Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[Desiderius]

Link to review?

 

[CryptRat]

https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9390

 

[Darth Canoli]

Sceptic
No offense, i recognize your knowledge about cRPG but like most Codex Reviews, it feels like an essay on the Might & Magic Legacy and your summary don't tell much about the main features either.
There's something to be told about concision and a good pros/cons summary.

Lasagna42
Aside from that, that's the little things that make the game tedious as hell, the movement never cease to remind you it's square based.
From M&M III, movement have been lightning fast, here, it marks every fucking tile, i find it infuriating.
Navigating the cities is tedious, it only gets worse each time you get to a new one because their layout associated with loading times and the delay when moving makes it a pain.
Constant backtracking, JRPG-like, every fucking dungeon has an area you unlock later...
M&M VI improved the Lloyd's beacon spell allowing 6/8 spots where to teleport, it'd would have been particularly smart to implement it that way in M&M X due to the clunky movement, navigation, loading and complicated layout all over the place but of course they didn't.

So, they discarded everything that made M&M III, IV, V, Swords, VI, VII & VIII successful (fast combat, fast travel, lightning fast gameplay, UI, inventory) and added JRPG gated areas.
The only change i can get behind, to a certain point is the combat but really, it gets old and it's not that good.

So, it's a Miss, they used the franchise but failed or refused to acknowledge its strength and got the reception they deserved, not a complete failure but not a huge success either, an average reception for an average game with retarded flaws, seriously, the movement/travel issues are too retarded.

If the devs were advocates and performed that badly, they'd be disbarred!

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Swords was pretty cool. While I liked WOX better SOX was cool for being sort of a fan-made thing.

Might and Magic: Swords of Xeen was a modification of the Might and Magic V engine by Catware. It was officially published by New World Computing as a bonus scenario in their compilation releases of Might and Magic III, Might and Magic IV, and Might and Magic V.

The game takes place on a new world that is under attack from The Source, which claims to be the mastermind behind Alamar, the primary villain of Might and Magic V.

Hmmmm... Catware... that sounds familiar.

Catware, Inc.

Games
Shattered Light (1999)
Star General (1996)
Might and Magic Trilogy (1995)

lol... Gamespy still exists

 

[Darth Canoli]

So, i just did a full ironman run of Swords of Xeen.
BPRoCDS.
It was fun.

Spoiler

Until i met my very first monster in the very first city.
There was a gate, danger was written on it but, you know, the pre-gen party starts at level 9 and customized characters start at level 8 so i wasn't afraid.
He OS the party though, fastest ironman ever.

There was a hint on the other portcullis :

Spoiler

Beware of the Dragon

Thanks for nothing dude.

Well, i don't play no ironman, saved right before the gate, i'm going back in!

 

[Darth Canoli]

So, update on Dosbos-X + the early M&M tetralogy.

• Isles of Terra > Perfect sound config without anything to do.
• WoX > Everything is good but the Close combat hits (metallic sound, not to high pinched though)
• Swords of Xeen > Well, the SE are pretty awful here, at least, without editing the ini file to find the right numbers.

 

[Desiderius]

That's a helluva review, Sceptic.

If only we had ethics in game journalism we could look forward to the like for every game. Although even among the classics that one would stand out.

Why no love for M&M IX?

 

[Invictus]

So, update on Dosbos-X + the early M&M tetralogy.

• Isles of Terra > Perfect sound config without anything to do.
• WoX > Everything is good but the Close combat hits (metallic sound, not to high pinched though)
• Swords of Xeen > Well, the SE are pretty awful here, at least, without editing the ini file to find the right numbers.

Did you get the Roland MIDI music for Might and Magic 3?

The first time I played it way back in 1991 I had PC speakers and all in all it was ok... as with most early PC games sound effects and music were limited to beeps and boops while the Mega Drive was delivering superb music scores like in Revenge of Shinobi so I basically felt I wasn’t very interested in PC music and sound effects

Second time was around 1998 with a proper Soundblaster Pro and the difference was quite striking especially for the intro music and the digital speech and it overall made the gameworld feel more alive

Third time was in a laptop with the GOG Dosbox version and I switched the music to Roland MIDI and it was simply superb, the different audio channels gave the music such a rich dimension... games like Darklands, Might and Magic and Ultima 7 gained such depth that I can barely remember the early beeps and boops

 

[Dungeon Lord]

So, i just did a full ironman run of Swords of Xeen.

