"Not quite as good as M & M VI, but still a great game."

Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor is another excellent installment in the long-running PC RPG series. This is the follow up to M & M VI, which is considered by most people (including myself) the best in the series. Can VII live up to the high standards set by its predecessor?

Story: PC RPGs are typically not story-driven affairs. Since you create the party at the beginning of the game, it's hard to tailor a story around those characters. M& M VII falls into this category. There is an overall storyline that follows the main quest, but it is not particularly engrossing or revolutionary. The good news is, you are free to follow or ignore the story as you choose. The other fun part of the story is that partway into the game you get to decide whether to take the Path of Light or the Path of Dark. As far as the story line, there actually isn't much difference between the two Paths. If you pick Light then you work for Person A and try to kill Person B, if you pick the Dark then it's the other way around. There are a fair number of sidequests to complete, and there are the various promotion quests, which when completed allow you characters to advance in rank, from say Knight to Cavalier and then to Champion. These will keep you so busy that the mainline quest can sometimes fade into the background. In case you were like me and didn't pay too much attention to the main story, there is a nice wrap up at the end that ties all the loose ends together.

Gameplay: This is the heart and soul of the Might and Magic series. The controls are well laid out and versatile. The combat is real time by default, but you can go to turn based mode at any time by pressing Enter. When facing weaker foes real time works fine, but for large crowds or tougher enemies turn based is your best bet.

All the usual RPG races (Human, Elf, Dwarf, along with Goblin) and classes (Knight, Cleric, Sorcerer, Thief, Monk, Archer, Druid, Paladin, and Ranger) are available. Class selection is very important, as each class has different skills they can attain and excel in. Skills are initially obtained by buying them, and then are raised by using skill points that are earned by gaining a new level. In addition to the actual value of the skill, there are four levels of mastery: Beginner, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster. Various classes can obtain different levels of mastery in different skills, and each level of mastery confers different benefits. Unlike a lot of RPGs, the skills actually matter in the Might and Magic series, and can have a huge impact on your party's performance. Building up your characters' skills and abilities is the most engrossing part of the game, and will keep you constantly looking at their stats, trying to figure out what to advance next. There is a great feeling of accomplishment when achieving that coveted promotion or obtaining mastery in a skill.

The actual gameplay involves exploring of moderate sized dungeons, a lot of fetch quests, inventory control, and character building. If you've played any of the previous M & M games you'll know what to expect. The puzzles are few and far between, and none of them are mind benders. There is only one minigame that I'm aware of, but it is the best one I've ever encountered in an RPG: Arcomage. Arcomage is a fast moving card game revolving around building up a tower while trying too destroy your opponent's tower. The first time I ran into Arcomage I spent hours playing it and ignoring the rest of the game.

Graphics: The Might and Magic series has never been about graphics, and VII does nothing to change that. The graphics look decent from a distance, but are badly pixilated when up close. The character portraits and the monster models look good, and some of the background stuff is OK, but if you're looking for mind blowing graphics, this is not the game to turn to. There are a couple cutscenes which honestly look pretty primitive, but they were a nice reward for accomplishing a major task.

Sounds/Music: I enjoyed the music in this game, but unfortunately you usually only get brief cuts of it, upon entering a new area for example. The sounds ranged from tolerable to downright annoying. The creatures in the last area nearly had me muting the game, but the greatest danger soundwise is your own party. DO NOT under any circumstances select the red-headed female elf as one of your characters. She whines every time she gets hit (“It's just a cut, but I need it fixed!”). As far as I know the other characters are fine in this regard. One fun thing is pushing ‘Y' while strolling through town. That's the ‘Yell' command, which causes your characters to (strangely enough) yell out loud for people to get out of their way. I particularly liked yelling at the Angel Lords, but that's just me.

Replayability: I'm the kind of person that only plays RPGs once, so this is not an issue for me, but M & M VII is not the kind of game that you will want to play over and over, unless you want to try with a different party makeup, which can make for a drastically different experience. And there is the option to play either on the Light or Dark path, which leads to different promotion quests, and some different spells for your spellcasters. So a second playthrough is a good option, although the story won't change.

Overall: If you're looking for the latest and greatest cinematic presentation or a memorable and deep story you should move on, but if you enjoy the PC style of RPGs, with light story and heavy customization and freedom, this is a great game for you. There is a Might and Magic Platinum Edition available that contains Might and Magic VI – IX and actually runs on XP. It can be picked up for $20 - $30, which is great deal for that amount of play value. I would highly recommend picking up the Platinum Edition so you can experience an absolute classic RPG series.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/04