Might & Magic

M&M 6 is the game I would recommend. It should be no problem for you on a Windows XP computer (but you will need a patch). M&M 7 is very much like 6, but not easily played on XP (you might need DOS Box). In any event, I would stick with #6 - great game.

http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=707

 

DMC, if you really like old-school games and don't mind old-school graphics, I would recommend starting from the beginning. M&M are classics and I rate them alongside the Ultima Series and the Wizardry Series as top of my list old-school fun. Chandos is right about # 6, great game. 1-5 were lots of fun for me as a teen.

 

It's more about dungeon crawling and character building and development. The strong point of these games is that they are not linear. You'll never know a dungeon is too hard for you until a monster kills one of your characters with one hit.

The graphics are a bit outdated but the game is fun. I recommend Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven and Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.

Great games.

 

Actually, Mok has released patches for MM6-8 which makes the game works just fine and irons out bugs.

But I'm glad my thread inspired you to play M&M. Great games, MM6 is a timeless classic, which is why I'm still playing it. MM7 is good but not as good as MM6, and MM8... what a huge letdown. Silly storyline, ridiculously overpowering -- you CAN recruit 4 dragons and there is a tweak to have a *dragon* as first character, so that's 5. The game is WAAAY to generous with the artifacts/relics. In MM6, one was GENUINELY happy to find such an incredibly powerful item. In MM8, it's like "Oh, great, another [censored] relic/artifact. Where the hell am I going to put that?"

It's a great dungeon crawl/hack, and the worthwhile puzzle is the obelisks... the payoff in ridiculously insanely good.

 

Mok?!!!!

I'm sure you mean someone else.... Check out #6....

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mok

 

...this is weird

Talking about the patch for MM6 by Mok... the name of guy, not slang.

 

I wonder if Mok knew what he was getting into when he picked this as his internet nickname

I just found out that someone has updated Mok's patches. I've not tried them but from the description they have some very nice fixes for issues still present in Mok's (such as items vanishing from chests if there wasn't enough space to spawn them - VERY annoying when it happens to an artifact).

As for which games to recommend, DotW's description of 6-8 is spot on. I don't dislike MM8 as much as he does and still enjoyed playing it, but it's by far the weakest of the trilogy. I would go with Blades' recommendation though and play through the entire series (for added fun, if you like the Heroes series, alternate between both series as the story requires). The first game is HARD, by far the hardest in the series, and it's so unforgiving that I always have trouble recommending it, but it has some very good aspects, so truly crazy puzzles and some very challenging encounters.

 

Personally i liked MM 6-8 the most. Especially number 6. Number 8 was way too easy. I remember finding Caurie Blackthorne when I was around level 8. She was level 50 when i found her, and had grandmaster merchant skill. All my money troubles were gone.
Number six is one of my all time favorite games, I think. its right up there with Betrayal at krondor, and the BG games.

 

Sorry, DotW. I had no idea who the guy was. That's just what came up when I googled "Mok," and there were no other links for M&M. I should have used Might & Magic in the search.

 

DMC - No, not that one. That's a really old game - like the 1980s. I really would give #6 a try though....

 

Actually that is the ones Blades and me were talking about

If you found MM1 to be too ancient, then I also suggest you skip #2 as well. MM2 uses an updated engine with much better graphics, but it is the same engine after all, which means lots of random combat, very slow progression, and did I mention LOTS of combat? 2 is even worse than 1 in this respect.

So, to sum it up, the series went through 3 major engines, and the reason I'm splitting them like this is because the gameplay and age of the "architecture" as you refer to it is pretty much the same within a certain engine. So 1-2 are the old step-movement, all-text combat. You can also only save at inns, so in only 5 places in the entire world map; considering how MASSIVE the games are this can be very annoying (especially in the tougher parts of MM1). The game also resets all enemies, chests, etc whenever you reload a game (which possibly occurs every time you enter the inn, ie also when you save...), which means redoing some of the same surface fights. 3-5 use a completely different step-movement engine, with much better graphics, and where the enemies appear in the distance and approach, and there is a finite number of them. You can also save anywhere, and the game does NOT reset in any way. Once you've done something, it stays done. And finally 6-8 use the free-flowing 3D engine with 2D sprites.

I would really say to at least finish MM1, just because it's got such an unusual story (and a very bizzarre ending), but if it's just too old for you then I suggest you give 3 a try instead. The changes in engine and the permanency of your actions on the world make it MUCH more accessible, and less of a chore to go through. 3, 5 and 6 are IMO the best games in the series, but since 4 and 5 can be combined in to the same game (World of Xeen) you might as well just start with 3 and play all the way through.

 

Legally? there is no such thing as Abandonware. Practically? we'll turn a blind eye, and so will Ubisoft (the current copyright holders)

I hadn't realised you'd already finished MM1, as you first thread only mentions you've played it a long time ago - I assumed you hadn't completed that playthrough. I'm impressed you remember so much of it! I do not remember any of the codes to solve the messages, but I do remember the dragon fight, as well as the demon fight under that city... the one where you had to have all-female party members and was ruled by a succubus. That was fun. I will also never forget how to free Ogg. That puzzle got me stomped for a LONG time until I finally managed to put all the pieces together - so satisfying when I did!

I don't think any of the M&M games have been reissued recently, so they're probably all out of print. The last compilation that included MM1-5 was Might & Magic Classics, and that was easily 10 years ago (probably closer to 12; I think it was released at the same time as MM6). So if you want to get a legal copy you're REALLY going to have a lot of trouble. Abandonware copies of 1-5 should be all over the place though.

Depending on what you don't like about MM3, you may still want to try World of Xeen. If you dislike the engine completely then skip to 6, but if you just feel it's not polished enough then go for WoX, as it's the same engine but much cleaner. Definitely use DOSBox for 3-5 though. Especially for 3 you'll need to find the right number of cycles where things move quickly enough but not so quickly that they look ridiculous. WoX has no such problem as it has a built-in frame limiter.

Newsflash: just noticed that GoG are selling MM1-6 for the low price of $10. If the only one you have is 1 then go for it. 6 by itself is worth the price, but if you end up playing 3 and WoX as well then that's a really good deal. Not to mention you get shiny PDF manuals, cluebooks, and so forth.

 

Now I am struck with the MM bug too. Thinking of digging out my MM6 cds... However, the thought of Castle Darkmoor pops into my head, so I find myself weary of doing so. Its arguably the worst dungeon I have ever experienced in any crpg.

 

Hey, I think it's a great dungeon! One that most of us just happen to hate with a burning passion

But yeah I'm starting to get the bug too... although if I'm going to replay them I will do it properly and start with MM1... and that game's difficulty always puts me off

 

Castle Darkmoor... the only thing that makes this dungeon worthwhile is the thought that while this dungeon will drive someone on the edges of the edges of insanity, the payoff is incredibly SWEET. It's a good place to become EXTREMELY powerful... it just requires a cool head, lots of time, and good gear.

While this dungeon brings my piss to a boil, and makes me curse worse than a drunken marine on LSD, I am actually glad I did it when I look at the loot/XP.

 

Betrayal at Krondor? Never tried or read about it, though I have seen it on the shelf. Though i am familiar with the books. Is this one worth playing? Can you describe it?