Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

"A solid RPG plagued by repetiveness..."

After the main Might & Magic series had been dormant for years, Might & Magic 6 - The Mandate of Heaven (MM6 from now on) was a completely new game. The old square based maps and turn based system have been replaced with a 3d environment and a real time engine. The game still has a first person view, but other than that, there have been fundamental changes to the original Might & Magic formula.

MM6 can therefore be considered a ''new start'' in the series. The storyline is based on that of a game in the subseries, Heroes of Might & Magic. Here we learned of the Succession Wars between the two sons of King Ironfist of Enroth. MM6 plays several years after the Succession Wars. Trouble is brewing in Enroth again, and this time it's up to a party of adventurers to save the realm.

Naturally, you are in control of said adventurers, and your goal is to guide them through Enroth, carving up monsters, completing quests, improving your skills and equipment, and eventually seek out and destroy the evil behind Enroth's troubles.

GRAPHICS
There have been several years between MM5 and MM6, and the changes to the graphics engine have been spectacular. The landscape is now three-dimensional, and quite detailed. Every overland area (there are about 12 of them) comes with hills, water, pits, trees and other terrain features. They don't all look the same, either. In the middle of Enroth, you can expect to encounter grassy plains and fields. In the north, you will see a lot of snow, and in the southwest, a large desert. There is also a swampy area full of undead and, around the center of all of Enroth's troubles, a large wasteland full of dead vegetation. Weather effects are limited to day and night, snow in the northern parts of Enroth, and the occasional fog. Most weather effects are only for fun and have no real effect on the game, although the terrain you are travelling does affect how much food you need to bring with you, and the passing of day into night and vice versa has some effect on spellcasting.
The terrain in MM6, both outside and in dungeons, is mostly detailed and good-looking. When you enter a building in town, you get to see a non-interactive picture of the inside. These are usually well-drawn too, with a few stunning ones.

The graphics are a mixed bag, however. Monsters do not look quite as spectacular. They have been drawn in 2d and don't look so well against a 3d background. They always go through the same sequences of moves, and if they come in large groups (and they usually do), it gets boring to see all 20 of them move in exactly the same pattern over and over again. Although some of the monsters look good by themselves, placing them against a 3d background produces an odd effect. At first I thought this was the result of suddenly deciding to change the graphics engine halfway in the development of the game, but since the same system is used again in MM7 and 8, it is probably intentional.

The game has a few cutscenes as well. Read few as 'three'. There's the intro (good length and nice effects), a scene halfway which is unfortunately very short, and another scene at the end of the game which is decent, but a meager reward for all your hard work.

SOUND
The music of MM6 is stunning. It lends a medieval, magical
atmosphere to the game, precisely what I like to see (or rather hear) in RPGs. There aren't quite as many tunes as there are areas, so you'll be hearing the same tunes many times. The designers had a creative solution for this: each tune (which last up to three minutes or so) plays only once when you enter a new area, after which it is not repeated. This way, there is no complete music coverage, but the tunes do not get annoying too quickly either. And thankfully, you can always turn the music off. That's a feature I miss in console RPGs.

Sound effects are decent, ranging from the grunts of enemies and various sound effects associated with spellcasting (most spells can be recognized by the sound alone) to the clanging of metal in the local smithy. The sound of explosions, heard frequently by those who carelessly mix potions, is a little disappointing.
The game has voice acting as well. Most talking is done with text, but your party members all talk a little, and you usually hear a line of text upon entering a building. Most voices sound good, and some of your characters can be quite amusing.

GAMEPLAY
Previous Might & Magic games allowed up to six characters in your party. MM6 makes a big sacrifice by reducing this number to four, and has also limited the available classes and races. Only human characters may be created, and there are six classes to choose from. The Knight is the powerhouse fighter, the Cleric is the expert of Self magic (Body, Mind and Spirit) and the Mage is skilled in the arts of Elemental magic (Fire, Air, Earth and Water). The Paladin and the Archer are mixed classes, combining some of the Knight's strength with some of the Cleric's and Mage's magic. The Druid, finally, is a weak fighter, but the only class who has access to both Self and Elemental magic.

Although the number of available races and classes is low compared to previous Might & Magic games, MM6 makes up for it with a brand new skill system. All types of weapons, armour, magic and a few miscellaneous abilities each have a skill associated with them. For example, weapon skills include Sword, Mace and Axe. In order to be able to use a certain weapon, a character must know the proper skill. Someone without any Sword skill is simply not allowed to use a sword. Mages are not allowed to learn the Sword skill, hence you will never be able to equip a Mage with a sword.

