Our MMX Review

Feedback for the articles that appear on Celestial Heavens.
User avatar
Kalah
Retired Admin
Retired Admin
Posts: 20078
Joined: 24 Nov 2005

Our MMX Review

Unread postby Kalah » 06 Feb 2014, 12:38

ImageThe big sites have had their say, and now it is our turn to speak. Just added to our list of game reviews is our in-house review of Might & Magic X: Legacy.

The review is written by Tress, one of our loyal members and a real fan of the Might & Magic series.

Having had to be quite stern in our criticism of the previous instalment of the Heroes series, it is pleasing to see that the results of Limbic's efforts, while it would never produce a AAA title, does indeed seem to be a good step in the right direction. Hopefully this is a step that may lead to more, bigger, games in the future.

Read the MMX review here.
Last edited by Pol on 27 Nov 2016, 11:43, edited 1 time in total.
In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill.

User avatar
Bandobras Took
Genie
Genie
Posts: 1018
Joined: 06 Jan 2006

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Bandobras Took » 06 Feb 2014, 15:12

Great review. Gives full coverage to the game's positives and negatives.
Far too many people speak their minds without first verifying the quality of their source material.

User avatar
Marzhin
Pit Lord
Pit Lord
Posts: 1207
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Location: Montreuil, France
Contact:

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Marzhin » 06 Feb 2014, 15:41

Thanks for the review :)
----------------------------
Might and Magic, baby !

User avatar
Vitirr
Scout
Scout
Posts: 157
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Contact:

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Vitirr » 06 Feb 2014, 16:20

Agree for the most part, though I would insist more on the technical glitches and lack of performance (because for some players it seemed to be quite a problem)... and despite it all on how much fun and addictive the game is!



I must add also that music while not being great, it keeps a good standard, and I really like both the main and the Legacy themes (they both partially use the same melody). And thankfully, besides those both themes mentioned, there's not the usual repetition of music fragments all over the soundtrack as in last Heroes games.

User avatar
hellegennes
Succubus
Succubus
Posts: 843
Joined: 04 May 2009

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby hellegennes » 06 Feb 2014, 21:05

Great review!

User avatar
Bloax
Pixie
Pixie
Posts: 113
Joined: 30 Dec 2011
Location: Most likely not here. :c

Unread postby Bloax » 07 Feb 2014, 07:26

I have to agree on the music - I can barely make it out in-game and when it is there it's not quite as moody as the MM6-8 tracks.
Which just meant that I went on to play other things in the background instead. (:( )

edit: jesus christ don't write stuff like this at eight in the morning

ywhtptgtfo
Hunter
Hunter
Posts: 528
Joined: 06 Jan 2006

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby ywhtptgtfo » 08 Feb 2014, 19:09

On puzzles - I actually have to write a small script to brute force my way through the floor puzzle in 2nd floor of Enigma Tower. The devs can be a bit more evil in randomizing the puzzles so that people can't look up the solutions.

On traps - I've never had much of a problem with them except for Tower of Enigma and one of the puzzle caves near the orcs. They could've been featured a bit more prominently.

On ambush - Yeah, it's annoying. I really hate ones that have 2 Dark Mages at a distance blasting spells and feeblemind at the party. As my cynical elf girl says: "Oh great, now they are shooting at us".

On combat - Yes, much more challenging than say MM6 - MM8, since you can't really kite enemies anymore. If there are more variety of tactics, it'd be even better. One thing to note is that unless people up vitality a lot, those really large healing pots are of little use since a small or medium size one usually does the job.

User avatar
Kalah
Retired Admin
Retired Admin
Posts: 20078
Joined: 24 Nov 2005

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Kalah » 10 Feb 2014, 13:58

3lion wrote:The most important review among all media. It was very important to hear the opinion of true fans of this MM series and not ordinary critics on the payroll
Thank you!
Thank you. I also think Tress has done a great job which is important to the M&M community. :)
In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill.

