I've been playing Heroes of Might and Magic since I was 6, and after putting 10 hours into Olden Era's huge Steam demo, the strategy series has never felt better

Five hours into my first solo Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era demo campaign, I remember something. Well, my growling stomach remembers it for me. I do not appreciate the interruption. But I can't bring myself to get up from my PC just yet. I've finally unlocked Ashen Dragons and Black Dragons after weeks of in-game resource grinding, and I must get my favorite hero back to the city ASAP if I want any hope of defeating the computer AI enemy.

So far, I've sacrificed 10 hours and three mealtimes to Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era's huge Steam Next Fest demo. I'm absolutely obsessed with it, just as I was with Heroes 3 back in 2002, and not even the shiny spit and polish of modern graphics can hide the fact that this is a new game with the same old-school spirit that made Heroes so moreish in the first place.

Army of fun

You don't need to play it for 10 hours like I did to believe the hype, but I don't think you'll be able to stop yourself. Co-publisher Hooded Horse is known for its panache when it comes to delivering some of the best strategy games and city builders of late (my Manor Lords early access review is evidence of that), so seeing it share the spotlight with Ubisoft to deliver one of the top-rated demos according to our Steam Next Fest guide makes perfect sense.

The premise is simple, harkening back to the essence of the series before various format tweaks (and a questionable title rebrand) bent later installments out of shape. Control heroes – some magical, some more combat oriented – and traverse the perilous overworld in search of treasure, high-fantasy creatures to battle, and cities to conquer before your AI opponent claims all of yours.

You begin with one hero each, but new ones can be recruited throughout a given playthrough to give you a stronger presence in a controlled land. I never want to leave a castle undefended in case it goes under siege, naturally. Each city needs to be built up to support your heroes, with one structure permitted to be built per day. These buildings offer a range of benefits, from producing specific recruitable creatures to fuel your armies, churning out valuable resources, or creating opportunities for visiting heroes to get stronger.

The creatures your starting cities can produce, as well as your heroes' specialities, are tied to your chosen faction. The Olden Era demo has four playable factions in the demo (there will be six at launch), and I am proud to say that I have sampled two of them so far: Necropolis and Dungeon.

Spoils of war, spoilt for choice

The way I choose my Heroes faction still rests on one thing, and one thing only. How strong is the strongest creature in a given faction's roster? More importantly, are they cool or cuddly enough to make me want to either be one or hug one?

This deciding factor is what always led me to opt for Stronghold in Heroes 3. I considered Behemoths my "babies" back then, and I still find them adorable to this day. Look at those silly claws!

Stronghold isn't one of my available factions in Olden Era unfortunately, so it's just as well that I love vampires and dragons too.

It's all too easy to let the thoughtful, almost cozily slower pace of Olden Era lull me into a focused reverie. The days/weeks/months system is turn based, much like the combat itself, allowing me to plot my path across the overworld methodically, defogging the map as I go. I'm relieved to find that the enemies blocking the entrances to my opponent's domain are incredibly overpowered, so much so that I can simply avoid being invaded by just not fighting them.

Now, I have all the time in the world to simply build my armies and explore – though the occasional glimpse of my opponent's avatar peeking through the fog at the fringes of my map is enough to startle me. Multiplayer mode isn't yet active in the Next Fest demo, but I know my brother would be far less patient with me than the computer.

Much as returning Heroes fans will have much to love about Olden Era, it's also an excellent entry point for new fans. The tutorial is lengthy and patient for the most part, which is something I really appreciate from a demo, and I don't run into a single bug or crash at all. It's so glossy and well iterated that I need to remind myself constantly that it's a demo, not a paid-for Early Access experience. It looks and feels that good.

The subtle improvements throughout Olden Era speak to a developer and co-publisher that know these games inside and out. Unfrozen builds on the core of the Heroes games rather than rewriting the script yet again, deepening the RPG systems (I'm loving secondary and advanced skill-selection when levelling up a hero) and rendering the world in beautiful 3D to make it that much more immersive. Finally, Heroes feels like Heroes again – even if it's taken decades to get here – and if you don't snag the demo during Next Fest, you're definitely missing out.

For more Steam Next Fest picks, check out this "brutal medieval combat sim where I bludgeoned three other peasants with a candlestick".