tired as ♥♥♥♥, both for those making it and for those making these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ games.

I read in an interview with some schmuck from Limbic that they are slaves to a loyal fanbase that likes HOMM3 too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ much and that it limits their creative approach to the game. Which seems to be complete nonsense because if this game had even half of the polish HOMM3 had, MOST fans would be happy to give it a pass.

The sad fact is that it is a buggy mess with hopeless AI and boring sound design. I couldn't count on two hands the amount of "now what in the..." moments I had during the FIRST MAP of the campaign. I was apparently one of the lucky ones, because none of the bugs were game-breaking. It just takes you out of the experience when things won't work the way they're supposed to.

I am angry and have nothing better to do, so let's go through "About This Game" and see what points are actually valid.

"A STAND-ALONE EXPANSION - ideal for existing Might & Magic Heroes VII players, newcomers and fans of previous entries alike."

HOMM has always been quite the convoluted hellraiser puzzle of a franchise, but never before as much as it is now. This little expansion is a terrible jumping on point.


"A NEW EPIC STORY - Play two original and thrilling campaigns starring the recently crowned emperor Ivan and legendary Dwarven heroes."

The story is about as standard as it gets. Nothing to say about it, really.


"NEW FORTRESS FACTION: DWARVES - Lead the fierce warriors, industrious blacksmiths, and masters of Rune Magic on a path to define their destiny."

Rune magic actually is quite novel for a while, but that's the only noteworthy thing about this faction.


"EXPERIENCE MIGHT & MAGIC HEROES' UNIQUE MIX OF TURN-BASED STRATEGY AND RPG GAMEPLAY - Now featuring improved mechanics and additional maps."

There are no improved mechanics in this game. The skill wheel seems cool at first but it adds very little strategy-wise. If you want to cast spells, get the spell skills. Want to be might based? Get the might stuff. It's pretty straight forward.


"REDISCOVER THE RICHNESS OF THE MIGHT & MAGIC UNIVERSE - filled with new heroes & iconic creatures, new artifacts, abilities and achievements."

I wouldn't be able to tell you about new heroes because the campaign is so heavily streamlined you only ever get 3 heroes to play with for WAY too long. Iconic creatures? Sure. New artifacts? They must mean the new artifact set item system. It's pretty mediocre, and the basic artifacts you find are all the least interesting thing since toenails.


The sad fact of the matter is that every single complaint I have with this game would be remedied if it JUST WORKED. Go over it with a belt sander for a month, please.
This game is nothing we haven't seen before, it's not as good as what was before, and i'm quite frankly getting sick of playing the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing.

I bought h7 complete last sale, when it was 14 euros and I can say it's worth it, if you play single/hotseat. I don't play online multiplayer so, can't speak about it.
As I long time heroes franchise fan let me throw some quick points:

pros: - random map
- 7 resources
- easy to navigate and grasping the new mechanics, thx also to the heropedia
- good battle mechanics
- very nice sync between units and hero abilities, you need to know tho from the start what you want to be your fighting style - magic-shooters, might- offense melee/range, etc
- game balance seems decent, depending on your style you can actually have fun with factions that are played differently
- diversity in battlegrounds and the lenght of the fields is a nice touch
- decent waittime for AI turn

cons: - no sanctuary and inferno, I know there was a vote by the fans and those 2 were excluded, but Inferno shouldn't have even been on a poll and Sanctuary actually was pretty diverse and nice faction to play with complex mechanics
- some random not often occuring crashes, but for now just 1 save got corrupted after trying to reload
- the battle gauge, tears/blood reputation and specializations from h6 are missing, which were nice
- random map no seas. I've created by now about 10-11 random maps with mixed terrain and there wasn't water in any of them. Dunno if it's some crazy luck or just water is missing from the generator.

---------------------------------
Summed up a solid hybrid between h3 and h5 with some nice game and battle mechanics. Would recommend it, if you wanna just chill and play casually the game.

Ubisoft, sell the rights to series pls

Pros: Great Game!
Cons: Ubisoft!

Seriously. I haven't been able to play the game in days because Ubisoft servers won't allow me to log in.
It. Is. a. single. player. game...

Oh it's just sad. Not only has Ubi/Limbic not listened to their amazing and loyal fanbase, they have complelely spit in our coffee. Gameplay mechanics are actually not to bad, but the amount of bugs is just astounding! Limbic is clearly staffed with a bunch of amateurs. For example; buildings in the new faction, fortress, are missing. Although you can still recruit units from them, they are missing from the townscreen art. Sometimes after you win a battle, a group of random mobs join my army...I don' t even know how a game can be so buggy.

My main concern however is the AI. Its completely HORRIBLE. Although it has improved upon its original release its still awful. AI offers no challenge and sticks to the same pattern. They wander aimlessly and its just pathetic to watch. Limbic has developed the WORST AI that I've ever come across. Heroes 1 and 2 is more of a challenge.

Its clear that Ubi/limbic have ignored what we wanted and gone with what they thought was best. The reviews show that they were wrong but sad part is that, I still believe that they think the game is great and all the bad reviews are because we don't knwo what we are talking about..

Oh well its a sad day but I offically believe that the Heroes series if dead. I'll stick to the old school classics and put this game in the books. Hopefully, a new game developer will be able to bring our beloved series up on par with the 21st century gaming.

Thumbs up for the new patch.

Thumbs down for this being $30. Campaign is typical. New custom adventure maps are welcomed but minimal. New faction, maps and campaign should be $15 at most.

Don't be a fool like me; just wait for a sale.

I have over 50 hours of this game logged on this pc. I recently re-installed it and Ubisoft is giving me authentication error messages and I can no longer play. I have tried to contact their support but even after sharing screenshots of my steam library and my saved games folder (that they requested) they still cannot help me play my game. It's in my steam library, that should be all that is required to play my games.

Actually The latest version is improved a lot. The game quality is much better. It's not perfect but still a good game.
Hopefully there will be a Heroes 8 game in the future.