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Might and Seen it Before 8

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 37 / 39
Date: March 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I was a big fan of M&M 6 and 7 (and all the previous ones), but it became painfully obvious after 2 minutes game time that New World made zero effort to make a new game. Simply put, this is M7M7 with a few new, and frankly annoying, new changes.

The first change involves the idea of the entire party sprouting from one central character (but not done as well as Baldur's Gate). This is marginally interesting.

The second difference is the new character classes. The Vampire, Dragon, Dark Elf, and Troll are added. Now whoever though that the Vampire should replace the Paladin (the fighter/cleric motif) must have been high. The one tolerable part of this idea is the new spells specific to each race. Frankly, though, its less than wonderful.

The AI seems to have improved slightly, though its weird that walking on a certain point guarantees that Pirates will appear from nowhere and attack. Also, the storyline seems a bit more cohesive.

All and all its a decent game (purely due to its having used such a good base design (aka MM6). Frankly, the designers should look at the original Might and Magic (still the best of the series), and try developing a game with a bit more thinking and a bit less formula.

It's worth buying, but don't expect anything new or wonderful.

Good gameplay, old engine.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 37 / 40
Date: April 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Might and Magic VIII is a solid addition to this series. Yes, the engine is very dated, but fans of this series will not be too put off by this. The new playable races in this installment are a nice touch, although I would say that with a dragon in your party you have a big advantage. This is because it's basic flame attack uses no spell points and does a lot of damage. The dungeons in this game are not as huge as MM6, which in my opinion is just fine. While MM6 was a superior game, the dungeons did grow tiresome. Overall, this was an enjoyable game, worth the money it costs and I would recommend it to any fan of this series, as long as they can look past the dated graphics.

I REALLY wanted to hate this game...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 32
Date: March 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

... but I couldn't.

I loved MMVI. Played it, finished it, played it again.

With VII, 3DO irritated me by using the same engine. I couldn't stand the new way they forced the classes -- it felt like they were penalizing all classes for the sake of penalizing them, without adding any advantages for this penalization. That, and the lackluster storyline and rushed feel of the world made me really dislike MMVII (enough to give it a 2-star review).

Seeing that they released MMVIII with the same engine and most of the same concepts, I expected much of the same. However, I didn't get that. Although the graphics and gameplay are similar, I got an immersive world that I REALLY enjoy playing in. Unlike VII, the quests are laid out in a very logical manner. Although the game isn't simple, you always feel like you're getting somewhere, without ever hitting one of those "brick wall" quests.

The addition of different races that are actually DIFFERENT makes the game very fun to play as well. Racial spells for Vampires and Elves are a nice touch. Being able to update your party with new characters is also great (though I'm pretty attached to the ones I have now).

Throw all of your preconceptions aside when walking around in this world -- those dragons in Garrott Gorge won't attack you the first time you see them (in fact, they're a good way to get rid of those pesky Nagas).

I know that I'll get a lot of flack for a 5-star review, but I find this game very fun and horribly addicting. And that is really what it's all about to me.

-Chris

More of the same only better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 24
Date: March 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have played M&MVI,M&MVII and now M&MVIII. While most of the game layout was familiar there were a few differences where I had to read the manual to figure them out. I liked the idea of using the same engine for all three games. There wasn't the learning curve and bugs of a new engine and more time could be spent on a plot rather than better graphics. I also liked the idea of playing one character and adding or dismissing others as the game went along, kind of like Baulders Gate. They have also eliminated the annoying problem of bumping into NPC's and not being able to get past them, you just walk right through them. There was one change to the game where they didn't have a place to get food at the beginning islands so you couldn't just stay there and beef up your characters you were forced to do some exploring before your initial supply ran out. All in all I liked the improvements as well as revisiting an old friend. If you liked the other two this game is for you.

Fun for fans, but the engine is tired.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 22 / 25
Date: March 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Day of the Destroyer is polished, absorbing fun with a slightly better plot and a better coat of finish than the previous installment, For Blood and Honor. Hardcore fans may not like the new party system, where party members are somewhat pre-developed and recruited, giving you only one true player-developed character, but that really doesn't hinder the meat of the play: exploration, stat management, and battles. Dungeons seem bigger and more fleshed out tham those in part 7, without being the excruciating ordeals found in 6. Most of the changes are incremental - marginally improved graphics, a more polished interface, a bigger viewport, and mouselook (of sorts) - so if you're expecting a drastic leap (ala Xeen to 6), look elsewhere. The graphics are showing their age terribly - 3D acceleration has improved over 7, but still look decidedly 1996. The synopsis so far? Hardcore fans will be engaged, but lightweights and graphic tarts should look elsewhere. It's good to see this phase of the series end on a solid note, and I look forward to the next generation of Might and Magic games.

An Endless Slog against unintelligent monsters.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 17 / 18
Date: May 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Having played M&M6 and M&M7, I was really looking forward to this game. Unfortunately, once I started I lost interest pretty quickly. It is so similar to the earlier games that I felt I was just replaying one of the other titles.

My biggest problem is that there have been few if any upgrades to the basic game engine since #6. Don't get me wrong, I like the basic game engine. The world looks interesting and is easy to navigate. However, some of the problems that first bothered me in 6 have become even more annoying in the later titles. Namely:

HOARDS OF UNINTELLIGENT MONSTERS: All monsters in the M&M universe behave in exactly the same way. Once they see you, they charge to attack. (OK. A few will shoot at you from range, but the principle is still the same.) No opponents use even rudimentary tactics. As a result, every fight feels the same. And there are A LOT of fights. There are so many damn monsters in this game that your finger will get sore from pressing the attack key, and the repetition gets pretty mind numbing. In particular, I got sick of the pirates on the first island. There's a trigger zone that creates new ones every time you enter it. How many times do we really want to kill the same monster off?

