Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

The Good
At the time when the design philosophy of role-playing games was being re-evaluated, with games such as Fallout and Baldur's Gate placing more emphasis on character interaction and meaningful in-game decisions at the expense of sheer complexity of world structure and difficulty, Might and Magic VI appeared as a staunch defender of the more conservative line of thought. It is a very "old-school" RPG in the sense that it focuses primarily on exploration of a vast world, party-building, dungeon crawling, and combat. It is a great successor of classic role-playing games of late 1980's, invigorated by the more fluent option of real-time combat and 3D graphics.

The real-time combat removes a lot of the tedium invariably present in earlier Might and Magic games, where the player was required to trudge even through battles with outmatched enemies. In this installment, you can elegantly avoid those pesky fireballs and find good spots to snipe unsuspecting enemies or even incinerate dragons from afar. The gameplay is therefore noticeably smoother and more realistic, sometimes almost turning into a shooter with its fast pace. Naturally, tougher enemies still require turn-based combat, and it's present in the game in all its ancient glory.

Might and Magic VI is the quintessence of RPG design that places character growth and party-building above everything else. Yes, there are "only" four characters to control, and they can only be human; but you won't notice this simplification, for which the game more than makes up with its excellent skill system. Basically, every ability, combat-related or otherwise (merchant, repair, disarm traps, etc.) can be learned and increased by investing skill points gained when leveling up. Nothing is learned automatically, and the development of the character is fully entrusted to the player. You can train a tank clad in plate armor and wielding a sword in each hand; a wizard specializing in one of the many school of magic, each with different spells; an expert in archery who also identifies items; and so on. This skill system is not as intricate as the one in Fallout, but it more than does the job, particularly because it applies to all four characters, and building a balanced party is the key to winning the game. The basic classes of knight, sorcerer, archer, etc., can be promoted twice each, by completing unique quests, gaining significant bonuses to their attributes.

Might and Magic VI is a huge game. It has a dozen or so towns, each full of stores, trainers, and NPCs that can be hired to bestow bonuses to your party; a vast overworld with different scenery - fields, mountains, snowy landscape, desert, etc.; a highly generous amount of dungeons, most of them by no means small and simple, full of enemies to defeat and treasure to hunt for; secrets, shortcuts, and a plethora of sub-quests, which can be ignored. It is possible to complete the game without visiting about half of its dungeons - and that's saying a lot, since the main quest is very long and will take time to complete even if you skip all the other stuff. In short, Might and Magic VI is what you call "value for your buck" - it's just brimming with things to do, bursting with content, it's like an all-you-can-eat buffet of role-playing.

In general, the dungeons are a true highlight of the game, offering so much exploration, dangers, and puzzles; they are uniquely rewarding to complete, especially when you're brave enough to tackle them before you're "supposed to". I finished the game at level 60 and I was told that it was very low; I know that I missed lots of quests and hadn't even scratched the surface of the game's magic system, having just one caster devoted to only one elemental school.

The 3D visuals of the game can't hold a candle to contemporary shooters, but they are certainly functional enough to create unique atmosphere, whether in a peaceful town appearing through a fog covering a sleepy valley, or an ominous dungeon with imposing claustrophobic passages. Eerie sound effects and beautiful orchestral music complement the picture. I also liked the silly photographs of real people representing your party and NPCs. Particularly the visual representation of status ailments is quite hilarious.

The Bad
You've probably heard it before: Might and Magic VI is full of enemies. Now, think of the largest number of enemies you've encountered in an RPG, and multiply it by ten. There are simply so, so many enemies in this game. They are everywhere. There are just loads upon loads of them. Enemies... they are, so to say, ubiquitous in Might and Magic VI. This game is filled with very significant quantities of enemies of various sorts. Oh, and by the way - have I mentioned the sheer amount of enemies present in the game?

Yes, cutting your way through incredible numbers of enemies can get as tedious as reading the above paragraph. Luckily, they don't respawn (they do, but not right away - a cleared area or dungeon stay so for quite a while); and yet, I think this should have been one of those "less is more" cases.

Might and Magic VI is also a very long game. The world is huge, and the main quest will send you pretty much to every corner of it. You can skip a lot of quests, but the remaining bulk is still highly time-consuming. At some point, you might find yourself closing your eyes and seeing countless Devil Captains, Cuisinarts, Warlocks, Royal Leather Armors that give +10 to your statistics, piles of gold, the dreaded Egyptian-style interior of the megalomaniac Tomb of Varn dungeon, and trainers with goofy faces that laugh maliciously, telling you that you lack 234987 experience points to reach level 97.

