The lost Might and Magic : the Nec PC-Engine version

The role-playing games (I-X) that started it all and the various spin-offs (including Dark Messiah).
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darknessfood
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Unread postby darknessfood » 29 Sep 2008, 08:14

Well, i like Dark Messiah. It is fun to play and it looks nice. Only problem is that it doesn't gives me that Might and Magic feel, that you get with the other games...
You can either agree with me, or be wrong...

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Unread postby Talin_Trollbane » 29 Sep 2008, 14:34

nah, Messiah was ok and fun but it isnt a Might & Magic, ubi is getting alot of flak for that one i guess :)

my guess is that sequels for Dark Messiah is all were gonna get in the way of FPV (first-person-view) Might & Magic RPG's for the time being. :disagree:
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Unread postby darknessfood » 30 Sep 2008, 08:28

Yeah, Ubi isn't doing much with the franchise. I also don't think we get to see a new M&M rpg like we know it, not even with new graphics, even that would be something to live with. Storywise, they will also never make a M&M game like there was. Really a shame. Luckily we are making a M&M X, so i guess you need to look forward to that, and we hope that, once we are done, people like it and see it as a true sequal...
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Unread postby Talin_Trollbane » 30 Sep 2008, 13:20

Yeah, Ubi isn't doing much with the franchise. I also don't think we get to see a new M&M rpg like we know it, not even with new graphics, even that would be something to live with. Storywise, they will also never make a M&M game like there was. Really a shame.
Ubi bought the franchise just to get their hand on Heroes, ordinary MM was comatosed by then after the gigantic failure of MM9. :mad:
Luckily we are making a M&M X, so i guess you need to look forward to that, and we hope that, once we are done, people like it and see it as a true sequal...
yeah i read your thread about it :)

been watching and awaiting fan-made MM projects for almost 7-8 years now (MMT, WoX2, Wizardrys MM1-MM2 remake, that german MM6 remake with a bigger world) who either never finish and die (like Wizardrys remakes, the MM6 remake and WoX2) or drags on year after year (MMT)with very little news or results so i choose to watch you in silence until you bring out a playable beta :)
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Unread postby darknessfood » 01 Oct 2008, 10:56

Well, i think you are right. But one thign that we do is make a weekly update. Show people we are working on it. Letting people know that there is still being worked on the game is nice, they can tell more people about it, and that gives us more drive to keep working on the project. From the looks of it, we really are going to finish this project, it's just going to take some time...
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Unread postby Talin_Trollbane » 03 Oct 2008, 16:40

darknessfood wrote:Well, i think you are right. But one thign that we do is make a weekly update. Show people we are working on it. Letting people know that there is still being worked on the game is nice, they can tell more people about it, and that gives us more drive to keep working on the project. From the looks of it, we really are going to finish this project, it's just going to take some time...
if om not mistaken, MMT team said the exact same thing ;)

the key is a REALLY dedicated team, that actually codes on their free time, but usually RL (Real Life) comes in the way and someone have to quit or be away for a month or 2.

but good luck to ya anyway :)
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Unread postby Avonu » 03 Oct 2008, 18:22

Talin_Trollbane wrote:been watching and awaiting fan-made MM projects for almost 7-8 years now (MMT, WoX2, Wizardrys MM1-MM2 remake, that german MM6 remake with a bigger world) who either never finish and die (like Wizardrys remakes, the MM6 remake and WoX2) or drags on year after year (MMT)with very little news or results so i choose to watch you in silence until you bring out a playable beta :)
As far as I know WoX2 is not dead so don't abandon your hope. It can take forever to play new demo, but personally I think it will show someday (and MMT too).

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Unread postby darknessfood » 03 Oct 2008, 21:48

Well, as far as i know, this is a decicated team. Whatever can be done in their spare time, will be done. If i speak for myself, i write stuff, when i can do that. Usualy on a tuesdaynight my GF is out to work, i write stuff while i can play games...
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Unread postby Mitzah » 27 Apr 2009, 17:34

Does anyone own Might and Magic Millenium Edition ? If so, could you tell us what the box contains (pictures would be useful) ? I mean manuals and all that...

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Unread postby seancdaug » 28 Apr 2009, 01:12

Mitzah wrote:Does anyone own Might and Magic Millenium Edition ? If so, could you tell us what the box contains (pictures would be useful) ? I mean manuals and all that...
I had the Millennium Edition. I still have all the discs, but I didn't keep the packaging. It's been almost a decade, but as I recall it came with very little other than the discs themselves: the manuals were all included as PDF files on the discs. The discs themselves were in a weird, cardboard sleeve spindle thingy, which didn't last very long.

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Unread postby jeff4815 » 28 Apr 2009, 12:40

Very impressive.
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Unread postby Mitzah » 28 Apr 2009, 14:04

seancdaug wrote:I had the Millennium Edition. I still have all the discs, but I didn't keep the packaging. It's been almost a decade, but as I recall it came with very little other than the discs themselves: the manuals were all included as PDF files on the discs. The discs themselves were in a weird, cardboard sleeve spindle thingy, which didn't last very long.
Thanks, that was helpful :). I was thinking about buying on ebay, but I changed my mind. I thought it had printed manuals, maps and other stuff.

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Unread postby Sure Valla » 29 Apr 2009, 10:40

Is it special because its japaneese?

Because i have seen 3 of these on Ebay :-D (english)




Anyway i most need one :devil:

Going to buy one i think....................

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Unread postby Talin_Trollbane » 29 Apr 2009, 21:49

SureValla wrote:Is it special because its japaneese?

