What is the best way to experience the Might and Magic series?
>>2758350
the best way is to play it
There is a bit of an overarching story that you can appreciate the most if you play them in release order together with the Heroes of Might and Magic game.
The problem is that from 3 onward the games are extremely casual while 1 and 2 are more for experienced players.
Start with HoMM2.
Then M&M6.
Then HoMM3.
Then M&M7.
Then M&M8 if you want to.
Then, if you're sold on the concept, M&M3-5.
If you just want the roleplaying part, M&M6-8 in order.
>>2758454
>missing out on M&M2
A grave mistake
Try M&M 1. If you enjoyed it, play M&M2.
Try M&M 3. If you enjoyed it, play M&M4 and M&M5.
Try M&M 6. If you enjoyed it, play M&M7.
Avoid 8 onward, everyone tells me they are shit.
For HoM&M, play the first 3.
>>2759203
8 is fine. it's just the game feels like "more of the same", especially after 6 and 7, and it seems rushed on the latter part of the story. and you can have a dragon in your party.
Play VI VII and VIII, don't bother with the rest if you can't handle dungeon crawling games (such as eye of the beholder).
>>2759454
How does it actually feel more of the same? They don't give that much emphasis on kingdoms anymore like VI or VII (only quests they give are for promotions or alliances), goblins and devils are no more, it actually introduces dynamic party, create 1 and choose whatever setup you want for the other 4 (that's another thing, 5 party members instead of 4), elemental planes, and so on.
It didn't feel "more of the same" at all.
>>2758875
Who doesn't enjoy 250 monster encounters and item bonuses that go up to 63?
>>2759718
>250
Pfft, try fighting over 1000, only to have them call for re-enforcements once you get their numbers down to 200.
Is it even possible to beat the Devil Kings before Sheltem?
>>2759751
I think if you grind and dope up with enough skill potions it should be doable in some versions at least.
>>2759768
Maybe, I keep trying in the PC version. I've got all stats maxxed(cept Endurance for obvious reasons), insanely fucking powerful gear, AC through the roof, and have people chug inventories full of skill potions, and the best I've ever been able to do is take down 30 of em.
I've been thinking about attempting it with a half Cleric half Wizard party, so I can keep the damage output up while trying to keep the team alive. Eradicate is still a bitch.
>>2759203
ok, but what platforms are the best?
>>2758350
>If you're a purist that plays everything from the beginning
Start from the beginning, of course
>If you want a decent, streamlined experience
Start from MM3 and work your way up until MM8, then avoid MM9. MM3 is a wonderful little game that is really easy to play, the combat isn't too ambitious but can be resolved in like 5 seconds in most cases (no opening fanfares or needless waiting, you just cycle through attacks), the exploration is really fun and it also has some really good puzzles. It also is relatively short for a game of its scope.
>want to play the absolute best
Play World of Xeen and/or Mandate of Heaven depending on if you like turn-based mode, beautiful and colorful pixel art or flying around and Meteor Swarming people from above.
Also if you decide to start playing from MM1 onwards, the console versions seem to have automap feature in case you're impatient. Also, MM1 and 2 have more tactical combat.
>>2760058
Generally, you can't go wrong with the MM1-6 GoGPack which is all DOS versions, but bear in mind that the Mac versions of the games have slightly better graphics. MM2 on the SNES is worthwhile for the automap, the gameplay is really Solid! I played through them on PC without problems. MM6 has a GrayFace patch that improves some stuff but MM6 doesn't have gamebreaking bugs so don't worry.
How similar is MM3 to World of Xeen?
>>2760079
Have you played Fallout and then Fallout 2? That's how the transition felt for me; pretty much the same ruleset and mechanics (shooting people from afar and such), but World of Xeen has shitloads more content, and a much better user interface. It's also straight-up prettier. MM3 in comparison is much shorter and more concise, but I kind of enjoyed its "short and sweet" aspects, also the puzzles are, IMHO, better.
WoX also improves Druids and Rangers by making them generalist mages that cast both arcane and clerical spells. They kinda suck in MM3; the party you start with is enough to beat the game while not having a Natural Magic spellcaster, but you will have to find a way to water walk or otherwise get to some areas, which might include getting a Ranger/Druid hireling solely for that purpose.
WoX's portraits really suck while MM3 lets you play with Maximus, Kastore and Crag Hack from HoMM1. The elf portraits are not distinguishable from one another and the dwarves are all beardless.
