Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)

The last couple of posts in the Puzzle Quest 2 thread turned towards discussing Clash of Heroes, a new DS puzzle-RPG from Capybara. I think it’s worth a dedicated thread, so here we go.

From the PQ2 thread:

I’m glad to hear it ramps up in difficulty. I didn’t have any trouble with the first boss, either, but I did it by using druids to keep his attacks from launching. I haven’t gotten far into the second chapter, but so far I find it hilarious and kind of awesome that Capy put stealth sequences in this game.

Also from the PQ2 thread:

Hi, Cromulent_Word! Congratulations on shipping Clash of Heroes. Please let everyone at Capy know they turned out a fantastic game.

I don’t know if you can discuss this, but I’m curious about how the Might & Magic property got involved. The general flow of the game is a lot like Heroes of Might & Magic. Did you guys design the game from the start with HoMM in mind? Or did you realize later that it was a good fit? I was expecting the narrative and characters to be drawn from that series, but the influence seems deeper than that, and I think it works quite well.

Heyo! Glad you (and hopefully others) are enjoying the game. We really worked hard to try to make the game special, and I hope it shines through.

As for your question, I’ve discussed it before in interviews (including one w/ IGN), so the question isnt ‘out of bounds’.

To be short and sweet, we pitched Ubi the concept, but it didn’t really have a developed story. Ubi is really committed to the M&M brand, and was keen on bringing it to DS… and coincidentally it fit really well with our concept. So, we knew it was a M&M game before we started actually inputing the 0s and 1s that make the game, but the initial concept was wholly original.

I think it’s really cool that you used an entirely different strategy.

The tail end of the PQ2 thread has extensive comments on the gameplay and such, so check it out starting at about post #29.

Someone asked about the story. I think it’s fairly typical of what you would find in a strategy RPG. I find it better than what PQ had, personally. Not particularly earth-shattering, but interesting enough to move things along and have some context for what you are doing, which is all it needs.

Appreciate the hard work guys. Love the game, but it’s depriving me of sleep :D

I’ve been waiting to try this out since playing it at E3. Didn’t realize it was finally coming out after the delay(s). Thanks for reminding me!

I just experienced my favorite battle of the game so far. I think this really illustrates how creative the development team was and how varied the battles can be, requiring a variety of strategies.

Spoilers ahead!

No, really.

The fight was with Fillion during Godric’s portion of the game. Fillion is a necromancer who summons a zombie horde to attack you. Zombies are the only units he uses. While that might seem like it would be easy, consider the fact that they charge their attack in 2 turns and since they all have the same turn length, there were a lot of attacks getting linked together. I had to make every wall I could come up with to survive the initial zombie onslaught and I was starting to feel like I was in a Romero film. Then it was a matter of holding out until I could get an attack off from a champion unit. That was a blast.

Wow! I didn’t know this was released this week! I’m a huge HoMM fan, so I can’t see myself resisting this purchase for too long.

Yup, thanks for the thread, this is the first I’ve heard of this and it seems right up my alley. And right as I need something for holiday traveling!

Picked this one up for some quality time over the holidays while traveling…

My DS backlog is huge, but I just ordered this because if people don’t, then all we get are SpongeBob games and Imagine: Babysitting.

Whoa, a console game with fully skippable dialogue and optional tutorials! It shouldn’t be worth mentioning, but it is.

I queued this up for order at work. Friend pointed out the good reviews popping up, and I need a new DS game. A shame that ubi apparently hasn’t done any real marketing for this.

It’s a great game. Not without its flaws, but my favorite strategy sleeper on DS since the tragically under-the-radar Battles of Prince of Persia (no really, it’s actually good I promise). Congrats to Capy on a surprisingly fun little puzzler.

Thanks very much!

Glad you noticed. Gotta give our producers @ Ubi some credit, they were totally on board with this.

There’s at least one person out there that agrees…

Heh. I just stumbled across a guy 6 levels higher than me. Not good. This game is unusual in that the side quests (when you first come across them) often are tougher than the next story quest.

We tended to approach side quests as “challenge” opportunities for skilled players. While there are definitely avg. difficulty side quests/bounties, many of them are meant to give a good player a run for their money. There’s a couple doozies later on… :)

Oh yeah, I generally left the sidequests for after doing the main quest in a zone. Feels backwards, but there you go.

Just a thought, but as mentioned in the IGN review, it would have been fantastic if you could see the level of your opponent and his units before engaging in a battle. Perhaps for the sequel crosses fingers hopefully there might be a separate icon to indicate that someone is more than a level or 2 above you.

God damn is this a good game. I love how it has a lite version of the M&M overworld as well.

It’s like they took the puzzle quest puzzle/rpg concept, added an entirely original puzzle core mechanic, then added a shiny thin coat of Magic The Gathering.

Great job guys!

If only it was on my iPhone…

Quick question about the mechanics though:

When I have a “big” unit (in this case the deer/druids), I don’t really understand what makes them “die”. If they get defeated in battle it seems to kill them, but does hitting “b” over them to remove them from the field also permanently destroy them? Is the only way to retain them having them make a successful punch through and hit the enemy or have them on the field when the battle ends? If I can “B” them away, will they show up as reinforcements? Do they ever come back as reinforcements?

Also, without spoiling anything, is there a way to “grind” out more money/resources? As the “big” units must be bought, it would suck to have a limited resource pool that could potentially diminish to the point of sticking you with just your core units…

I hear ya. Although, you can always just retreat (pause menu) with verrrrrry minimal penalties…