Before last month, when Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition landed on Switch, PS4, and Steam, not a lot of people were clamoring for a remastered, authoritative version of the 2009 Nintendo DS game. A turn-based puzzle-RPG hybrid set in the Ubisoft-specific continuity of Might & Magic, the game is the very definition of niche. Yet, there's no denying that Dotemu, which developed and published this definitive edition, chose wisely. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes deserves this re-release, and the opportunity to reach a much larger audience.

Set 40 years before Heroes of Might and Magic V, Clash of Heroes begins with a political summit in the western forest realm of Irollan, home to the Elves. Knights from the Holy Griffin Empire and wizards from the Silver Cities arrive in Irollan — via caravan and magical portal, respectively — to discuss important matters that affect the world of Ashan. In attendance are decision-makers from each realm, along with their children. We meet Anwen, the Elven daughter of an esteemed ranger; Nadia, daughter to a respected mage; and Godric, Fiona, and Aidan, the three heirs to the Unicorn Duchy. When demons attack the summit unexpectedly and slaughter their parents, the five children are dispersed across the five realms of Ashan. Alone and vulnerable, they must stay alive, grow in strength, and fight back against a demonic conspiracy that threatens the entire world.

The narrative in Clash of Heroes is surprisingly good. While it suffers at times from melodramatic dialogue and conventional, archetypal characters, it also benefits greatly from its multicultural, international approach. Set across five realms and featuring five different protagonists, the game provides interesting glimpses into each adventurer's tribulations and the cultural framework of each region. Importantly, it also creates a believable sense of a global battle being waged by heroes, villains, collaborators, and allies across all of Ashan. Apart from the fifth and final chapter, which is regrettably rushed, Clash of Heroes takes its time to worldbuild, with strong results.

The scope of the game's conflict doesn't just elevate its storytelling, it also boosts its single-player campaign considerably. Throughout the campaign, which is divided into five discrete chapters, you'll control five heroes, each with their own troops, powers, and strategies. Furthermore, you'll experience five distinct regions, every one with unique NPCs, quests, backdrops, and designs. This diversity keeps the adventure fresh and exciting, and encourages experimentation with many different battlefield units and tactics.

While the bulk of each chapter focuses on tactical scrimmages — more on those later — there's plenty to do outside of combat. You can explore off the beaten path, sign up for side quests and bounties, search for loot, or simply take in the local color. This sense of discovery and role-playing adventure helps make Clash of Heroes much more than a turn-based tactics game. The only downside is that movement is limited strictly to a node-and-line layout, meaning you can only visit predetermined spots on each map. It makes everything feel a bit on-rails.

Despite the opportunities for leisurely exploration across the lands of Ashan, you'll spend the majority of your time in Clash of Heroes fighting — not in real-time hack-and-slash skirmishes or in turn-based battles typical of the genre, but in match-three-esque exchanges that are as much Candy Crush as Chrono Trigger. Don't mistake the proceedings for anything casual or shallow, however. There's enough strategic potential here to satisfy even the most experienced role-playing tactics players.

Each battle follows the same basic rules and structure. The battlefield takes place on a single screen, divided into two parts, top and bottom. The enemy's army, represented by individual fighter units, fills the top of the screen, and the player character's army occupies the bottom. The goal is to deploy fighter formations to strike the back wall, or "enemy zone", of your opponents half of the screen, thus sapping their HP, and simultaneously erecting defensive formations to protect your own back wall.

The basic building blocks of battle are "core units" like archers and soldiers, and the basic moves are "core attacks", formed by three vertically-aligned core units, and "defensive walls", formed by three horizontally-aligned core units. These simple-to-understand rules and pieces grant Clash of Heroes an easy-going accessibility that masks its true tactical potential. As the campaign continues, you'll encounter powerful elite and champion units, which require additional charging time but deal more devastating damage on the battlefield, and new synergistic moves like linked attack formations and fusion attacks. You'll gradually learn how to manipulate and sacrifice your units to grant yourself additional moves, how best to build up your magic meter and deploy your hero-specific spell, and which units to bring into battle to maximize your chances for victory.

In addition to the bread-and-butter battles of Clash of Heroes, you'll encounter Battle Puzzles, offered by friendly NPCs. These feature a specific objective and must be solved in a single turn. Overall, they're a nice break from the game's regular high-stakes fighting, and prove to be quite challenging and rewarding in their own way. Boss battles take a similar approach. Although they feature limitless turns, they present unique enemy logic and victory conditions. Each one is a nice bookend to the chapter, even if the final boss of chapter five represents a major difficulty spike.

Chapter five in general is a letdown. While the previous chapters enjoy plenty of downtime and optional side content, the fifth and final chapter is a long, unbroken sequence of battles that culminates in a climactic boss battle far tougher than anything before it. It's exhausting.

Despite ending on something of a sour note, it's hard to fault the campaign in Clash of Heroes, due its variety and tactical depth, but also because of its value. The five-chapter adventure will take at least 25 hours to beat — 35 if you strive for 100 percent completion. Yet that's just the beginning. After you witness the epilogue and watch the credits roll, you can devote yourself to the title's suite of multiplayer modes, reworked and re-balanced by Dotemu for this definitive version. You can opt to play locally against a friend or bot, or take your skills online in any number of 1v1 or 2v2 match-ups. With over a dozen playable heroes, plus online leaderboards, there are plenty of reasons to keep Clash of Heroes installed long after you move on from the campaign. Note: online lobbies on Switch are mostly empty these days.

What's more, this definitive version of the game comes bundled with the I Am the Boss DLC, which includes four playable villains, plus a brand new multiplayer boss character (Euny the Archdruid) created by Dotemu exclusively for this release.

The extra bosses and retooled multiplayer modes signify the major additions that distinguish this version from Capybara Games' original, but there are also a few smaller quality-of-life improvements and visual tweaks, including some striking new character portraits. The hand-drawn art from the game's 2011 HD release endures here, and looks as gorgeous as ever. The sole visual flaw arrives with the game's "cinematic" still frame interludes, which, relative to the game's sumptuous models and portraits, appear crudely drawn and unconvincing.

A definitive edition of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes isn't what a lot of video game enthusiasts wanted, but it might just be something that expands their game library in a meaningful way. Thanks to its substantial single-player mode, rewarding tactical gameplay, and expanded multiplayer options, it's easy to recommend, for fans of both role-playing titles and tile-based puzzle games. The campaign is restrictive at times, and ends on an unfortunate low note, but the total package is worth your time. If you missed the Nintendo DS original and the 2011 HD version, consider this your third and best chance to try a previously overlooked gem.