HoMM 3 vs HoMM 5. Can anyone explain the differences?

[TLF]

I have 5 (I don't have 3)and am wondering what it is about the two games that makes many people say that 3 is so much better.

The one thing that I don't like about 5 is that you don't really know what you should do, but if you don't do things the way they should be done there is little chance of winning.

In one mission you have to find the portal to the underworld and then defeat the enemy before another army defeats them.

You basically have to guess which way to go and then just restart if you went the wrong way.
To me, that's not a challenge, it's just bumbling about until you stumble onto the right path.

The maps are beautiful and the warfare seems OK, though I don't know how the warfare in 3 compares.

 

[Yeekim]

Though I really liked 3 back in the day and played it to no end, I honestly think 5 is at least on par, if not better. Imho, it successfully built upon aspects of its predecessor while remaining true to its spirit.

Of course, it only engaged me for a small fraction of hours I spent playing HoMM 3, but I don't think it is the fault of the game. There are new, richer, more interesting franchises available today. And my present self is much more interested in, say, a grand strategy game from Paradox than playing around with monsters in a fictional universe, unlike back when I was 15 or so.

 

[tesb]

HoMM 5 has one major problem: really long times for waiting on the ai

 

[GoodGame]

The usual comment is that HoMM 3 is more 'classic' or just had better balancing and playtesting overall. More combat options or something.

 

[Eat_Up_Martha]

The usual comment is that HoMM 3 is more 'classic' or just had better balancing and playtesting overall. More combat options or something.

That's the answer I would give. I can't speak to any specific reason, but it really just 'clicked' for me. Everything fell into place just right and it made for a really fun game. I'd imagine that there's a certain degree of nostalgia affecting my opinion though.