Interview Might & Magic X Legacy Interview at RPGamer

[Infinitron]

Tags: Julien Pirou; Limbic Entertainment; Might & Magic X: Legacy; Ubisoft

Over at RPGamer, there's a new interview with Ubisoft's Julien Pirou about the upcoming Might & Magic retro revival, Might & Magic X Legacy. Here are the most interesting questions:

Trent Seely (RPGamer): Firstly, thank you for taking the time out to chat with us about Might & Magic X Legacy. For those of our readers who aren't well versed with the Might & Magic series, could you provide a brief rundown and why it is now coming back?​

Julien Pirou (Creative Designer & Writer): Might & Magic was an RPG series that started in the 80s and was one of the franchises to really define the RPG genre. There was Ultima, Wizardry, The Bard's Tale, and Might & Magic — those were the big four. Might & Magic was built around first-person, turn-based combat with a party of adventurers. This evolved a bit over time; Might & Magic VI, VII, and VIII offered the possibility to play real-time as well. The last released game in the Might & Magic RPG series was Might & Magic IX in 2002. It wasn't very successful and was one of the last games published by 3DO, which was the owner of the brand at that time, as it was getting out of business. It was rushed and it was sad that the core series ended on a sad note.​

All this time I was a really huge fan of the Might & Magic games, so I really wanted to give the series another shot. When I joined the team three years ago, the first thing I said was, "Okay, Might & Magic X — when?" Since then I've been pestering pretty much everyone about it, and its finally getting done so I'm quite happy.​

TS: What is the approach you took with this new entry in the long-running series?​

JP: For this game, we had to really think about what kind of game we wanted to make. Of course, we could have gone for a really modern, action FPS RPG akin to The Elder Scrolls or Fallout 3, but we really felt that was not the game Might & Magic fans wanted to play. Ubisoft also doesn't do many RPGs, so we didn't want to go over our heads either. Ultimately, we decided to go back to the core roots of the series (similar to Might & Magic IV and V); it [features] grid-based movement, turn based combat, and a full party of adventurers. At the same time, we wanted to make it accessible in terms of user interface, notifications, and feedback to the player. If you play the older games (which were excellent at the time) with today's eyes, they can seem very confusing. That's just the way RPGs were back then. However, we really felt like this gameplay with today's standards of accessibility would still work. It was not made irrelevant by modern action RPGs, and I feel as though there is still a place for this kind of tactical, turn-based RPG.​

TS: So what is the overarching narrative of Might & Magic X Legacy? Does it pick up directly where Might & Magic IX left off in 2002?​

JP: I can't go into too much detail on the story at the moment, but I can say that there has been a reboot of the Might & Magic universe since Ubisoft acquired the license in 2004. The older games have a science fiction element to them, but the Ubisoft universe is pure high-fantasy. So, it's not a direct sequel to Might & Magic IX — it takes place in the Ubisoft Might & Magic universe, ten years after the events of Might & Magic Heroes VI. It does not require having played Heroes VI, but if you have played Heroes VI and the adventure packs there will be some familiar characters and events. At the same time, since it is Might & Magic X, if you are familiar with the lore and characters of the older 3DO games there might be a few surprises in the game.​

Might & Magic X Legacy's story is set in an area of the world of Ashan known as the Agyn Peninsula. In this land, there is a huge city (Karthal) that belongs to the Holy Empire, which is one of the main political powers of Ashan, but is out of the borders of the Empire and trying to gain its independence. There are many other powers attempting to influence or capture the city. The player, at first, is not really involved in these events, but as you grow in power and become in different factions your actions have a greater effect on the future of this city.​

TS: What are your favourite elements of Might & Magic X?​

JP: There are many things that I'm pleased with, but its mostly smart changes to the formula. We are roughly 70% World of Xeen, in gameplay terms, but have also included elements of Might & Magic VI and later games as well. The skill system is very similar to that of Might & Magic VI — novice, expert, master, and grandmaster tiers where you had to find trainer to get the next level. I really love that. It's a little different [in Might & Magic X Legacy], but the basics are the same. Another game that I really liked, which was released on the PlayStation 2 quite a while ago now, was Wizardry: Tale of the Sacred Land. It added the very neat idea where party actions could be used during combat. A character could cover his comrades and block attacks with his shield. It's something that I thought was very tactical and interesting, so we've implemented [the same concept] in Legacy's battles as well. Now, you don't only have magical abilities — you also have melee actions, like defending your party. I feel like it adds a bit more to the gameplay.​

Hopefully we can expect a Codex interview sometime this month.

 

[Jaesun]

So holy shit.... UPDATED to MASSIVELY FAPPING..... Will this actually be....... INCLINE?

 

[Dorateen]

They are certainly hitting the right notes. I think the area they have to tread carefully on in terms of backlash will be the size and scope of the game. But if they have a restricted budget to develop the game, I guess there's not much that can be done.

I do wish the designer would ease up on the "accessibility" pitch. The old games were not that confusing to the eye, at least for someone who is literate and can take a moment to think things through.

 

[Ogg]

Hopefully we can expect the Codex interview sometime this month.

Julien Pirou's Myspace avatar:

 

[SuicideBunny]

dropping sci-fi from might and magic is in no way incline.

