What are you using to test the save load? On battle.net, it doesn't work. Three of us tried to load and we couldn't. The food level went up making us not be able to get a new hero. Heroes used we're Peasant, Archer, and Footman. Colors used to load are red, blue, and teal. It was full house.
Having a broken save / load system ruins everything the game has, and from what I've seen the rest of the game isn't faulty.
You can easily solve this problem by using the recommended save load systems as they, well work. You already probably know users like it when they can save different heroes so they feel their progress isn't wasted.