I'd never gotten into the Might and Magic series back in the day, so other than some name recognition, this game didn't really have much of a draw when it was quietly released last week. Thankfully I looked at some really nice reviews when I saw Best Buy had it for $20 this week, and after purchasing it on Monday night I've dropped 7 hours into the game.
It's a really addictive and enjoyable puzzle strategy RPG, where you enter into battles with random arrangements of units on the bottom screen and need to set up chains of the same colored unit to construct walls for defense from or charge attacks against your enemy on the top screen. Standard units are essentially infinite, but Elite and Champion units can be lost in battles. Each type of unit has a different charge time, which indicates how many turns it will take to unleash the attack.
Outside of battle, you can purchase Elite/Champion units, accept bounties (optional battles), test your wits with puzzle battles (defeat all enemy units in one turn), and do some limited grinding in caves with random encounters.
The story takes you from the Sylvans (elves) to the Havens (humans) and beyond, each with different types of units and skills.
If it all sounds very overwhelming and confusing, it's because it's hard to explain or really wrap your head around until you pick up the game and run through the first few battles or clear the pretty quick tutorials.
I'm near the beginning of the second of five viewpoints, so it's probably a good 20-30 hour game for most people. I highly recommend anyone check it out.
With any luck, Youtube will be more effective than my paragraphs!
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV2ohHRC5jE
Gameplay (intro up to first battle): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6NggJUPQfY