Because i have seen 3 of these on Ebay :-D (english)




Anyway i most need one :devil:

Going to buy one i think....................
its a "hotted upped" version of the original game, watcht he pics on the first page.
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Unread postby urnothere » 05 Nov 2009, 18:01

I recently downloaded an ISO of this game and played it a bit on a PC Engine emulator. It's a decent port of Might and Magic 1, but I think that MM1 in general is very frustrating so it has most of the problems of the original. The interesting differences are:

- New intro and premade characters. Just like in the OP there's the intro which gives a speech about how VARN was made and then you get the intro to your characters. But all this has no effect on the story whatsoever so it's just a little bit of eye candy before you play the game. There is very little animation in the intro as well.

- Improved graphics and speech. The graphics are nice, I think better than the NES version so this version probably has the best graphics of any version. The speech is nice too. All Japanese of course, but the shops, taverns, important characters (like the guy underground Sorpigal), etc. are all full speech. The statues in Sorpigal, however, did not have speech.

- Other small additions? One thing I noticed was that in the tavern in Sorpigal, there are 6 rumors that you can hear, and they give some good hints. Not sure how many rumors in the original but it seems like there's more in this version. Also, I think that getting a level up does not age your characters. In the intro, it says your mage and cleric characters are 71 and 62 years old, respectively and in the original once you got up to those ages you start losing stats so I think they took that out of the game. Also, gold is pooled. I believe in the original each character could hold gold but in this one there is just a collective pool of gold for the party.

- Music is nice. It's better than the repetitive NES music (though that did have some good tracks).

- a very flawed Automap system. It has a simple automap system that is always displayed like MM2 when you have wizard eye. However, like MM2 it doesn't label anything so you have to remember where events and places are. But the biggest flaw is IT ERASES ITSELF WHEN YOU LEAVE AN AREA, which makes it completely useless. So if you're going to spend a while in one place it's ok but when you leave and come back your map is gone and it starts from scratch. Stupid.

- They made combat and leveling up easier. Your characters start off with 2000 gold, enough to buy lots of stuff, and you only need 200 exp to get to level 2 (It's 2000 exp in the PC version) and not too much more for level 3. I leveled up my characters pretty quick in the one hour or so that I played. I think the combat is dumbed down a little but otherwise it's basically the same. It goes by rather quick, which is nice.

- When you die, you go back to your last save. I believe in the original it sends you back to the Sorpigal inn but any progress, exp, items, etc. you made since your last save you still kept. But in this one, when you die it's game over and the game loads you from your last save point.

I played the game for about an hour and explored Sorpigal, the dungeon and the outside area around it a bit. It's basically MM1 with those additions that I mentioned above. It may be the best port to exist of the game in terms of graphics, music and playability but I'm in general not a big fan of MM1 (It had lots of potential which was later realized in MM2, 3 and beyond).

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Unread postby GreatEmerald » 06 Nov 2009, 11:47

urnothere wrote:It's a decent port of Might and Magic 1, but I think that MM1 in general is very frustrating so it has most of the problems of the original.

- When you die, you go back to your last save. I believe in the original it sends you back to the Sorpigal inn but any progress, exp, items, etc. you made since your last save you still kept. But in this one, when you die it's game over and the game loads you from your last save point.

The statues in Sorpigal, however, did not have speech.
Frustrating? No way! It is challenging, yes, but not frustrating. You just have to experiment with the areas you should be in and not go anywhere over your level.

No, in the original they said "you can resume your game from the inn you last stayed at (last save)", so it's the same here.

Statues aren't supposed to talk, now, are they? :D

I wonder if they have a way of transmitting characters to MM2. That kind of mechanics is what I like about the PC DOS versions of MM1 and MM2.

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Unread postby tolich » 06 Nov 2009, 13:21

GreatEmerald wrote:
urnothere wrote:The statues in Sorpigal, however, did not have speech.
Statues aren't supposed to talk, now, are they? :D
I suppose he tells 'bout lack of plaques.

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Unread postby urnothere » 06 Nov 2009, 15:06

My views on MM1 can basically be summed up by this excellent review someone wrote of it on Gamefaqs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/apple2 ... R7569.html

The game is TOO vague, too combat heavy (aren't there some multi-level dungeons that you have to go through in which only 1 space out of the multiple 16x16 grids is of any importance?), and overall just too dry. It's a big world, but it's also a relatively empty world, with little personality and nothing but mazes, traps and monsters. MM2 I played a few years ago to completion and it was a wonderful experience. MM1 I tried to play before that but lost interest after a while.

MM1 is wandering around a bunch of 3d mazes and fighting lots of combats and trying to figure out what the hell to do. MM2 is exploring an expansive world, solving quests, puzzles, lots of interesting locations (Murray's resort, the dragon cave, the two sorcerer towers are the interesting ones I can think of off the top of my head), some humor too and even an original puzzle at the end (compare it to the end of MM1, having to go through an invisible maze 5 times. ugh!). MM2 definitely has lots of combat but it didn't seem tedious like the combat in MM1. That's the difference. MM1 feels tedious, while MM2 feels fun.

Anyway, it's not that hard to find the ISO. Just go to google and type "might and magic pc engine torrent" and you'll find it. It took a few days until someone seeded it so that I could get it but eventually I got it. It's completely in Japanese but is otherwise a solid port of MM1 with lots of anime-style graphics and some neat touches, and plays very similarly to the NES port which is much easier to find.

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Unread postby tolich » 06 Nov 2009, 17:58

urnothere wrote:to go through an invisible maze 5 times
I've found that Etherealize spell shortens this journey greatly. Magic doesn't work in few squares.

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Unread postby GreatEmerald » 06 Nov 2009, 18:09

Most of that can be fixed by using the Cluebook (and, if you're really lost, Fander Treespook's site). It would be frustrating without them, though.


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