 

[Broseph]

dropping sci-fi from might and magic is in no way incline.

True. But that's Ubisoft's doing.

 

[Grunker]

dropping sci-fi from might and magic is in no way incline.

I don't really care that much about the story in a M&M game. Just gimme me fun TB dungeon crawling, great exploration and cool character customization.

 

[Stabwound]

Ubisoft and that French fuck who created Ashan can be blamed for making Might & Magic a bland fantasy world. I don't think they're going to move beyond that any time soon. I found it surprising to learn recently that they included Xeen/Varn/Enroth maps in Heroes of Might & Magic 6 or some kind of expansion, though.

All in all, I love what I've heard about the game other than the shitty Ashan setting and the possible short game length. I'm not really sure though about the accessibility thing, because I wouldn't really say any of the games have confusing UIs or mechanics, especially MM3 and later.

Well, actually, the icons on the UI can sometimes be confusing. Like the "bash" icon in Xeen, you'd have no clue what that was supposed to be showing.

 

[Zeriel]

They are certainly hitting the right notes. I think the area they have to tread carefully on in terms of backlash will be the size and scope of the game. But if they have a restricted budget to develop the game, I guess there's not much that can be done.

I do wish the designer would ease up on the "accessibility" pitch. The old games were not that confusing to the eye, at least for someone who is literate and can take a moment to think things through.

MM7 has a really good interface actually, the right-click tooltips tell you almost everything you need to know, it's actually more informative than modern RPGs in some respects.

 

[dibens]

Ubisoft and that French fuck who created Ashan can be blamed for making Might & Magic a bland fantasy world

M&M became bland fantasy long before Ubisoft, and people asked for it too, since they petitioned against the inclusion of forge town in MoMM3 expansion (and one of the reasons why Conflux is such a rushed, half-assed town). Can't really blame them- I personally never liked the medieval fantasy and sci-fi mixing together.

 

[Broseph]

I personally never liked the medieval fantasy and sci-fi mixing together.

I did.

 

[Gozma]

Old Gygax modules for D&D had some sci-fi stuff too, and lots and lots of sci-fi-by-way-of-fantasy (like force fields). I always thought that kitchen sink approach was about creating a campy cornball pastiche fantasy that didn't take itself seriously, rather than the later '90s type "So which fantasy kingdom is the Roman analog and which is the Mongol analog?" approach.

 

[Broseph]

That's what made M&M unique in the late 90s when other RPGs were trying to be more serious; NWC was still going for the old 80s fantasy-that-doesn't-try-to-be-more approach.

 

[Gozma]

I meant to add in that post that it's the feel of it being a nerd influence potluck. Same kind of thing shows up in a lot of Roguelikes.

 

[Visbhume]

Old Gygax modules for D&D had some sci-fi stuff too, and lots and lots of sci-fi-by-way-of-fantasy (like force fields). I always thought that kitchen sink approach was about creating a campy cornball pastiche fantasy that didn't take itself seriously, rather than the later '90s type "So which fantasy kingdom is the Roman analog and which is the Mongol analog?" approach.

Gygax was influenced by Jack Vance. Vance's fantasy (the "Dying Earth" stories at least) had a science fictional flavor.

 

[norolim]

They are saying all the right things, almost. Have they been studying Codex, or what?

 

[LeStryfe79]

WiZardry:TotFL party tactics system was a definite incline.

 

[Zeriel]

That's not really decline so much as a level plain that they were already on.

 

[Zeriel]

Clearly someone needs to make a

smiley with a 'Status Quo' sign.

 

[felipepepe]

Wizardry also had that cool fantasy + sci-fi setting that worked very well, shame that the japs removed it... People complain about lack of interesting settings, yet kill all the interesting ones...

 

[Cyberarmy]

I wonder who/what we are going meet from 3DO games.
With each news I read about MMX I get more excited, can they really deliver?
My only gripe is that they really need to drop making "X" with their arms...

 

[Excidium]

My only gripe is that they really need to drop making "X" with their arms...

Yeah, they're larping changeman or what?

But you should be glad enough it isn't Might & MagiX.

 

[Cyberarmy]

But you should be glad enough it isn't Might & MagiX.

Please don't give them ideas :D

 

[ghostdog]

We are roughly 70% World of Xeen, in gameplay terms, but have also included elements of Might & Magic VI and later games as well. The skill system is very similar to that of Might & Magic VI — novice, expert, master, and grandmaster tiers where you had to find trainer to get the next level. I really love that. It's a little different [in Might & Magic X Legacy], but the basics are the same. Another game that I really liked, which was released on the PlayStation 2 quite a while ago now, was Wizardry: Tale of the Sacred Land. It added the very neat idea where party actions could be used during combat. A character could cover his comrades and block attacks with his shield. It's something that I thought was very tactical and interesting, so we've implemented [the same concept] in Legacy's battles as well. Now, you don't only have magical abilities — you also have melee actions, like defending your party. I feel like it adds a bit more to the gameplay.

This... sounds.... great.

 

[Themadcow]

He really is saying the right things, and the fact that he's played Wiz:TotFL and took game development concepts from it is enough to make me feel very optimistic about this game. It's a bit of a shame in many respects that Wizardry: LoLS on the PS3 was a step back visually, tactically and 'story' wise from that game.