I've been putting off writing this post for quite some time now. Don't get me wrong, it isn't because I don't love this game. If anything, it is because I don't want it to be over. I know once I write this post, I might be using up my one opportunity to talk about how amazing this game is.
Let's take a step back for a second. I can't tell you the year, but I know I was working at Radio Shack. If I had to guess it was probably early 2000's. We had just gotten a PC kiosk setup in the middle of the store to show off the MSN dial up Internet service we were selling. The cool thing was, when it wasn't playing the advertising video, you could use the machine as a regular PC.
One night, a co-worker brought in the CD-ROM for a game called Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven. I had never played any of the Heroes of Might and Magic games or the previous text based Might and Magic games, so VI was my first introduction to the series.
I was completely enthralled. Besides Final Fantasy on the Nintendo, I can't remember immersing myself in a game or series quite as much as this (maybe Diablo/WoW, but that would come much later). The coworker made me a copy of the CD-ROM for VI and I played it over and over. I would later pickup VII and VIII which this specific post is about.
Part of what I love about Might and Magic VI through VIII is the infinite amount of replay-ability the games have. The characters are so customizable that it is basically like a different game every time you play it.
As you can see, this is the character customization screen at the beginning of the game. One of the biggest deal about VIII was the fact that it added the dragon class to the game. Many people felt this class was way too overpowered and I would probably agree with that. Nerfs weren't really a thing back then though. Other classes included Vampire, Troll, Human, Elf, Minitour, I think that is it.
As old as this game was, the amount of customization for each character was pretty impressive. Some classes of character gave bonuses to skills, so a troll might get 2 might for every 1 point you spent and things like that. The same held true for the weapon and ancillary skills. A couple of my favorite ancillary skills were Alchemy and Disarm Trap.
Alright, so you got the first character of your party created... Now what. As you can see, the graphics aren't going to win any awards by todays standards. They were pretty great back in the day though.
The game actually had some really granular mechanics that set it apart from anything I had played up until this point. There was a day/night mechanic as well as fatigue and the need to use food and sleep to recover. Might and Magic VIII was also the first time you could have a huge five characters in your party. The games before this one were all limited to four max.
For me setting the turn rate to smooth was always a must and "Always Run" was another must. If I remember right, "Show Hits" was this era's "show blood" or "gore" setting.
Like any RPG, interacting with NPC's was a must. In some instances you could hire NPC's to give you special boosts to your fighting or other skills. For example hiring a wandering shopkeeper would give you a boost to you merchant skill.
This is an early game screen shot, but as you progress through the game, the loot gets pretty epic! Especially if you are lucky enough to survive a trip into one of the many dragon caves!
As I mentioned, the granularity in customizing your character was pretty impressive in these games. Here are some screenshots:
I forgot to mention, if you look really closely at the lower left hand corner of the screen you will see a green gem. That gem tells you what the safety level is of the characters. If there is a mob right on top of you it will be red. Close enough that you are in danger, yellow. All clear is obviously green. You can only rest if you have a green gem.
The game is jam packed with vendors and trainers to buy gear and learn how to use it.
And it would not be a proper RPG without quests galore!
If I remember right, VI required you to set your party ahead of time and that was it. In contrast, VII and VIII allowed you to hire and release actual party members at will, not just NPC's. These party members would actually fight along side of you instead of just giving you secondary buffs.
Mild spoiler here, but one of the things I loved about Might and Magic was the way that they weaed a little bit of sci-fi into the later stages of the game. It was really cool the way they setup the story.
With the recent boom in retro gaming it would be really cool to see them remaster some of the Might and Magic games. At least VI through VIII. There was a IX that used a totally different engine (ie better graphics), but I don't think it caught on the way they had hoped and shortly after that 3DO went out of business. I played and finished IX and while I felt it was a good game, it just didn't have the same feel as the previous three.
If I had to pick my top five games of all time, Might and Magic VI through VIII would easily take up three of the top five spots.
That's just how much I loved these games! Did you play the Might and Magic games? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your memories in the comments!
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