This is a nice surprise, especially since I grabbed the previous games during the winter sale.

Glad to see them moving beyond that "MMO RTS" concept they tried. Always happy to see MMOs tank.

Stronghold 3 never came here. I had heard it wasn't very good.

EDIT: I guess 2 never came here either. Or it was, I never got it, and it was removed. I remember it being slightly RPG-esque when I played a copy.

Did I spot use of magic in the trailer?

Oh yeah, for sure this will be in my library! I'm glad Firefly Studios took their time to develop it. 6 more weeks, I can't wait already! :P

I could see flamethrowers, rockets, gunpowder - all of which where used in China from at least the five dynasties / ten kindoms era (though not quite as shown here) . but no magic?

Unexpected since some Stronghold titles are still absent from the store. The setting is interesting. Graphically it reminds me of Age of Empires III (detailed and realistic terrain and landscapes vs. stylized units and buildings). At what point? Perhaps it's sufficiently advanced technology?

hah

Hmmm alright, I will accept that. Thank you! Sure I like magic but think there is no need to put it into each and every game so was a bit worried.

Nice. Still hoping for Stonghold 2 and Legends though. =/

I will keep it on the wishlist, i'm interested but need to be reassured it's good and that there's no nasty surprises coming from the launch, anyway i hope all goes well when it does come here.

glad to see this is coming here, will pick this up for sure!

Stronghold Kingdoms was mainly a cash-grab for them while they were in a dire financial situation in 2010, not a main focus.

You're indeed not missing all too much with Stronghold 3, and Stronghold 2 and Legends indeed weren't on GOG but did get "Steam Editions" (Steamworks multiplayer and Workshop support just for maps).

No magic in this game, no worries. If you want to try it out, there is a free demo on steam until 9. of February. This demo was made last summer so there are quite a few improvements in the final product.

As far as the gameplay goes, this game is the most similar one to Stronghold Crusader as they moved back to 2d grid even though it is 3d graphic. Wall creation, building placement and troop movement feel so fluid and natural this time around without buggy pathing like in SHC2. Fear factor is back, religion was reworked for the better (now temples grant popularity based on amount of buildings in their vicinity, so you have to sprinkle temples all through your empire), and there are tons of quality of life improvements over older titles such as attack-move (ctrl-right click), changing food rations separately for each food type, far better AI and so on.

From what I've played of demo, it seems like this could just be the best Stronghold in the series. I hope I'm not wrong!

Wow!
It's great!