Might and Magic® 6-pack Limited Edition

This is such a great collection. At 10 dollars, its must buy for any RPG fans. MM 1 is pretty dated, but is still fun to play. MM2 uses the same ruleset from 1, adds a new skill system, and a big graphics upgrade. MM3, 4, and 5, all use the same ruleset and engine, and are very, very fun to this day. For me personally, I really like 3 of this group. MM3-5 are the grid based classics that the series is well known for. 3 of the best ever made. MM6 is a whole different animal, and is extremely highly reguarded as one of the best classic RPG's of all time. Its the first of the 6, 7, 8 trilogy. There is a great add on tool for MM 1-5 called Where Are We that doesnt change the games, but adds all kinds of very useful help windows, from a real time automap to real time combat stats and an inventory manager. It doesnt change the gameplay at all, but it adds a ton of quality of life features. MM6 has mods for full HD widesceen, mouselook, and modern controls. there is also a merger mod that combines 6, 7, and 8 together the way the offical merger of 4 and 5 work. Anyway.... the games are great, the price is amazing. Buy it.

I've been a long time RPGer and I've lamented for many years not playing any of the Might & Magic titles. You see, for some reason, back in the nineties, I took an extreme disliking to this style of first person play. The blocky, uniform walls. The incremental movement. Etc. I can't recall the game. I do know it was a very early title in this style. But it left a bad taste in my mouth. From then on, any game that looked like this, I avoided. Man, was I a fool. After several days of wondering whether I should 'waste' $10 on this series, I decided to just do it. I haven't been living under a rock for the last 15 years, so these games do look old to me. I know I've played and enjoyed games far older than these, but nostalgia wears off quickly. Might & Magic (and any of these early titles) requires that the player slip into the game. It doesn't hand you atmosphere from the moment you turn it on like the graphical wonders that are today's games. If you buy these games, read up on character creation. Imagine each of your characters before you make them. Take the time to roll a good party. I've started 3 with a knight, a ranger, a ninja, an archer, a cleric and a sorcerer. Take it slow. The scenery might look all the same, but this game hides a lot behind its dated graphics. I'm well on my way with part 3. I've made it to Baywatch and cleared out the main square of the town. I know some serious evil lurks behind closed doors. I'm headed to the Temple now and the sun is just rising. My ninja, knight and sorcerer are dragging the unconscious bodies of their friends back there for healing and revival. We had strolled through an innocuous looking door only to find ourselves facing a dozen or more undead creatures. The cleric cast one turn undead spell after another until finally, overcome by zombies, she passed out. They turned on my ranger who stayed conscious just long enough to see a great, green ghoul stroll up over the fallen bodies. That's when my sorcerer new it was time to reach for the big guns. She'd just barely learned the lightning bolt spell. Had yet to use it. The ranger went down and then my archer. The crack of lightning was everywhere. Seconds from defeat, with no healers available, my knight drove his great axe into the ghoul's shoulder. It fell backwards over a pile of bodies. The three remaining members stood there for a while, dazed and doubtful that they'd managed victory. That's how it appeared to me. I would have to say, one of the best parts of this game is how the system is so well used. There are games with more skills and spells and stats, but in a crpg, unfortuantely, most of them go unused. In this game, the skills and stats complement each other. There are just enough to fill up the character's abilities without so many as to require level-grinding.

You kids and your "Final Fantasy" games! Let me tell you about REAL RPGs! Alongside such classics as Ultima, Wizardry, and SSI's Gold Box RPGs, Might and Magic helped set the standard by which all future RPGs in this style would be judged. All the M&M games are packed with a ludicrous amount of content, and the fact that you are getting SIX of them, plus bonuses, for only ten bucks, is a deal and a half. These games are complicated and huge. I highly recommend printing out the manuals, especially for the early games, for constant reference, as there is a lot of stuff to keep track of. Also, make sure to make maps on graph paper so you don't get lost, especially in the early games where there is no in-game map (Oh, don't be such a lazy bum! Trust me, you'll thank me later.) Because of their age, the early games of the series might look a little archaic, but trust me when I say that if you give them a chance, the graphics and keyboard driven interface will eventually become second nature, and the enthralling gameplay will take over. Besides, if you're quibbling that the graphics and interface aren't good enough, you're on the wrong website. Be warned, though! These games will not hold your hand in the slightest! They are tough, no-nonsense games that are not afraid to kick your butt if you step outside your party's abilities. Back then, games weren't afraid to be tough. Nowadays you kids have it easy, with your "casual games" and tutorials! Why, I remember when you had to WORK to beat games! These are games for REAL gamers! Not those silly, arrogant "I only play photo-realistic games that I can beat on my first try if I play hard enough" gamers! Casual gamers, stay away! Otherwise, prepare for the adventure of a lifetime! These are potentially the most epic games of all time, and if you keep plugging away at them, you're in for a real treat! You'll find an incredible storyline, discover an amazing universe, and all the while, you'll see the evolution of gaming in progress. Now get off my lawn!

The Might and Magic series is a classic, no doubt. But for all out there who can't stand the bareness/rawness of MM1 (like me), I have two suggestions: 1. You can play the game with the helper program "Where are we?" (https://www.eskimo.com/~edv/lockscroll/WhereAreWe/) It aids you with an automap feature and extra windows for every information chart. 2. Get and play the NES version of the game. It has superior graphics, sounds and music besides the TurboGrafX CD version (but this one is only in japanese). It has an automap too.

I remember getting MM6 for Christmas when I was eight and then the next four years are a blur that rivals hippie memories of the 60's. I suspect that getting the game again will cause a similar blackout, goodbye good people.