WoX does not have hirelings. Granted, there is little point to them anyway, they steal XP and gold in MM3, and you only really need them for specific stuff like a bonus Implosion against Terminators or Waterwalking.
So yeah, they're overall pretty similar. MM3 is a little bit more difficult and quite a bit shorter; you can probably beat it in a weekend and then devise a speedrun method to beat it in an afternoon.
>>2760071
2 HAS an automap, as long as you have one person in your party with the right Skill. But the SNES version had a built-in complete map along with the automap, which does make things much simpler. Looked pretty too.
>>2760079
They're about the same. Xeen has some UI improvements and less (or at least more sparsely portioned) puzzles.
>>2760062
The original Mac versions are old as fuck and difficult to emulate without the proper ROMs since they were made for PowerPC Macs.
>>2761592
All lies. The first two game were made for the Apple II and after that for IBM&clones. All Mac ports were made for 68k Macs.
There's pack with pre-configured emulators and disk images.
>>2761595
Most of what I've seen for old Mac games and emulation was that you needed the proper ROM for it.
>>2761596
And the pack has everything you need.
>alright, time to go through all the Might and Magic games, I can do it!
>start M&M1
>6 weeks later, still exploring new stuff and trying to get past the broken end game content
Holy shit these games are huge. Feels bigger than Skyrim sometimes, since every little square seems like an important area.
Anyway, at this point my party is around lvl 8 and it feels like all the areas are still way past my level, but just because of some retarded random encounters.
I just I can always S4-8 out of the bullshit ones though...
But yeah, I really want to finish this game soon, I'm sure the other games are even better
>>2762018
>I just I can always
I guess I can always just*
>>2759203
Fuck you, I loved my solo runs as a kid.
I didnt even knew English back then!
Damn. I just reached critical levels of nostalgia.
I remember back when I got M&M6 when I was like 8 or 9 years old. I don't even know why I bought it, it was the first game I ever bought for my own money, and I'd never even heard of the series apart from playing HoMM 2 & 3. But I think my dad was reading The Lord of the Rings as a bedtime story to me and my sister around that time, so the whole fantasy setting seemed appealing I guess.
I knew very little english at that time, so I just ran around the world, trying to get past the baddies so I could explore the next area.
Never beat the game. One time I got far in the game my computer died on me. Another time there was some kind of bug where the circus never showed up anywhere,so I couldn't rescue Nicolai.Now I haven't touched the game in a few years, but maybe it's time to dust it off and finally beat it.
>>2762018
I've been playing World of Xeen on and off for months. I will beat the damn thing, but god knows when. I started M&M1 too but that was too much of a time sink on top of it.
>>2760079
It's similar enough that if you liked WoX you'll probably like 3. The flaws are basically the same and come down to the rather large amount of time you have to spend babysitting your characters in menus and stuff. There also seems to be more enemies that break your shit and more ways to die for no reason, and the automap isn't nearly as convenient as it is in Worlds. It's fairly subjective but I also think that the world, in general, is less interesting than either Clouds or Darkside, and all of the towns, dungeons and castles are variations on a similar theme.
The mechanics are extremely similar, however, and the only major difference pertains to druids and rangers (see >>2760105), so it's basically the same brand of enjoyment.
I'd also say that it's actually fairly long. Not as long as Worlds, for sure, but at least as long as Clouds by itself.
>>2763073
>but I also think that the world, in general, is less interesting than either Clouds or Darkside, and all of the towns, dungeons and castles are variations on a similar theme.
I'm inclined to agree, but I also spent most of my time wtfing at the inhabitants of towns such as the ghoul&ninja strange bedfellows.
im playing through M&M1 and it's great but horribly broken
still cool to have a huge world to explore especially considering that this was made in the 80's
https://mega.nz/#!SMVXyYxD!qu8elRwC0cz4pHkI5UVWTlkYGRO0kpOX_xRHK7YeMOY
Well here's 1-5 MAC versions, ported by Presage I believe. Have preconfigured emulators and all. They're generally more pleasant looking than IBM PC counterparts (Higher res graphics, MM1-2 have mouse-supported interace, MM4-5 have some new character portraits of generally higher quality) but they also have some small bugs and alterations not present in the Apple II/PC versions. Nothing too major I guess?
I prefer PC versions for authenticity myself.
>>2764576
I think 2 was even more broken, particularly due to Enchant Item.
