Category:Might and Magic: Difference between revisions

Might and Magic
Developer(s)	New World Computing Limbic Entertainment Arkane Studios
Publisher(s)	New World Computing The 3DO Company Ubisoft
Year introduced	1986
Genre(s)	Role-Playing, Strategy

Might and Magic (MM) is a series of computer dungeon crawls (a sub-genre of role-playing games) from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. The producer of the series was Jon Van Caneghem.

The earliest Might and Magic games are heavily based on the Wizardry series; unlike The Bard's Tale series, though, Might and Magic introduced several more innovations to the Wizardry gameplay, so that it became the most successful and prolific of the three series.

The original Might and Magic series officially ended after the 5th title, with the closure of the 3DO Company. The rights to the Might and Magic name were purchased by Ubisoft, who "rebooted" the franchise with a new series with unconnected to the previous continuity, starting with Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven; they also published many spin-offs, e.g. Heroes of Might and Magic and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

Gameplay

In the earlier games the gameplay is almost identical to that of the Wizardry series and the interface is very similar to The Bard's Tale series (that, in turn, is based on Wizardry, too). Starting from Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven onward, the interface features a scrolling three-dimensional environment similar to that of Doom.

The majority of the gameplay takes place in a medieval fantasy setting. The player controls a party of player characters, which can consist of members of various character classes. The game world is presented to the player in first person perspective. Combat is turn-based, though the later games allowed the player to choose to conduct combat in real time.

The game worlds in all of the Might and Magic games are quite large, and a player can expect each game to provide several dozen hours of gameplay. It is usually quite combat-intensive and often involves large groups of enemy creatures. Monsters and situations encountered throughout the series tend to be well-known fantasy staples such as giant rats, werewolf curses, dragon hoardes and zombies, rather than original creations. Isles of Terra and the Xeen games featured a more distinct environment, blending fantasy and science fiction elements in a unique way.

Plot

Although most of the gameplay reflects a distinctly fantasy genre, the overarching plot of the series has something of a science fiction background. The series is set in an alternate universe where planets are overseen by powerful beings known as Ancients. In each of the games, a party of characters fights monsters and completes quests on one of these planets, until they eventually become involved in the affairs of the Ancients. References to Star Trek (some quite overt) could indicate that the "Ancients" may in fact be humanity in the far future.

The first five games in the series concern a renegade planetary guardian named Sheltem who has a penchant for throwing planets into their suns. Sheltem establishes himself on a series of flat worlds (which are implied to be giant spaceships) and Corak, thought to be a representative of the Ancients, with the assistance of the player characters, sees him off each time. Eventually both Corak and Sheltem are destroyed in a climactic battle on Xeen.

The sixth, seventh and eighth games take place on a single planet ruled by the Ironfist dynasty, and chronicle the events and aftermath of an invasion of the Kreegan, the arch-enemies of the Ancients. It is also revealed that the destruction wrought by the Ancients' wars with the Kreegan may be why the worlds of Might & Magic exist as medieval fantasy settings despite being created by futuristic technology: the worlds have been 'cut off' from the Ancients and descended into barbarism. The Heroes of Might and Magic series traces the fortunes of the Ironfists in more detail, though none of the sci-fi elements appear in the Heroes series.

Games

Main series

• Might and Magic: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum, released in 1986 for Apple II, Macintosh, DOS, Commodore 64, NES, MSX, and TurboGrafx-16.
• Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World, released in 1988 for Apple II, Amiga, DOS, Commodore 64, Macintosh, Sega Genesis, SNES (Europe only), Super Famicom (Japan only), and MSX.
• Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, released in 1991 for DOS, Macintosh, Amiga, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and PC-Engine.
• Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen, released in 1992 for DOS and Macintosh.
• Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen, released in 1993 for DOS and Macintosh.
  • Might and Magic: World of Xeen, released in 1995 for DOS, combining IV and V into a single game with extra content.
• Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, released in 1998 for Windows.
• Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor, released in 1999 for Windows.
• Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer, released in 2000 for Windows and PlayStation 2 (Japan only).
• Might and Magic IX, released in 2002 for Windows (with the working subtitle Writ of Fate).
• Might and Magic X: Legacy, released in 2014 for Windows and Mac OS.

Spin-offs

Heroes of Might and Magic

Heroes of Might and Magic is a series of strategy games that began in 1995.

Action / Role-playing games

• Swords of Xeen, a fan-made game released in 1995 for DOS.
• Crusaders of Might and Magic, released in 1999 for Windows and PlayStation.
• Warriors of Might and Magic, released in 2000 for PlayStation. This entry has two other versions which feature completely different levels and gameplay.
  • Warriors of Might and Magic (Game Boy Color), released in 2000 for Game Boy Color.
  • Warriors of Might and Magic (PlayStation 2), released in 2001 for PlayStation 2.
    • Shifters, a direct sequel to Warriors (PS2), released in 2002 for PlayStation 2.
• Dark Messiah: Might and Magic, released in 2006 for Windows and Xbox 360.
• Might and Magic (Mobile), released in 2004 for Mobile phones and Nintendo DSi.
• Might and Magic II (Mobile), released in 2007 for Mobile phones and Nintendo DSi.

Other games

• Arcomage, a standalone card game from the series, released in 2000 for Windows.
• Legends of Might and Magic, an online shooter released in 2001 for Windows.
• Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, an puzzle game released in 2009 for Windows.

Collections

• Might and Magic I & II - released in 1992 for Macintosh.
• Might and Magic Trilogy - includes III through V and Swords of Xeen, released in 1995.
• Might and Magic I, II, III, IV, V: Collection Classique - includes I through V, released in 1998.
• Ultimate Might and Magic Archives, includes I through V, World of Xeen, and Swords of Xeen, released in 1998.
• Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven: Limited Edition - a collector's edition of Might and Magic VI that also includes the first five games on CD-ROM, released in 1998.
• Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven: Special Edition - includes I through V and Swords of Xeen, released in 1998.
• Might and Magic Sixpack - includes the first six games plus Swords of Xeen, released in 1998.
• Might and Magic Millennium Edition - includes IV through VII and Swords of Xeen, released in 1999.
• Might and Magic (Platinum Edition) - includes VI through IX, released in 2002.
• Might and Magic 6 - Pack - includes the first six games plus Swords of Xeen, released digitally in 2012.