How good a character is with his sword depends on two things: the number of skill points he has invested in the skill, and his level of mastery. This warrants some explanation.
When a character first learns a new skill, he has 1 skill point in it. Whenever a character gains a level, new skill points are gained and may be divided among his skills. The higher the skill is, the more points are needed to increase it.
In the case of the Sword skill, a character's chance to hit with a sword is increased for every point he has put into this skill. A character with Sword skill 4 will have an easier time hitting targets than a character whose skill level is only 1.
However, in order to become truly skilled with a sword, a character needs to become Expert or Master with it. For this, he needs to get a certain number of skill points (4 for Expert, 8 for Master), then find a teacher for the skill. By becoming an Expert or Master, the character can do more with his Sword skill points than just increase his chance to hit. An Expert with the Sword skill does not just have a higher chance to hit, but can also strike more quickly.
For this reason, a character with 8 skill points but no Expert rank is less effective with a sword than a character with 8 skill points who does have the Expert rank. The same goes for all skills, and therefore it is important to build skills and find the appropriate teachers.

Skills are not the only thing a character should build up. For each character type, there are two promotions which are given for completing certain tasks. A Knight, for instance, can be promoted to Cavalier. After that, he can receive a promotion to Champion, his ultimate rank. As characters gain promotions, they gain a vast number of extra hit points and spell points (or in the case of the Knight, just hit points). Also, certain promotions are required to be trained to Master level. For instance, a Mage may only receive Master training in the Air Magic skill once he has become an Arch Mage.

MM6 is a mostly non-linear, quest-based game. This means that you are frequently given tasks to perform, and it is mostly up to you in what order you do them. These quests fall into three categories: the story quests (which must be completed to win the game), the promotion quests (which are needed to get promoted) and, the largest group of the three, the optional quests, which gain you extra experience, gold and sometimes other rewards, but may be skipped as well. Typically, your quest log will be full of different quests to complete, and it is up to you in what order you wish to do them. Of course, you'll need to complete easier ones first in order to build enough power for the harder ones, but there's no predetermined order.
After you have completed the main story quests and won the game, you may still continue to explore the world and complete what optional quests you haven't done yet.

Although the non-linearity of MM6 can be considered an advantage in many ways, it can also confuse players. There is no easy way to determine a good order to do quests in, except to simply try. Often, a player could wander into an area that is far too dangerous at that point in the game, and death can come easily then. Fortunately, if the player is defeated, his party is restored and he is allowed to continue his adventure from the starting point of the game, but the price for this service is losing all your gold. Therefore, saving frequently, especially before entering new, unknown areas, remains a must.

In combat, the player has a choice between real time and time based modes. You can switch between these at any time by pressing Enter. In real time, you can move around, dodging arrows and spells, and making hit and run attacks. In turn based mode, you have time to plan ahead, select spells, and hit monsters with arrows since they cannot move out of the way now.
Unfortunately, by switching correctly between the two modes, the player can exploit a weakness in the AI's responsiveness and cheat many opponents out of their victories. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't almost a requirement to win most battles. Now, however, you'll often find yourself devising creative ways to switch between the two modes at the right time. I don't think that was really the intention of the game's creators, but that's what happens in practice.

DIFFICULTY
Might & Magic has never been the easiest RPG series around, and this game is no exception. From start to finish, you'll fight large hordes of monsters, and this can get overwhelming at times. Some dungeons in particular are very nasty. There are outdoors areas which are tough to survive as well, but acquiring the Fly spell early will help you avoid most of the danger there. Fly does not work in dungeons.

A few puzzles exist in the game, but nothing too special. Most of the challenge comes from fighting, properly assigning skill points, and wisely spending gold. Even near the end of the game, gold can be hard to come by, because the cost of training high level characters skyrockets.

As is so often seen in RPGs, the difficulty of the last dungeon is disappointing. Admittedly, the two dungeons before that are insanely difficult; the first is long and mazelike, the second has incredibly powerful adversaries. The last area, however, is relatively easy to complete. Winning the game is still satisfying, though.

FLAWS
Although MM6 is a lengthy and overall fun RPG, it has a few significant flaws which should not go unmentioned. First, there's the issue of 2d monsters against a 3d rendered background. Compared to all the other graphics in the game, the monsters tend to be ugly as a result. And considering how many monsters you'll be meeting, the impact of this in the graphics department is large.

Secondly, and more importantly, this game suffers from repetiveness. This seems to be an incurable disease in long games, but that is no excuse. Especially for those who aren't too hot on the first person perspective to begin with, the game can get boring after hours of hacking through hordes of similar monsters, completing yet another quest and getting two new ones, and slowly building up your characters. The solid skill system and the addictiveness of the game do much to ease the pain here, but this is still a game that requires patience.

CONCLUSION
With both good and bad points, but the good mostly outweighing the bad, Might & Magic 6 is a decent RPG all around. Might & Magic fans should definitely check it out. I would advise fans of other RPG types to try and get a look at it first before deciding.
When MM6 was still at its full price, one might argue that it wasn't worth the buy. Now, however, this game can be found in a cheap 'classic edition' box, and as part of the ''Might & Magic Millennium Edition'' containing Might & Magic 4-7. At that price, I can definitely recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/00, Updated 12/05/00