A hero's gear can be seen on its portrait in a much more zoomed-in view than previously available. The standard fantasy tropes apply: mages can't wear armor, rangers don't get anything other than leather, rogues only use crossbows, etc. Additionally, as your hero levels up, the look of its gear also changes automatically, another change over the original. And perhaps best of all, your heroes will keep their levels between missions, whereas previously you'd start each one over from Level 1.

Some information on buildings: in M2, there will only be one marketplace, replacing the need to build multiples. This will be the linchpin of your kingdom's success, and will offer heroes all manner of upgrades, as well as being the destination of caravans, and generating income for your taxmen to collect. The graveyard won't just spawn undead monsters anymore; now you'll be able to resurrect your heroes from here as well, at a cost directly proportional to their level -- higher-level heroes cost more to get back.

Perhaps the most important alteration from the original is that temples can now only be built on special magical ground, and this ground is defended by strong monsters. And for the first time, regular heroes may be upgraded to temple heroes, rather than just getting that kind of unit from the temples themselves.

Monster behavior has changed too. No longer do monsters walk into town and remain there, attacking people and buildings until they're destroyed. Depending on the monster, they might run away after encountering strong resistance. Similarly, your heroes might not stick around if they're feeling overwhelmed. They might seek a larger group of heroes to attack a marauding monster.

As mentioned before, direct unit control is out of your hands. Instead, you have a number of bounties to coerce your heroes into doing what you want. Where Majesty only used two, there are two new bounties for use in M2, adding up to four in all: Explore, which gets your hero to visit the area; Attack, which your hero will pursue for combat; Defense, which makes your hero stick around to keep monsters from attacking; and Fear, which warns your heroes and populace away from an invading monster. These bounties may also be applied to buildings, but obviously that's not always applicable.

According to the developer, there will be a multiplayer component as well, featuring four players, ranking ladders, and tournament play, but it remains to be seen how this will shake out. Regardless, I could not be more excited for Majesty 2 if you paid me to be. Become a sim king all over again this Summer!