The Bottom Line
If you like your RPGs huge and packed with content, then Might and Magic VI is going to be that one relic you've been coveting all along. It is an uncompromisingly gigantic game that provides hours upon hours of gameplay value. I do think they went overboard with the amount of enemies and perhaps with the entire length of the game; but other than that, this beast of an RPG is just begging to be tamed.

The Good
The story line was engrossing. This game really hit home with me and helped me break my addiction to an on-line text RPG. Well-picked background music really helped set the tone, and this was one of the first games where I closed my door to drown out other sounds.

The interface was fairly well done, though I used turn-based almost exclusively in battle. The few times I didn't I was launching ranged weapons at the enemy and strafing side to side to dodge the return fire. It worked fantastically, but it felt cheap. It wasn't hard to confuse or screw up the AI.

Gameplay was also balanced. There were good and bad things about pretty much every character.

The backgrounds changed with the weather.

The Bad
Considering how good I think the game is, a lot. Maybe I'm just more of a story line/gameplay type guy.

Graphics were shoddy. The box said something about 3D acceleration, but I'm still looking for it. Backgrounds looked like they came from a cartoon, and didn't move much.

Sound effects were definitely not high on the priority list in development. They're there, and they are useful to know when someone is dying or being attacked, but if a ball of lightning goes whizzing past you, it doesn't make a sound.

The AI was really dumb. Sometimes it helped because enemies had so many HPs it was ridiculous, but often I felt I was taking advantage of it.

There was really very little in terms of AD&D rules. Stats could be jacked way up (over 100, I think), and getting another +1 to Strength just got old.

There were far too many ways to improve your character, and the story line was so un-linear, it was like Baldur's Gate where you wonder what will happen if you finish something out of order. While it was nice to have side-quests and such, I often felt swamped with too many to complete, and not sure which one to do first. There was also no real clue about where to go next. I found myself fighting level 3 monsters at level 20, then thinking it would have been a lot easier to have fought that before doing whatever it was I did.

It was very long.

The Bottom Line
It's a great game. I never played any of the other M&M's before this one, but I didn't really feel that I missed anything. After getting part way through the game I went back and read some of the history, and it's actually quite interesting.

I wouldn't try to finish the game without a strategy guide (personally), but it's a lot of fun even if you don't finish it.

As inspiration, you may want to watch the intro a few times. It really sets the tone.

The Good
The storyline and gameplay are extremely addictive. Until MM6, I have never been interested in playing a cRPG more than once in the same decade.

Like others in the MM series of RPGs, 'Mandate' focuses attention on storyline and gameplay rather than stats and treasure. Oh, there's plenty of numbers to churn and loot to boot, but you New World Computing doesn't require you to learn the details. There are no important penalties for skipping a minor quest, dying, delaying, or getting lost.

'Mandate' includes a fairly detailed political structure that is worth learning about (although, again, you can easily play without understanding it). The politics and economics of the land are less important. However, there's a wonderful sense of detail in the stories behind the various towns, provinces, and characters that has inspired many people to write some rather excellent stories about the game.

While the AI isn't brilliant, many of the monsters are tough enough on their own ability to make combat challenging. You can play Might, Magic, or a combination, but Magic is by far the most powerful in the game. Casting spells and using weapons is easy, although (alas) there are no keyboard shortcuts. You can fight in RealTime or phased (Turn-Based) modes, but only the most die-hard action player will be able to handle spellcasting in real time.

There are plenty of puzzles and quests. Too many are monty-haul or seek&return, but there are enough imaginative ones to keep most players happy. The bad quests weren't so onerous that I remember them 2 years later and the good quests were good enough that I still look for ones like them in other games.

The Bad
If you really care about graphics or sound, you will be disappointed by this game, even if you haven't played any other RPGs before. The environment and background music is definitely moody in the best sense of the word, but it's never profound or StarWars calibre. If you care more about gameplay, the multimedia shortcomings won't bother you at all.

The AI is clearly A but not very I. It's almost always possible to divide & conquer so that a clever player can defeat almost any monster combination at the weakest levels with a few choice spells. However, this is quite time consuming; serious melee will require brains and brawn (i.e. high character and spell levels and a smart player).

I miss the keyboard shortcuts from previous entries to the series. I miss being able to easily cast all my protection spells by creating a macro or at least not having to click the mouse on just the right spot. It can be quite time-consuming

The Bottom Line
I won't describe the storyline in detail. Plenty of reviews on the net do that already. Instead, here are my thoughts on how different types of players will react to this game.

