A look back at: Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen

 

It's the same! But different. But still same! Yeah, gotta find some fun in the Might and Magic series either combining games, or letting you import characters. Certainly more of that medievalness going around...wait that's right, there's a lot of tech stuff incorporated too. As well as familiar faces all around. Might and Magic IV+V, World of Xeen, keeps to the formula of the third game, while having a double dose. There's really not much different in the gameplay department, and characters can be imported. Music is basically the same more or less, but if there's one thing gameplay-wise that needs checking, it's this: imported parties have a much better time. Yeah, freshly starting is going to be a little harder than usual, and that sucks. Apart from that, veterans of M&M will see this as something similar to an expansion, with a few things to catch the eye. Like, say, a floor set up like a freakin' crossword puzzle.

So what's the deal with Sheltem and Corak and why do we have to hear about them all the time? Wait, Sheltem we know is a bad guy, and Corak is a good guy. Sheltem has been around. The party from back in M&M3 journeyed with Corak to battle Sheltem as he ran away, as M&M3 was a game without a proper final boss. But now we get to see some things. First off, Sheltem naturally is our big bad, impersonating King Alamar and making life a living hell for people on Xeen after Xeen himself has passed. However, he's an android? And Corak too. It was an interesting info dump to read all the stuff that was in the ship logs that both Corak and Sheltem had, and the fact that they both had memory banks that kept them where they are. Sheltem, of course, doesn't want the upper hand taken away from him, and basically ambushes Corak at whatever chance he gets. The party in M&M5 really just take the role of bystanders who basically turn the tide of things simply by fetchquesting, without much in the way of battling Sheltem, because Corak decides to activate a MUTUAL SELF DESTRUCT system. Personally it's quite hilarious that they both have it, and I guess it only works if the two were together. One seriously wanted to live and be evil, that was his goal.

And then there's the weird wedding where you have to save the bride and groom in different dungeons. And what's with the Dragon Pharaoh? Totally weird characters and weirder stuff. I'll continue to mess around with this franchise, hoping there's some more interesting plot stuff like this. It was quite the adventure.

A look back at: Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen

 

As I continue to play this series, I really should be expecting more of the same thing. The deal with most, if not all, franchises has to be how they always end up playing out a lot like their predecessors, unless they really are going to twist things. Having been playing these computer RPGs for some time, there's bound to be subtle changes added to just about anything. Which hey, I'm down for that. Sometimes I can handle a game that just sort of feels like an expansion mission pack to everything that happened in a previous title (in this case, Might and Magic III). And then V comes after this, wait, what?

So Might and Magic IV and V are pretty darn complicated, considering you can actually combine both games into one. Eventually I would finish the first half, which is IV, glad to have done it so quickly. Then again, this was shorter and easier overall than any of III. Being a two-parter game may have contributed to that. What's really new though? Well, fancier character portraits, voice acting (not entirely bad either), interesting sidequests, a few changes to the menus. Just adding more and more without retracting from the overall formula. I still appreciate dungeon crawling, the occasional run-into of the overpowered monster, and the character customization. Xeen, the villain, though? Kind of a Skeletor ripoff, just a skull-wearing overlord who has to watch over a land with his name on it and making it terrible. Xeen's not that great. But interestingly, both games in the World of Xeen revolve around him, so I bet he'll be just like Sheltem, an overarching presence. Speaking of which, what even happened to those adventurers that went after Sheltem? I sure missed my old party. Oh, Might and Magic, if you were like Wizardry and allowed the importing of previous parties, I would have loved you far more.