A copy of the game was provided by Dotemu for review. Thank you!
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition is a turn-based strategy game that brings us right back into the classic Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes puzzle experience. Plan your moves and choose wisely in this strategic RPG where you will match your heroes to attack and defend, upgrade your units, and lead your team to victory. The story takes place 40 years before the Heroes of Might & Magic V saga and tells the tale of 5 heroes who are out to grow and save the world from a demonic plot.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes originally came out in 2009 on the DS and while it is a bit old, the gameplay is still refreshingly addicting. The goal is to mix and match units to chain attacks, create defenses, and wipe out the enemy's health. With every battle, you will need to think 2 steps ahead as you set up attacks with limited moves each turn. On top of that, the game is a mix of puzzle and RPG, so you will level up and upgrade your units the more you play. I personally wasn't really into the story as much, but the unique core gameplay loop kept me hooked regardless.
As the title states, this is the definitive edition of the game which includes its DLC, refreshed artwork, quality-of-life improvements, and a fully reworked online mode. The inclusion of all the DLC is really nice, but I don't see a significant improvement across the board over the HD remaster that was released on Steam in 2011. It is a really enjoyable game that I had a blast playing, but I don't see the big changes to justify a definitive edition. Regardless, this is the only way to get the game now and I would still recommend it if you are a fan of puzzle and matching games! And of course, the game can play extremely well on the Steam Deck.
Just by looking at the game, I could tell it would run extremely well on the Steam Deck, and it does. Without any changes, you can expect a stable 60 FPS, but the battery drain is around 12W - 14W. I found this odd considering the game isn't that demanding, so with some tweaking, we can fix this. With a TDP limit of 5 and GPU Clock Speed Frequency of 1200, we can cut the drain to 8W - 10W, giving an extra hour of battery and lower temps with no drop in performance or visuals. Since there are no compromises here, I would consider these changes to be a no-brainer!
The game supports 16:10 resolutions, so there are no black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, and there is full controller and cloud save support. Playing this on the Deck feels right at home.
It has been so nice to dive into Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes again with its unique take on the puzzle/RPG gameplay loop. Each match had me hooked and trying all these different combinations to get the best chained attacks and wipe out the enemy. The definitive edition update does feel a little barebones with not many changes that can be clearly seen, but that doesn't change how enjoyable the game is. No matter what though, this is an easy game to run on the Steam Deck and while it can be played without any SteamOS changes, just the TDP and GPU Clock Speed tweaks can extend battery life by an hour with no performance changes!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a fantastic puzzle RPG that can run wonderfully on the Steam Deck, though the definitive edition doesn't feel justified.
