Extreme developer love and innovation on top of a tried and true system create something dangerously addictive.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that the new version had too many new features to list, and that they all seemed to enhance gameplay and immersion in a way I have not experienced in a PC game in many years. The recent trend in gaming seems to be flash over content. In the case of the new KB, the game is gorgeously rendered AND has massive accessible content combined with a high level of replayability.
While the replayability of the game (due to 3 classes and map/artifact randomization) is apparent, the game is so deep that you won't really need it for a while. The game has four contenents like the original with some 20 plus quests on each continent. Almost all quests are involved with multiple steps and very creative writing.
The spell system is amazing with some 100 spells in three categories of magic, and each spell possessing three levels. Graphics are great, the system is easy to use, and it is very well balanced so that you will not just be using the same few spells throughout the game. The spell system is complemented by a totally new Rage magic system where you basicly level up and customize the powers of 4 Rage Spirits to use their spell-like abilities in combat on top of your spell ability. How you develop your Rage Spirits also leaves a lot of room for replayability.
Battle maps are great fun with natural terrain obstacles, random treasure chests (that can have more than just gold in them), and other weird features. These other weird features can be objects that cast harmful effects on anything that gets close, or could be a helpful object that buffs nearby armies. This combined with the rich diversity of creatures in the game makes each combat a lot of fun, even after the 500th battle.
Finally I have to give special accolades for the marriage system. Each of the wives (I have only found 3 so far) is aquired after a long quest. You can only have one though two of the ones I have found transform into two different versions! They are also customizable by wether you choose to use their item slots for artifacts, or fill them with babies! Each baby adds a special ability to your hero. Some are not so good but some are extremely powerful. The "more advanced" wives seem to pump out more powerful children. You can only have one wife, so divorce is an option. Your Ex will take a fifth of your gold and your children with her.
While there is some noticibly difficult translations in the English version, the writing is still brilliant and funny. Stability is almost perfect (1 crash per 40 hours or so), everything runs smooth on an old system, and it is clear the developers did five times the work on this program than is the norm in contemporary Western titles. It is a shame they will never get the credit they deserve in the USA since the authors are from Eastern Europe. You can see this immediately since this game is one of the best strategy/RPG titles in years and two weeks after launch Gamespot has still not done a review of the title. If this was an EA or Bethesda title the staff would be crawling all over each other to do a review.