So, after reading a few reviews, people are raging about the escaton Palace. To complete the game, you have to turn the sound settings off. Else, you'll hear a pop or something as you enter the palace to either complete the last quest, or grab the quest, I can't truly remember. However, before entering the throne room, turn all game sounds off, and you'll progress just fine. It's unfortunate, but there is a work around. Per the rest of the game, it was nearly as fun as MM7. There are things like, the gear doesn't look as epic, the players look kind of M'eh, but the storyline and questing was still fun. There are still the puzzle aspects, and number of choices you have to make that give you ownership of the end results. Seriously, for <$5.00, it's still worth the purchase.
What this game has above the other versions of this game and even other RPG's of its time, is the real time action gameplay, and the ownership you felt as you're given a castle and the responsibilities that go with owning a kingdom. It's not like you spend a ton of time in your castle, but it can be upgraded to include shops, a guardian, even a dungeon! The spells are far ranging, the dungeons are interesting to scour, and the graphics they went with for gear makes it feel epic to get the legendaries, even the non-legendary gear look appealing and inspire joy at the drop of an Angelic ring, or Royal Leather chest. The characters are attractive (yes, this helps the player appreciate their team), the traps/puzzles are enjoyable obstacles to overcome, and there really isn't a part of the game I didn't enjoy playing. I played this game a dozen times over back in its hay day, and have played it just as much since buying it from Gog. If you can look past the graphics, you'll enjoy the adventures it has to provide.
