For some reason at a few CRPG web sites whenever the question of 'Which M&M game was best?' comes up, either M&M 4&5(the Xeen games) or M&M 6 is always a few votes ahead of Might and Magic VII. Don't believe it. Nostalgia is a powerful and annoying trait we humans share and it gets in the way of critical analysis. M&M 6 was a good game overall but it suffered from some flaws such as you can only play humans, not enough character classes, a more limited skill system(you can advance skills to "Master" level) and entirely too long and ultimately boring dungeons to explore. M&M 7 was MUCH better in every way(save for graphics which were never this series' strong point)! Nonhuman races add to the strategic aspect as do having more character classes and branching class 'promotion' quests(a 'good' sorcerer can be promoted to "Mage/Arch-Mage" while an evil one can become a Necromancer/Liche etc.). Somewhat smaller but better designed dungeons and such really help to maintain interest. 'Choice and Consequence' plays an important role here, unlike M&M 6. Better story overall(not that I put much stock in 'story' in CRPGs). Better quests. Better items(as in more interesting items, not necessarily more powerful). And despite the primitive graphics(primitive for the 3D era. These M&M games look worse than Build engine games from years earlier.) there is a real, tangible feeling of exploration and discovery in this game. Whenever you make it to a new 'zone'(city, land, dungeon) it truly feels new and exciting. I still cannot understand why they bothered with adding the real-time component to these games?! No one uses it except as an exploit to beat a certain dragon at the beginning of the game or to get through very low level mobs quicker once you are already high level. But as a turn-based CRPG it is top of the line! The music/soundtrack for M&M 7 is unmatched and really helps to establish atmosphere. This game is right up there with Wizardry 7 & 8 and FAR better than the console-kiddie RPGs such as Dragon Age, Fallout 3/4, Oblivion/Skyrim etc.
Tjhis game is FULL of "role playing" goodness. You just have to understand that the "role playing" part of the term "Role Playing game" does NOT refer to what actors mean when they 'search for good roles to take'. The "role playing" in RPGs refers to the TACTICAL role of characters in a party. RPGs are a direct descendent of table-top war games. Where war games emphasized 'armies' or entire crews(i.e. tanks) within larger armies(and 'divisions', 'brigades' etc.), the RPG emphasized single 'characters' as units within a 'squad'(called a "party"). So they are4 technically squad-based tactical games. D&D, even in it's best form(re: the 3.5 ed. rule set) is fraught with nonsensical, illogical game mechanics. "Hit points" being nonsensically defined to rationalize their equally nonsensical increases with experience(RuneQuest did away with this way back in the late 1970s but most RPGs are still playing catch up here), the "Fire and forget" spell system(ugh! How did this ugliness survive for decades after better systems were introduced?!), etc.. But ignoring problems of logical consistency within the rules set, ToEE is a great game. Whereas Baldur's gate forced you to create a single character and then recruit others(unless you use the multiplayer work around) and Icewind Dale does not allow for recruiting RPCs at all, ToEE makes a nice compromise by allowing you to create five and recruit three. This allows you to make sure you have the party you want while still allowing you to recruit additional members who may offer unique benefits. The radial menus used here are a crappy feature and make the interface kind of screwy but this is a minor quibble I suppose. Being a more combat-oriented game than say Baldur's Gate, it is a good thing they went with true turn-based combat. In this respect ToEE is far superior to both of the Baldur's gate games because you do not have to struggle with pathing issues when you give orders to your characters(not to mention the 'feats' and such of 3rd edition D&D).
First of all, ignore people who say that JA2 has "slight" RPG elements or some such. It has ALL the elements ESSENTIAL to what an RPG actually IS. People don't like to hear it because there is some silly meme that causes people to stick their noses into the air and droll on about "role playing" as if it had something to do with drama class, improvisational acting or something. RPGs are tactical simulators and always have been. JA2 is simply one of the best of the tactical RPGs ever released for the PC. Now if you are more into interactive fiction, along the lines of Planescape: Torment...reading page after page of ho-hum writing rather than playing a game- then steer clear of JA2. It does not pretend to be the next great novel and the developers never encouraged anyone to sit behind their monitors with LARP gear on speaking in bad accents. JA2 is all about tactics and strategy. Don't get me wrong - You will not find a CRPG with better dialog or character interaction anywhere. JA2 blows Planescape out of the water on this matter! But it does not take itself too seriously and is not afraid of comedy. As for those strategies and tactics, hold onto your hats! JA2 aptly demonstrates why real-time games cannot hope to compare with turn-based games for tactical matters. You can control up to 18 different PCs in this game in a single combat! Interrupts, aimed shots, firing two handguns at once, mortars, planted explosives, tossed grenades, hand-to-hand/martial arts, stealth...JA2 has it all! There is no better feeling than sneaking your commando up behind an armed guard and slicing that guy's throat while your sniper makes his/her way up to the rooftop and your explosives expert plants dynamite along the back wall of the compound. Yes, THIS is what the "role" in "role playing game" is meant to indicate.
This game does have a few bits of good, politically incorrect humor and some of the weapons in teh game are indeed amusing. But other than that this game is largely crap. For starters there are like half a dozen different enemies in the game. You will grow so tired of killing the same guys over and over that you will want to uninstall the game long before you finish it. And the freaking game play itself...the path-finding and A.I. in particular are just inexcusably bad! In short, Duke Nukem 3D was a '5 star' game. The first Blood was a 4 and a half star game(though a case could easily be made for 5 stars). Outlaws was a 3.5 - 4 star game. All of these were FAR better than Redneck Rampage so giving RR more than 2 stars seems absurd to me.
