Originally a 2009 DS game that was later ported to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and developed by Capybara Games, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played. Having spent dozens of hours when it was originally released, I was overjoyed to know that Dotemu was going to bring it back in a Definite Edition for current consoles.
The gist of the game and what makes it so good is that on first glance, it looks like a simple match puzzler, but instead of gems, you combine units in order to defeat your opponent at the other end of the board. As with any great puzzle game, there’s a whole lot of depth to Clash of Heroes, and you’re gonna be digging in right away, since there’s little to no fluff to this game.
Through its story campaign, you’ll get the initial tricks to the core gameplay, as well as introductions to each of the six factions at play, which are all incredibly varied in their special powers and the capabilities of their units. As a Might & Magic game, it’s got its share of fantasy races like elves, demons and humans, but Clash of Heroes also throws in some neat twists, like a necromancy-based one, by far my favorite of the bunch.
What you’ll want to do when playing is to combine attacks over the same turn, so they’re chained, which will award you a bonus to your damage that multiplies based on the number of chains you manage to rack up. That’s the best tactic that will make you a force to contend with, but as expected, it’s not a breeze to put together and requires a lot of prep from your part.
Story-wise, there’s a fair bit of content to play through in the game through each of Clash of Heroes’ six chapters, and they don’t exactly have to be played in order since there’s a point in every one of those where another ends up getting unlocked. Then again, it’s worth playing all six to completion because they’ll teach you how to get good at playing, and obviously, there’s some neat lore to get through.
When it was originally out on the older consoles, Clash of Heroes was my personal contender for the most played game in multiplayer thanks to the sheer amount of variety imbued in its gameplay, and it’s exciting to think that almost fifteen years later it’s back and will garner an entirely new audience that probably has never heard of it before.
This Definite Edition bumps up the visuals to HD even further than what was already done back on PlayStation 3. The whole game has this cartoony look to it that vibes well with what Dotemu has released in the past, and in terms of animation, it’s very smooth and doesn’t betray the game’s age in any way. The lack of voiced lines, though, might, but if you don’t mind reading, there isn’t a whole lot of dialog to get through anyway.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes was already a fantastic puzzle game to begin with, and thanks to Dotemu, it’s getting a third go at capturing a whole new group of players, which I’m sure will love it as much as I do. If you’ve never played this before, do yourself a favor and don’t miss the chance of getting into this very pick up and play joy of a game.
