Just got some mail from my friend Eric Newman, former artist at 3DO and New World Computing, who's been very enthusiastic (since the 2005 E3) with Ubisoft's revival of the Might and Magic franchise:

"I just wanted to let you know I finished Heroes 5. I like it. I think its everything we wanted to do for Heroes 4 but could not do because we had 3DO telling us we couldn't (we had to stay 2D). I have to say I commend the artists for really capturing the essence of heroes and expanding it way beyond. The characters are extremely detailed and enticing for a heroes game. The map screens look gorgeous. I'd wished we had the opportunity to create something on that level."

His suggestion for more lively towns has been made by many other fans before and will, hopefully, become a reality someday:

"I would have still liked to see people in those town screens, they look like ghost towns. I had always dreamed of a heroes adventure that had an aspect of a dialog system akin to the old school lucasarts titles that would change the fate of the game, but in the end I know the fans mostly want to take their armies into combat. The one thing I felt missing from the combat in heroes 5 was the combat grid that made movement choices very strategic. It almost plays out more like final fantasy now. That revival of King's Bounty looks like it plays more like heroes. The other thing would be the cinematics, its something we prided ourselves on at NWC for a time. They took a little bit of a backroad for heroes 5, but I would like to see them come back again for a future iteration of the game. Send my regards to the community and that I am very happy that they finally received a game worthy of a following."

After three and a half years, Eric left CafeFX to work for a VisualFX/Animation studio called SnowBallVFX in Israel. I wish him the best of luck.