User avatar
Tress
Succubus
Succubus
Posts: 803
Joined: 05 Dec 2007

Unread postby Tress » 11 Feb 2014, 07:33

Thanks everyone for appreciation.
On puzzles - I actually have to write a small script to brute force my way through the floor puzzle in 2nd floor of Enigma Tower. The devs can be a bit more evil in randomizing the puzzles so that people can't look up the solutions.
If honest , that cross puzzle in Enigma was pretty hard and since I didnt wanted to bother at that time (although I have done similar puzzle in other games) I just randomly pressed buttons for couple minutes until I succeeded. :D Puzzle I meant in review was one in air forge, which to me was extremely unintuitive.
On ambush - Yeah, it's annoying. I really hate ones that have 2 Dark Mages at a distance blasting spells and feeblemind at the party. As my cynical elf girl says: "Oh great, now they are shooting at us".
I am more annoyed on overrelliance of said mechanics rather than itself. True that combat would perhaps be too easy without them since mobs in back rows cant shoot(if that would be changed , game would lose very much in its tactical aspect) and they are extremely limited on number how much of them can stand in square in front of you, so there is no alternative than surround.

terrycrewser4th
Leprechaun
Leprechaun
Posts: 5
Joined: 29 Dec 2013

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby terrycrewser4th » 12 Feb 2014, 06:08

I agree with some points, like the difficulty of the puzzles and lack of direction to find items or complete quests. I hope people can see that this is one of the oldest tricks in the book, which is false lengthening or fake difficulty, which makes a shorter game seem longer than it really is. Any good game has no reason to artificially crank up the difficulty to keep people stuck in certain areas much longer than they need to be or spend hours grinding just to get past groups of enemies.



I agree on the music but I have to say that the by 6-8, the music was already irrelevant and I barely noticed or cared about it. Although the tracks in 3-5 were shorter in length, I found those to much catchier and more memorable, something that actually enhanced the gameplay and wasn't just lingering in the background.



When I complained about all the game's shortcomings, someone told me to play the game all the way to the end, to decide if it was a "true" might and magic game. Finishing up Act 3, I can already say that I think it is most definitely NOT a true M&M game. All I really see here is a slightly average RPG that will challenge people for many days (although through fake difficulty) and will be forgotten in the years come. I find the game extremely forgettable and not fun to play. It will be a challenge just to play to the end; not because I like it, but simply that I want to beat it. My original opinion of the game has not changed at all so far.



I don't know how you can compare it to XEEN at all; it is nothing like those games. I've been playing since the earliest M&M days and I can say for sure that it bears much more resemblance to the 6-8 games, due to the open world 3D style and loose enemy combat groups. The enemies and feel of XEEN was much more light-hearted and comical; didn't take itself seriously, often poking fun at RPG staples. The 6-8 games are the ones that began a more serious tone for the series. So if you're going to compare it to any of the retro games, it's definitely 6-8, NOT Xeen.