Full ironman?
What does that mean?
Maybe I should have been playing Chiyolate 'fun' MM6 mod this way, the mod is extremely easy. I am half-way(?) and level 121.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Full ironman?
What does that mean?
Maybe I should have been playing Chiyolate 'fun' MM6 mod this way, the mod is extremely easy. I am half-way(?) and level 121.

It was a joke, i rarely play ironman runs and as my party died right after character creation...

Did you get the Roland MIDI music for Might and Magic 3?

The first time I played it way back in 1991 I had PC speakers and all in all it was ok... as with most early PC games sound effects and music were limited to beeps and boops while the Mega Drive was delivering superb music scores like in Revenge of Shinobi so I basically felt I wasn’t very interested in PC music and sound effects

Second time was around 1998 with a proper Soundblaster Pro and the difference was quite striking especially for the intro music and the digital speech and it overall made the gameworld feel more alive

Third time was in a laptop with the GOG Dosbox version and I switched the music to Roland MIDI and it was simply superb, the different audio channels gave the music such a rich dimension... games like Darklands, Might and Magic and Ultima 7 gained such depth that I can barely remember the early beeps and boops

Nothing beats a run with a retro computer from the 90'S and a physical soundblaster card, that's how i played it the first time, same for Xeen.

Dosbox-X has Rolland midi integrated.
But really, what needs to be fine tuned is the Sound Effects, i've played with both Rolland music and without it and i'm not sure which one i prefer (same for Dark Sun but in this case, i think i prefer the music without it)

Well, after trying Swords, Xeen and Isles of Terra, i choose to go with the latter, cleared Fountainhead already, its surroundings and ready to go below Baywatch now...

 

[Dungeon Lord]

Chiyolate Fun and Balanced MM6 mod

I'd rather call it Very easy Adventuring MM6 mod.

Surprisingly in the beginning I have found some overpowered weapon and armor. +44 spear, +550 endurance leather armor etc, but I never found a better spear after that.
I am level 160 and my master dark magic skill is 50.
I went to the dreaded Darkmoor Castle but it was a cakewalk.
So I recommend this mod for whose he want adventuring with filler combat.

 

[Lasagna42]

These are all great replies - thanks guys! I actually couldn't get the Whatever launcher to work - actually I couldn't find a User name that wasn't taken by someone else AND didn't contain a swear word - so I started another run at Pathfinder: Kingmaker (now turn-based!). I'll give MMXL a go once the shame of re-buying a game I just returned wears off. Next week, then. Kind of excited for it, actually. Maybe I should download it tonight - I finished Pathfinder back when it was released.

 

[Jvegi]

I'm playing M&M7 with a party I made some time ago. I picked it up recently, the party was at the very beginning of the game.

Now they're level 3 and I've notice most of my guys have accuracy of 9-10. My knight has 9 and my rouge has 13, the highest in the party. I figure it's pretty low. Does it merit a restart, or should I push forward? Can I increase my ability scores significantly later on?

 

[CryptRat]

I doubt any stat is worth restarting in those games. The stats will be temporarily or permanently increased enough that the difference between 10 or 20 in the beginning won't matter.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Now they're level 3 and I've notice most of my guys have accuracy of 9-10. My knight has 9 and my thief has 13, the highest in the party. I figure it's pretty low. Does it merit a restart, or should I push forward? Can I increase my ability scores significantly later on?

I always start with 15+ for the fighter types and a decent score for the others too (11+).
Probably not worth doing the short dungeon all over again, there's plenty of barrels to increase different stats in harmondale and some in the troglodytes cave.
Later on it's not an issue anymore.

Still, -2 to hit for a starting knight is pretty lame.

 

[Jvegi]

Is the whole game about going from one hub to another? Are all town mostly populated with guilds and merchants? Is there no verisimilitude?

I guess there are secrets and caves, and even some quests, but the whole guild silliness makes me wish for a text based UI to handle skill and gear acquisition.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Might and Magic... Is there no verisimilitude?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Its as true and real as fantasy roleplaying in the 80s and 90s could be pnp or crpg. Speaking of which, didn't someone say they converted M&M to pnp?