MONSTERS DON'T REACT TO EVENTS AROUND THEM: The game uses the tired D&D cliche of the dungeon crawl. That is, you go into the first room, kill everything there. Rest. Move on to next room. Repeat. Guards in other rooms don't react to your presence until you attack them, even if that is months later. Frankly, I would be happier if the next game in the series used a system like the one in Fallout 2, where all the guards in a complex react in a coordinated way to your presence once they realize that you are there. This forces you to use stealth, dialog skills, and to really think about who you attack and when.

THE STORY IS STILL VERY LINEAR: Basically, you have a bunch of quests you have to do. You have no real choices in who you ally yourself with and who you attack. The world consists of people you talk to and people you kill, with no overlap between the two.

THE NPC SYSTEM COULD BE VASTLY IMPROVED: You have no choice in how you handle NPC's. You hear what they have to say, then do their quests for them. I would much rather see the game move towards an NPC systme like the one in Fallout 2, which is really quite good. Your lead character's INT determines how many things he can think of to say, and his oratory skill determines how well he can lie and manipulate people. And you always seem to have at least two or three different ways to approach any NPC.

Overall, my big problem with this game is that there just isn't a lot of thinking involved, or much freedom of action for the player. You slog your way through endless fights against repetitive and brainless monsters, only to collect a reward and then do more of the same.

RPG Expert who plays every game suggests this one.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have played almost every game in the last 10 years that are RPG and this game is amazing. If you like to develop and control mulitple characters and want a solve quest/hack and slash type game this is it. I played M&M 1 thru 8, I feel that 7 was slightly better than 8, but both were fun to play from start to finish. The game starts with the creation of your main character and you can have up to five(once 4 more join). I would rather have the ability to create all five, but rescuing characters that are strong is a big part of this game. The quests are pretty easy and with the guide book you can beat the game in about 150-200 hours of game play. I sugggest you start the game as a wizard and ultimately meet two dragons, a dark elf, and a cleric to form the most balanced attack and defense combination.

The last and best of the trilogy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I finished Might and Magic VI, VII and VIII years ago, and have started to replay them. They are a bit different under Windows XP, in that MM7 and MM8 won't accept accelerated sound (in MM8 it was turned off automatically when I installed it under WinXP SP2), and MM7 wouldn't run with accelerated video either (not sure if I was running SP2 then, though, and that might make a difference). These things really don't make much difference in this game, which doesn't lean heavily on music anyway and has relatively primitive 3D graphics which don't use the latest features in today's graphics cards.

Reviewers were complaining about the dated graphics even when MM7 first came out, and complained all the more when MM8 came out with essentially the same. It's true the graphics are dated. Terrain, buildings and interiors are 3D but only in 640x480 resolution and appear to be 8-bit color; monsters and townspeople are 2D sprites, done quite well but still only sprites. But the games are still more fun, and more addictive, than other RPGs I've played with super-duper cutting-edge graphics.

It is shorter than MM6 and MM7, but I don't see that as a drawback as those two were horrendously long. While combat still tends to be hack-and-slash, I think it's not as tedious as the other two. There is more of a story line in MM8, though one can't deny that there are still a lot of "FedEx" quests (get some object and bring it to someone somewhere) which really have little or nothing directly to do with the story. I don't mind that as I find the quests fun, and of course they help the player's characters level up, gain power and wealth, better arms, armor and spells, etc. That's really what the Might and Magic series has always been about. As with other M&M games there's a certain amount of sly humor as well.

One departure in MM8 which I like very much is that instead of starting with a full party of four which once selected can't be changed, the player starts with just one character and adds up to four others to his party when and as he chooses to--and any of those others can be dismissed and replaced if he chooses. Also, there are no longer any useless non-player characters who are "there" just to improve merchant skills or whatever but actually take no part in the action. In MM8, all five characters fight, cast spells according to their various abilities, and so on.

The maps also are improved over the ones in MM6 and MM7, and now show locations previously visited where characters can increase certain skills. This saves a lot of tedious note keeping. Since the towns are fairly large for the most part, this is a big help.

As with previous games in the series, the locales are varied, interesting and imaginative, as are the people (and lizardmen, minotaurs, pirates, ogres, etc.) the party will encounter.

Highly recommended. The game should run easily and well on any system with a Pentium II or better.

Still One of the Finest Games of its Genre

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Look, take it from someone who spent hours playing the first King's Quest on a PCjr, the Might and Magic series is still going strong! I hadn't played the series since the Xeen days, and picked up VII at a store one day for kicks. I was blown away with where they had taken the game. It didn't take me long to track down a copy of VIII. The engine may "seem a little dated" but I feel it's the best tool for the job, and the graphics are still very nice and clean. The "movies" in the game are well done and many other little details like change-of-day and light sources makes it all the better.

Everything you want from a RPG and more; little inside jokes for past MM players and great story lines. If you're looking for hours (perhaps weeks depending on your devotion) of non-stop slashing and casting and stealing and adventuring, look no further.

Best in the series and yes a 5-star review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is one of few games that are really worth playing. I played mm 6 and mm7 and this one really is the best in the series. Not only the graphs (although it's a dated engine used)are better and improved but it's also the first might & magic whith a really good and exciting storyline, it always gives you the feeling you're getting somewhere... Mm6 was very good with the best musical score of any game I ever heard (mm8 music is also quite good), I disliked might and magic 7 (the worst of the series, bad music ridiculous storyline and ugly -really ugly- maps and towns...), but I never expected that MM 8 would be that damn great. Although not every town looks as beautiful as New Sorpigal (MM6, still my favourite map)this world is really intruiging. What I like the most in MM8 is that you begin with only one character and can play with lots of non-human creatures.
Worth your money, I guess

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