Might and Magic® 9

I'll start off with saying that I haven't played any other Might and Magic game before so I have nothing to compare this to, and I can't remember if I used the fan patch or not but I found it pretty enjoyable, if not kinda ugly even for it's time though I've played uglier. I also got distracted about two thirds of the way through with a different game and unfortunately never finished it so I can't comment on the ending, nor can I say the story is very memorable since I can't remember anything about it. HOWEVER, I don't recall running into any bugs, and I quite liked the class system in this. While I may have wanted my mage and healer to be a bit better with archery they were still competent enough, and my warrior and thief turned assassin made up for it. The quests required to class change were for the most part interesting and are the main quests I remember especially turning my mage into a lich and my thief into an assassin. Overall I played it for at least a couple of months and had fun (almost) the entire time. There are a couple of small lulls, especially when you're determined to get your characters to the second class change, but you're equipment isn't quite good enough to conquer the requisite quest (and oftentimes dungeon), but that's a matter of impatience on my part. There are times with a sudden and surprising difficulty jump, whether it be optional, some class change quests like the aforementioned lich and assassin quests, or unavoidable. tl;dr I enjoyed it, though some of the complaints are understandable, the class system is enjoyable, especially with the different paths you can take during class upgrades. I recommend giving it a try yourself and making your own judgement.

With the newest 1.3 patch the game is very playable. It's a fun and enticing game, but I wish that I could see what the developers had really planned. The biggest shame in gaming history for me is when 3DO went into bankruptcy. This game is still enjoyable and comedic at times but when you think about it it feels very "empty" or whatever you can call it. It feels as if they had a lot more polishing to do, some places like drangheim just seem so empty and meaningless. But the story is there and is quite entertaining in my opinion, and this game definitely has to be played if you played the earlier games. Difficulty isn't that bad, you just gotta play smart, but like people said before me, it's an unfinished game.

I first played this game shortly after its release and, like most people, I was pretty disappointed with it. There was a multitude of issues with the release and it felt like an alpha, complete with game breaking bugs that stopped me progressing the main quests. I don't believe I got through to the end because I kept having to load previous saves because of all the bugs I was encountering. Fast forward a few years and I tried it again with the 1.3 patch installed, which is what the GOG version ships with. What a transformation that is! I didn't encounter a single game breaking bug, I didn't have to revert to a previous save a few hours back, and all the minor annoyances the game originally shipped with were gone. The story is a typical "start from nothing, save the world" adventure but there's sufficient twists in what you'll think is a cliche story to keep you hooked. Combat is a similar to the previous games. At first you'll be throwing spells and desperately healing yourself to stay alive and later in the game you'll be holding down the attack key to (literally in the case of the Druid) punch your enemies to death. Those who played this back in the day will remember arrows were awful at first. I'm pleased to say the to hit calculation bug was fixed with the patch. Character progression is good. I see a few reviews saying the class system was dumbed down but I think it's the opposite. Every character will be able to choose what sort of path they go down, whereas in previous titles Mages were always... well, Mages. Not so here! The soundtrack is stellar, as it always was for Might and Magic games. The best part of the game is the dungeon design. The dungeons in Might and Magic IX show just how much promise this game had. They're intricate, terrifying and there's traps a-plenty. They really feel like a proper "dungeon crawling" experience. All in all, give this a try. I believe it won't disappoint! I rate it 4/5 because the graphics really are quite bad.

This was my first time playing M&M9. I always skipped it, because of it's bad reputation Now, finally when I give this game a try, it doesn't do much to convince me. In fact, it does everything the opposite. The game drops you in the middle of nowhere and doesn't tell you anything. The first few hours you have no idea what is going on, or why should you even care. Then a outdoor locations are hideous and too vast. The towns are too big, look too similar, and you have to find questgivers in these huge empty towns, with no markings to guide you. And gone are the paperdolls! This game is not in the same league with M&M6, 7 and 8. Those games had a charm to them, each town and map was unique, it was fun to discover those areas. Each new area had it's own vibe. In M&M9 the areas have the same vibe, beacuse it's supposed to be this semi-nordic, semi-celtic world. You don't get this fun mismatch of cultures and vibes of the previous games. In essence, I was ready to hate the game. But around the 10th hour I noticed that I had become to enjoy the game. There were even some genuinely fun moments. Some quests are quite fun. For example, there is a music puzzle in one location. Where you talk with a local organist, and listen to his piece to figure out the notes to the bells, which you then ring to make the monks go away from the item you want to take. Or you can just kill the monks. This is the first Might and Magic to feature dialogue trees. Most likely succumbing to the influence of Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, etc.) Now it doesn't really use it that well, but this game does feature a few dialogue puzzles, as in you have to pay attention to what is being said, and response in kind... something that is new to the series. So in conclusion: It's lacking, it's charmless, and dull looking... but it is still a Might and Magic game, and it has that same addictiveness. And the story takes some interesting turns. It does have some good ideas.

I have actually purchase M&M 9 and after several hours here are my thoughts: 1 You need to download the 1.3 fan patch right away or prepare for many crashes. 2 This game is not pure garbage IMO. At worst it is meh. I do not like the system of having to go find a trainer in a city to level up my characters. I also miss my RPG loot which seems few and far between in the first few hours. The combat system is somewhat simplified from previous games, but I enjoy it. 3 The music is pretty great for an older game and the graphics are acceptable. You can not compare this game to today's games. It's hard to even compare it to something like Planescape since I think the 2D engine gave artistic advantages back then. 4 I found the story somewhat boring in the first few hours. This wouldn't be a problem with exciting dungeons and monsters, but IMO the monsters and dungeons are meh as well. A whole lot of monster bugs and lobsters for some reason. 5 The game seems to have strange difficulty spikes going from super easy to death in a few steps. There is a dungeon on the first island that will kill almost all beginners. Finally: For six dollars and a need to scratch an old school 3d crawler, I don't think you can really go wrong with this game. I would rather see Wiz. 8 myself, but I do not feel like I wasted my money.