User avatar
Tress
Succubus
Succubus
Posts: 803
Joined: 05 Dec 2007

Unread postby Tress » 12 Feb 2014, 09:42

I hope people can see that this is one of the oldest tricks in the book, which is false lengthening or fake difficulty, which makes a shorter game seem longer than it really is. Any good game has no reason to artificially crank up the difficulty to keep people stuck in certain areas much longer than they need to be or spend hours grinding just to get past groups of enemies.
Since this is picked up, I will extend somewhat my opinion on this aspect of game. If we take modern games which contain pointer to objective like new fallouts then , yes it makes game quests shorter, but it also robs game of exploration aspect since you know where to look apriori, which in turn makes gameplay somewhat tunelvisioned since you blindly go to pointer rather than look on sides for objective. Yes it is frustrating at times as mentioned in review, I really was mad at crusaders quest at some point. For example if we check Morrowind where compass is not yet introduced, then we get ALOT of narrated pointers of where to go for each quest, (go to that town, then north then take right path), which adds additional layer to the game, and makes world much more connected rather that compilation of key points we jump between by fast travel. As additional example I would mention WoW where initially there were no pointers and contained alot more travel. By Cataclysm expansion, additions to convenience, like dungeon ques robbed game of any immersion in game and basically capitol became lobby and world was just level we visited once. Sure some exploration in Legacy can become frustrating, but in the end we can always resort to internet. It not age of wizardry 4 when there were no internet and solution to "true" ending could be kept in secret.
It's bit odd to argue on exploration aspect while defending old school games , since game back in 8x and 9x were much more cruel. There was absolute zero hand holding , and in games like Eye of Beholder you could easily make unplayable party or miss vital quest item, or fall in trap from which there was no exit, and there often was zero hints. Legacy could feel cruel and unforgiving for our times when RPG genre have regressed in state of cover shooting while we shoot enemies with auto aim, but compared to true old games it is nothing. We could even take Isles of terra. There are extreme lack of hints what to do. We can easily miss key card in glass case, or how we are expected to know half of stuff short of just systematically scouring the world and gathering the bits and pieces we need for endgame. (Xeen gave much better clue of wha to do, but still they still just told us to go and get credits/energy discs and off you go, with no real pointers where to look). In comparison Legacy is nothing, but even so it is much more than many modern gamers can stomach.
I agree on the music but I have to say that the by 6-8, the music was already irrelevant and I barely noticed or cared about it. Although the tracks in 3-5 were shorter in length, I found those to much catchier and more memorable, something that actually enhanced the gameplay and wasn't just lingering in the background.
Well music is extremelly personal taste matter, but I personally(and I have feeling that most of MM community) would disagree that Midi music of old MM in any way come close to Kings/Romero works of M&M7, whose absence would take away serious chunk of MM experience.
XEEN / Terra had good music for their time but it was sort of 16 bit era music.
All I really see here is a slightly average RPG that will challenge people for many days (although through fake difficulty) and will be forgotten in the years come
Well its personal taste and I can fully accept that people may not like some game, still considering lack of games in said game segment I believe it wont be forgotten that easily. Well time will tell.

User avatar
Torur
Conscript
Conscript
Posts: 209
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: Faroe Islands

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Torur » 13 Feb 2014, 11:37

So far I'm really enjoying this game. I'm still only in act II, but I'm really enjoying the experience.



So far there are only 2 things that bring down the enjoyment of the game. The diffeculty or timeconsuming task of finding the right trainers and the drop in framerates at a regular basis(My computer is more than powerfull enough to run the game).



I really like the return to grid based movement and TB battle system.



btw, great review.
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
"George S. Patton, Jr."

ywhtptgtfo
Hunter
Hunter
Posts: 528
Joined: 06 Jan 2006

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby ywhtptgtfo » 15 Feb 2014, 20:16

So Maz, there are plans for more right? Expansions remakes (of MM1-5), and/or sequels etc, etc, etc

User avatar
Marzhin
Pit Lord
Pit Lord
Posts: 1207
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Location: Montreuil, France
Contact:

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Marzhin » 15 Feb 2014, 22:07

@ywhtptgtfo: right now we are putting the final touches to the first patch and then move on to the DLC (the one buyers of the deluxe edition will get for free.) Beyond that, nothing is decided. It will depend on sales. But we all certainly hope we'll get to do a Might & Magic 11 before too long.
----------------------------
Might and Magic, baby !

User avatar
Ya5MieL
Marksman
Marksman
Posts: 428
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Location: Kutjevo, Croatia

CH MMX: Legacy Review

Unread postby Ya5MieL » 15 Feb 2014, 23:20

Just wondering, what is the scope of DLC? hopefully its at least roughly the size of early access.



Also hoping that the jassad quest fix can somehow award the relic even to those with finished quest (it pains my collector heart not to have it)



The review seems to match most of my impressions. All in all, it shows that a quality game can be made even with limited resources :)


Return to “Articles”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests