Might & Magic series

This is a series which hasn't gotten its fair share of acknowledgement, imho, when compared to other series such as Ultima, Wizardry, or the Final Fantasy games.

In case you're interested, there is an effort to create a fan-made game based on the M&M games at: http://www.mmtribute.castlegobs.nl/ The engine actually looks quite good - if that's what the team is capable of, then it looks like all that's left to do is fill the world with content.

I fully plan to install M&M6 this month and get it up & running on WinXP. We talk nowadays about 50-hour rpgs, or how the new Grandia is "only" about 30 hours long. M&M 6 easily owns at least 500 hours of my life, from 1998-1999. I completed every single quest, found every single secret, except one about an axe that was bugged and I never could get to work.

Good gravy! Speaking of which, just ran across this guide to MM6: http://www.the-spoiler.com/RPG/New.W...c.6.1/mm6.html Darn impressive! That map really brings back memories - I had forgotten about all the old locales... and got me thinking:

Bootleg Bay > Booty Bay
Ironfist > Ironforge
Lloyd's Beacon > mage teleport

Links:
Mobile Gaming Platform Port: http://www.midlet-review.com/index?c...d=302&rel=j2me
Link to "certificate" you get for beating MM6 (spoiler warning!!) http://www.stud.uni-muenchen.de/~mar...ny/mm6_win.JPG

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Actually I interested in this game since it has smell of mediaval theme. but I face harsh reality as I play it: this game is intended for hardcore gamer only. It's too difficult for me (the same when I played that mega hard wizardry series). I dont know how to begin, where to go, and I always die after a couple of battle.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Woa, so glad to see this topic! 3DO made its way itno my heart as my favorite PC game company of all time. (Too bad it's defunct now :-(.) Though I've never played the earlier M&Ms, VI, VII, and VIII are wonderful. I recently snagged the made-for-XP platinum collection or whatever on ebay and they run fine. I've played each at least several times since back when I originally got them in the Millennium Set, and they always seem new and refreshing when I return to them after a long break. I actually remember using that guide you linked to. The world looks so neat with the maps together like that

I've been eagerly awaiting the Tribute game, I hope they can pull through with it. I don't think I've ever heard of a fan-made game that actually reached completion. But I don't dare underestimate the will of cultic followers of this series ;p

And yeah, at the very very beginning it can be frustrating to stay alive, and you may have to make several regrouping trips to clear out the first dungeon (which sort of adds to the charm for me). But once you get truckin' so to speak, with enough money, skills and spells, the games become really fun. And the games are so rich and detailed, charming, fleshed out and a good length. Just really good

However none has quite consumed as many hrs of my life as HoMM III, best turn-based strategy game ever

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

<-- Major fan of M&M 3-5.
I got MM3 from my cousin and my PC was hardly fast enough to play it, yet, I've spend countless hours in the game. It was just such a HUGE gameworld. So many spells, so many enemies, so many quests. I enjoyed that alot.

M&M4 felt like a completly new game as I got it, and it needed SOOO much HD space. But it was worth it.
The whole atmosphere of Clouds of Xeen was breath taking. You got punched right into a magical world, through an incredible intro, and had to find your way around. Also, if you played 3, you wondered how the technology at the end would fit in. There was a revelation at the end of MM3 that told you how the Isles of Terra were created by some spacefaring race, and its protector went insane (endboss).

I was very happy about how Clouds added a bitter amount of technology and how it well it mixed with the general fantasy theme of the game.
Later then we got Darkside of Xeen, where the creators once more proved they had an outstanding way to use colors to make this world feel different from most others RPG. It wasn't plain. It was very bright, with lots of orange, violet and other strong colors.

I never got into the later games. I think I felt the new designs and engine didn't work with the former games and how they were presented.
I'd pay a lot to play a game in vain of MM3-5 again

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

When you're playing M&M 6 for the first time, for example, you will want to use turn-based mode. I think it's the "enter" key that toggles this on/off - it should list which key in the instruction booklet, or a guide on the Internet would list it as well. I always played them in turn-based mode. It was fun to reach level 60+ because you could go to the "newbie" areas and spam Armageddon or such spells in real-time mode, and the ensuing carnage was truly awe-inspiring.

I know what you mean about the feel of the earlier games vs. 6. I played 2 on an Apple IIgs. Unfortunately, Apples fell out of vogue and I could never find the other ones. I have the M&M6 collector's set, so I have 1-6 on CD for IBM PC's/Windows. MM2 had rich, vibrant colors and varied settings graphically (for the time). MM6-8 definitely have a more "realistic" vibe to them as far as the setting goes. The enemies are fairly well varied, however.

One of the things about this series is that there is a lot of humor. In this regard, I can compare it to something like the Shadow Hearts series on console. The character portraits and voice acting in 6 are pretty amusing. There are always a ton of easter eggs to find, such as the NWC dungeons in 6-8. There is just so much to this series, there's no way to mention everything in one post. A good example of one thing, though, is the vacation isle in MM2. Basically, your characters age as you play the game, and if you don't find a way to make them younger, they literally die of old age. One way to make them younger is to go to a resort spa on a remote island that will "rejuvinate" them. You buy a ticket, travel on the boat to the island, it's a separate area and everything. Pretty zany: you fight a horde of orcs and then relax at a spa?

I have heard a couple people say that III is their favorite; I'll have to give it a go sometime. Although, I'm not sure I'm hardcore enough anymore to play a game like that without a FAQ.

Well, that's that. I will now have to dig out my MM6 collector's disc and install the game.

Edit: Installed the game, and played until I was too tired to play anymore. Amazingly, even though the game is completely dated, it still retains about 90% of its original charm. I might just chronical my journey in my choco-journal...

I was speaking idiomatically.

The venerable Might & Magic series. I'm inclined to say it's in the same league as Ultima and Wizardry but with its own unqiue blend of science-fiction, fantasy and humour. The first MM I played was MM2. That was one phenomenal game. Granted it was extremely challenging, and I could never complete that silly puzzle at the end (urgh), it had a very rich story and tons and tons and tons of things to do. I don't think I've ever played a game with the kind of depth and scope as MM2. You could buy your own castle. You could visit the elemental planes. You had to go off and rescue princesses in distress. And, of course, you had to save the world. Although some gamers have never liked the sci-fi elements in any of the MM games, I thought they were very well done in MM2 and subsequent MMs I had the chance to play. And you can't forget humorous elements like fighting a mega dragon that looked like a T-Rex. And did I mention that the plot was very good?

I skipped MM3 and went straight into MM4 and MM5. MM4 and 5 were very good looking 2D games for their time. Both had a very distinctive and rich look, full of bright and pleasing colours. What was more memorable were the humourous looking monster designs. And the character portraits. I always liked how the monsters and characters looked silly when they got attacked. Despite that, MM4 and MM5 had very intriguing, intertwined storylines. While not as grandiose as MM2's it was very compelling and serious. The ending cut-scene for MM5 was nothing short of spectacular.

The last MM I played was MM7. While not quite as good an experience as the previous MMs I played, it was still pretty polished. My main gripe was how the game looked a bit more gloomy than the previous MMs. The trademark goofball character portaits were nice, as with the zany character voices ("Pick Me~~~!!!"). Some of the monsters and native denizens also looked quite funny. While there were gameplay improvements over the older MMs, MM7 didn't quite have the kind of scope I had come to expect. But it was still a very good adventure and added a nice twist to the MM series around mid-game or so. The plot also helped to tie up all the previous MM games very, very nicely.

Unfortunately, I've heard nothing but bad things about the MM games from MM9 and beyond. I had the chance to try out MM9 and kind of felt the series took a serious nose-dive from there. I have some misgivings about the direction of the newly announced Dark Messiah of Might & Magic action game but maybe it's what MM needs to revitalize itself and reclaim its former glory.

EDIT: Actually, the MM series has more RPGs to its credit, and the majority of the discussion thus far has been on the RPGs and not the turn-based strategy nor action spin-offs, so I'm a bit surprised the topic was shifted to PC gaming... Has MM really fallen from grace as an RPG series? *sigh*

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

You're probably right in that the games were overshadowed by bigger names like Ultima, but I don't think it was ever too far behind. I love the series, and I've probably played each game at least four times. In fact, I just installed MM6-8 recently and went on a marathon. Great, great stuff. Still, in the end, I got mostly hooked on Arcomage in my later runs.

I planned on going through and beating the earlier ones again, but I'm not sure if I can handle how old school they are now (yeah, I've softened). I can play MM3 on with no problem, probably. Actually can't find a "copy" of MM3 anywhere that isn't in French, which saddens me.

Mm, did anyone ever end up beating the Mega Dragon in MM2? I heard it was possible.

FELIPE NO

Yes, it is possible to vanquish the Mega Dragon. And I don't remember it being too difficult to defeat. In fact, the Mega Dragon wasn't even the biggest challenge of the game, although the game made it appear to be godlike and everything. :P If your level was too high, the difficulty of the monsters you randomly encountered in battle could easily exceed the power of the Mega Dragon. There was once I encountered something like 10 Time Lords with a horde of rather irritating monsters behind. Considering how even one Time Lord is hard enough to dispose of, 10 is overkill. Same goes for Ancient Dragons, which I think may even pop up in the final dungeon if you're unlucky.

I love Acromage, too! It was almost like a streamlined Magic: The Gathering. Definitely more fun than those card games from say the FF series.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I actually don't remember much about Might and Magic 2 now, but I remember the Cuisinart enemies, which did incredible damage but gave a couple million experience when you killed them. I found some area where they're encoutered and used that to train a lot. There's probably a better area to actually train in that doesn't involved getting hacked to pieces, but hey, I was a kid.

And I hear the MegaDragon has something ludicrous like 64000 HP. He probably could be killed, but I doubt it's worthwhile.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I can't remember if beating the Mega Dragon yielded significantly big rewards. Personal satisfaction probably was the main thing going for it. But considering that it was one dragon versus eight heroes, it wasn't that bad. It just took a long time to beat. Then again, I might have beefed up my characters' hp with the Dragon Cave sidequest and/or upped their stats with prizes from the annual carnival, so...

I usually ended up going to the Monster Ranch to train. The monsters are easier to kill and you still get a lot of experience after oblitering hundreds upon hundreds of monsters with the Star Burst spell (that damages ALL monsters). It still amazes me to this day to have a party face off with something like 600+ monsters at one go. Fortunately, there was limit to the number of monsters that could actively engage your party at any time, with the rest queuing up behind awaiting my party's righteous wrath.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I can't believe somebody mentions this game. I too must have spent over 200 hours on M&M 6. I just remember the game was long!!!

There is one thing I remember. There is a secret spot in the beginning town you can only reach with flying. This spot teleports you directly to into a large shrine surrounded by the desert, and 100 or 200 dragons of all sorts flying in circle guarding this shrine. I think you gained a big permanent bonus to all your stats in this shrine, that's why the dragons guarded it.

What I did to make the game much easier was to master flying so I could float in the shrine for days (in units of this game). If you are on the ground, the dragons make short process with you immediately. But when you float, there was a certain point where, they won't attack you, but you can still see and attack them. That's what I did. But I had really cheap bows at that time and the dragons were flying in the circle, so I just pressed shoot all the time, waitings days for one to die. But you know that the reward for dragons is huge, probably the biggest.

I also applied a trick to gain 2 or 3 items out of one dead dragon. Sometimes if you press on the dead dragon, you get an item, but the corpse still does not disappear, so you can click once more to get another item. Of course I had to learn "Teleport Item Pick Up" or whatever it was called, to pick up the items in a safe way. I got tons of Bows of the Dragon, and the crazy swords, tridents and armors those dragons drop. This made my game a bit boring after that, because I was just 10 or 20% into the game before I did that. It wasn't until later, that I discover this desert on the actual map, because even with those equipments the dragons are still mega-strong. Even near the end of the game, the gold dragon owns me hard when I risk a melee combat. Just let Starburst maxlevel take care of them, before they know who has attack them.

Good game it was.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeah, there's a scroll of Flight somewhere in the first town, so you can reach that teleport. Then you basically run like crazy to the shrine for +20 to all stats (something like that) and possibly to the NWC center. I never actually went there, so I don't know what's inside.

The corpse looting thing was never fixed throughout 6-8, either, and it's pretty sweet if you can kill the dragon in MM7 on the first island. Hooray, early artifacts.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Hoho, looting dead dragon corpses again and again was how I got tons of insanely powerful artefacts (and gold) in MM7. It made subsequent dragon slaying much more manageable. But I only discovered the bug later with a dragon in some cave that had a lake. I remember running around the lake and shooting the dragon with cheap bow and spell tricks. :P Good times.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I beat the Mega-Dragon in MM2. It was really the only game worth playing on our Apple IIgs, so I did every single thing I could. I played it for about 2 years I guess. The only thing I didn't accomplish was defeating those 600 devil kings in the optional fight right before the puzzle at the end. I don't see how, even with endless levelling up, you could ever defeat them! :ninja:

I love how you have to go to the "Resort Isle" in MM2 to rejuvenate your characters so they don't die of old age. In addition to elemental planes and sc-fi elements, don't forget to add time travel to the features of MM2.

------

I'm almost done with my play-through of MM6. I used a trainer program for portions of it to give my characters uber-strength, but just for the ridiculously long portions that are ridiculously frustrating, like the castle with all the eyes (Darkmoor I think?) I finally went into the pyramid in the desert. Still one of the most impressive things in an RPG that I've ever seen, I think. To have an indoor environment on that massive of a scale is truly an impressive sight.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The dungeons for most of the Crystal quests in MM6 were really annoying (as was Gharik's forge. Augh). Mostly involved me pussing out and making Lloyd's Beacons every couple steps. The one with the eyes is pretty damn bad because they kill your buffs.

Most amazing jew boots

You can't defeat megadragon using only photon blades, 64000 is far too many hit points. The only way to defeat it is to use mass distortion. Every time successfull the spell will halve its hitpoints when it is at 1000 use photon blades to finish it off. If you use a party full of spell casters, with a few divine intervention items, its fairly easy.

The 600 devil kings can also be killed but it is taking advantage of a bug in the game, casting dancing sword you can kill them 10 at a time, but if they save and do not receive enough damage to kill them, it just hurts those on screen and the +500 disappear. This works for all large groups of monsters.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

That sounds like a pretty crazy bug. I had the Mac version as a kid, and sometimes if you were rolling a character and decided to switch stats (like, exchanging strength and personality), you'd get 255 eventually. It might've been a trick my brothers put on me, but my 255 strength knight didn't complain.

I don't remember, what kind of offense did the Mega Dragon have? Because even using mass distortion, that would take 6 turns. I'm guessing that he just eradicates you from what you guys have been saying.

I replayed MM3 recently. I got an Obsidian weapon early, and I've been wiping the floor with most things as a result. Good times.

Jam it back in, in the dark.