(Incidentally, I played the game on a 166 MHz laptop with 1 MB of vRAM and 80 MB memory. The game ran well, except in a few dungeons with nearly a hundred monsters. I recommend at least 150 MHz, 48 MB RAM, 1 MB vRAM but 200 MHz 60 MB RAM, 2 MB vRAM would be better. 3D acceleration is not needed or useful.)

Fans of Might and Magic should really like the game. Other hard-core RPG and cRPG fans should enjoy it as well.

Wizardry and TES: Arena fans will mostly like the game. However, Wiz-fans will wish for harder puzzles, more involved storyline. Both groups will wish for more variety of character classes (although there really are plenty).

AD&D fans will be disappointed. Too little attention to numerical details. Not enough limitations on classes. Not enough role playing.

Action-game players will also be disappointed. Limited graphics, unexciting sound.

Adventure-game players will probably like the game, unless they really enjoy high definition cut-scenes and well defined storylines. The game allows you to travel pretty much where you want when you want (except for the endgame areas...and keep in mind, some areas will be too tough to handle).

The Good
I liked the huge five year long gap between parts 5 and 6. Was anxious to experience all the vast improvements that would justify this gap.

I also liked the quirky touches in the manual.

The Bad
Others might disagree, but I think the main assets of any CRPG are supposed to be NPC interaction and atmosphere. When the emphasis shifts to anything else, like constant leveling upwards, the overall game experience comes off as hollow. Sadly, this is just what gives in M&M6. Prepared to get immersed in a deep, involving adventure, I found myself in a rather generic quest-fest, required to meet impersonal and laconic NPC's on non-interactive 'conversation' screens who proceeded to send me on repetitive killing sprees over and over again. Not even the most important NPC's are developed or memorable (Nicolai, Wilbur etc.), everything they have to say directly or indirectly triggers yet another XP-boost session (or quest).

I'm not rating graphics, audio or the like, because these are not what I'm looking for in an RPG. In this one I haven't found what I'm looking for, so enough said.

The Bottom Line
A glorified hack&slash game with no real depth or personality, almost like a 3D Diablo. All throughout Enroth, I felt a bittersweet nostalgia involving New Sosaria (aka Serpent Isle).

The Good
The character creation system was good, and the freedom of movement and non-linearity of the quests are all to my liking. You are free to explore whatever you want whenever you want.

I also like how the game is real-time for most of the game, but you can change it to turn-based when there is action.

The Bad
The "free" exploration isn't really free, is it? Heading out from town, you are attacked by a horde of enemies. So you switch to turn-based combat, and "fight" the enemies. This pretty much means clicking the enemies one after the other until they are dead. There is very little skill involved, as (at least in the early game) each character will have pretty much only one usable spell, or you will use whatever weapon is equipped. So you click and click and click. There will be a horde of enemies, so after a while you will need to run back to the inn and spend a night in order to regain health points. Then head out of town again, and keep clicking away. Run back to the inn, back out, click-click-click. Then you may find a dungeon, where you explore the different rooms and corridors until you meet another horde. Click-click-click. Run back out of dungeon. Run back to town. Sleep. Run back to dungeon. Run back to room full of enemies. Click-click-click. Get bitten by a bat/spider/rat and get poisoned. Go to temple and pay money to get healed. Go back to the rats. Click-click-click. Get poisoned again. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

I don't understand what the makers of this game were thinking and I cannot understand what the people rating this game highly are looking for in a game. I guess the storyline might improve, I gave up after hours upon hours of click-click-clicking, after which I had finished some mildly interesting dungeons. When I headed to the next map screen and was overrun by ten trillion skeletons, and it turned out I had to travel for five days, click-click-click, travel back for five days, go buy 10 days of rations, travel for five days, click-click-click, I gave up.

I don't understand why they made combat this way: rather have fewer, perhaps more challenging encounters? There is never a chance that you will die, as you can simply turn heels and run back to the inn and heal up. There is no way in which you can use skill in the combat in any way, unless you count getting a river between yourself and enemies with no missile weapons and then click-click-clicking for fifteen minutes.

The non-player characters are also completely dead. They pretty much have 2 constant comments each: a general tip, and then you can hire them. Another annoying detail is that all shops/town halls/etc. follow their opening hours very strictly, but the NPC's are running around equally busy whether night or day. So you come into a bustling town full of people, but everything is closed because its 3am.

The Bottom Line
What could conceivably have been an interesting (if lacking in character depth) game becomes a very pointless exercise in left button mouse clicking because the designers chose to create "difficulties" by swarming you with identical monsters and then compensating this by giving you a lightening fast dash which allows you to outrun everyone. Also, a night's sleep and two apples heal all damage.