>>2764714
In 2 it was accounted for though, and for every broken mechanic there was a proportionally bullshit enemy encounter. It's what made it such dumb fun.
>>2765461
In the end you're either completely trashing the mob or it's so frustrating that you're better off running away and hoping for an easier encounter when you reach the square again.
Absolutely no point trying to fight 250 golems.
>>2765476
>you're better off running away and hoping for an easier encounter
No man, you're not playing M&M2 right. It's all about grinding your team up to even higher power to take on those tougher encounters for the loot. It's all about the fucking high-level loot man. Don't hope for easier encounters, just grind until you fear nothing.
The only battle in the game I have yet to win is against the 64 Demon Kings(Devil Kings?) before Sheltem. Nothing else in the game can withstand my team once we hit level 30, and by 40 I stop bothering to heal during combat.
Disintegrate everything. EVERYTHING. Very little reason to use any other attack spell. Even the level 9 ones.
>>2765852
How do you fight 250 golems? They are immune to weapons and resist spells.
One or two of them are already a pain in the ass to defeat.
>>2766215
You mean the stone golem fight in Murray's Resort? I remember that one. Just keep throwing spells at them. They are immune to weapons, but about half your spells will hit anyways. Disintegrate and throw an Implosion if you really want to speed things up.
Besides, they only have 250 HP, so they go down pretty quickly. They also don't have any nasty attack magic, so the battle is more time consuming than difficult.
The only time they are really a threat is if your HP is low enough that you need to worry about their attacks. Other than that, they just take a bit of time to take down.
Now the Devil Kings, they have 5,000 HP, come in a group of 66, and throw Eradicate spells non-stop. I've found one person online who's beaten them, and he did so by grinding his team up to level 130, getting his team full Gold gear, and then using some +60 Skill Potions to force his team to maximum level(255) for the fight. He still says he ran out of MP halfway through.
>>2766606
They can spawn in large groups certain high level areas. It would take days to defeat them with spells provided you don't run out off MP before that so running away is the only practical option.
The last dungeon is just a gauntlet of 250 monster fights aside from the optional devil kings so you're going to face a shitty draw sooner or later there.
>>2765852
MM2 is about Sheltem too?
3,4+5,6,7,10
HoMM3.
Dark messiah.
>>2760059
8 was pretty shit.
Avoid 1 and 9, play everything in between, in order.
9 sucks. 1 is somewhat charming but it was made by a teenager in his garage and it shows.
Haven't played the new ubishit one.
>>2768575
>but it was made by a teenager in his garage and it shows.
Are you confusing it with Ultima? JVC was 24 when he released Secret of the Inner Sanctum.
>>2768575
Playing MM1 right now as my first M&M, I love it
The progression is terrible though, abusing is the only way to make past the difficulty curves
>>2768621
>abusing is the only way to make past the...
Hang on to that skill, you'll be needing it for MM2.
>playing M&M1
>early, notice you can have 40 food units per character, allowing you to restore your party entirely 40 times before going back to town
>think this is going to be too easy
>at first, rest every few encounters
>later, rest after every encounter
>in the end, sleep after every encounter, every loot, every door and half the tiles in a dungeon
So yeah uh, rogues don't help much against traps late game, don't they? Maybe it's just terrible luck right now
>>2769942
Use Etherealize or Teleport for doors.
>>2769984
My guys are still stuck lvl 9
I think I haven't abused skill potions + dragon fixed encounters enough
>>2758350
>What is the best way to experience the Might and Magic series?
To not play it at all.
>>2758350
You're going to need a G27 and an HTC Vive to get the full experience.
>>2768575
>Haven't played the new ubishit one.X is actually decent imo, at least worth a pirate if just because of ubishit.
>Be playing MM1
>Include a robber in my team because I guess I fucking have to due to traps and locks on goddamn everything
>fucking worthless at combat
>use robber to unlock and disarm
>fails 75% of the time
why do I even have you on my team? Jesus christ.
>>2774021
doesn't that game have savestates like the rest of the series? Percent based traps are shitty, but bearable with that.
>>2774026
It only saves when you go back to an inn.
>>2767519
He is arguably the main character in the series until the end of 5. If you haven't, make sure and read Sheltem's and Corak's logs in the spaceships on Darkside.
>>2774021
Just open them and get another cleric to heal the extra wounds or something.
In Ultima 3 or Bard's Tale you can completely skip thief classes because you have spells that do a better job disarming traps than a thief.