 

[Jvegi]

Might and Magic... Is there no verisimilitude?

Level 6, I think I'm getting the idea. Looking for buildings is still annoying and I imagine it's going to get a lot worse. Thank god for the grayface patch and doublespeed.

I'm regretting not RTFM, because it turns out dodging thief and leather knight are not actually good ideas, because of the grandmastery limitations. I'm not going to restart though. The GM will not become an issue for some time and when it happens and I'm bothered by it I can modify those restrictions by some mod or the other (I think).

 

[jackofshadows]

Guild membership looks like annoying obstacle at first, yes but you will learn purpose of this system later on. As for verisimilitude there's plenty of NPC to talk about stuff even on the streets besides NPC for hire. As for skill experts... it could be annoying while you're learning the game, but the vast majority of expert teachers are located in the first few locations (Harmondale, TF and Erathia) and there're two of them for each skill (with few exceptions). For Masters/GM there're auto-notes or you can make your own.

I can modify those restrictions by some mod or the other (I think).

Nah man don't do it.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Why no love for M&M IX?

Because it's buttfuck ugly, gameplay is clunky, hunting for teachers is obnoxious because they're clones in a Clones Towns that won't sit on their assess like in M&M 1-8. Dungeons and character developement is nice but that's it. And storywise it's garbage, no matter if you played every (Heroes of)M&M and tracked the story or not.
Still - I rather play IX again instead of X.

 

[Kliwer]

I really don't understand where this bad Legacy reception comes from. This is a really great little game. It has a slightly different style than previous M&Ms, but that's okay. Personally, I am rather surprised by the admiration for M&M 6-8. These are just boring, underdeveloped games. M&M VI was a betrayal of the series. M&M Legacy is a noble return to the roots and a modern development of the formula (not perfect, but solid).

 

[Fishy]

I really don't understand where this bad Legacy reception comes from. This is a really great little game. It has a slightly different style than previous M&Ms, but that's okay. Personally, I am rather surprised by the admiration for M&M 6-8. These are just boring, underdeveloped games. M&M VI was a betrayal of the series. M&M Legacy is a noble return to the roots and a modern development of the formula (not perfect, but solid).

6 certainly broke the Terra/Xeen formula, but it retained a lot of its charm, with a vast leveled colourful overworld that you could explore by walking/waterwalking/flying, the 4-team and optional extras, the shitty party that struggles vs a single goblin at first to end up wiping entire cities with a single spell, the themed dungeons, the crippling debuffs... It managed to keep a lot of the spirit while breaking a lot of the mechanics. Personally, while it was unsettling at first, I loved it. Plus there's a lot to be said for spells like meteor shower which have you murder mobs by the dozen on the horizon. That said, never really got into 7 and 8 as I was out-grinded already with 6 and couldn't face another full run form zero to hero and opening every town door to find trainers. But I still have them lying in wait, someday maybe I'll go back and finish them.

Can't comment on X though, I picked it up on the cheap but never got round to playing it. It looks decent from what I've seen.

As for 9, I have seen the wife cry and mention suicide while playing it. I'm not touching that... thing...

 

[lukaszek]

Pope Amole II run somehow forced me to do my own. I hope im done

went through whole game rarely entering turn based. Was just auto attacking with my heavy finger through whole game. I did often try to position myself in a way that wouldnt expose me to too much damage.
1st wall ive hit was when I tried to slay ogre fort in alvar. At that point I started procrastinating until unicorn king spawned(disabled obelisk flag). With vampirism weapon in my possession it was a breeze. Probably hardest part was water plane as I was often out damaged vs my vamprissm heals so had to run around a bit.
After water plane I did hit another hard part when getting through the crystal. 3 ruby dragons did pack quite a punch. If I were to gain further levels it would probably be fine. Couldnt be arsed to drink potions or hoard scrolls. Heroism, bless and levitate were all the spells I was using.
Inside plane I just ran past horrors as my awesome autoattack button wasnt quite effective against them.

Items wise its all relics/artifacts. Cheated a bit to get 2nd vampiric dagger

 

[fantadomat]

You should have gotten a few of the dwarf mine ring. Also in water you could have just flown away and ignored the combat. In that plane you could fly without having the fly spell.