Is M&M IX worth buying?

[Deadguy118]

Even though I asked this question a few years ago, I haven't failed to notice that I could conceivably get my hands on a copy of the "black sheep" of the series for dirt cheap (i.e. under $5).

So I ask again, Is Might and Magic IX worth getting? It certainly must be better than Legends or Warriors of M&M, and it's also probably better than the PS2 Heroes game (which I bought out of curiosity. Expect impressions soon). Also, it helps to tell me exactly why the game is so bad, because I really don't know much about it besides the fact that it was super buggy when it was released.

Waiting for your replies.

[Invictus]

Frankly I have never heard about Might and Magic XI .

MM9 is rather good game, but it isn't similar to previous games like MM7. Unfortunatelly MM9 has got many bugs - it's the worst thing about it. Is it worth buying? It depends how rich you are:). 5$? I think 3,50$ would be good price.

[Sure Valla]

Well it is absolutly no mm6,mm7 or mm8

Its a whole new engine and gameplay

For me:

I think you have to get it for youre might and magic collection like i did but i didn't really enjoyed mm9 - i didn't even played the game out.

[darknessfood]

I think I almost finished it, I just needed to do 1 thing. It's not really a good game, but it was a MM game, so I kept going on. It's not really a hard game. The graphics are dull, really ugly surroundings (almost everything is green) a weird pop up (shapeshifting trees all the time. Music is pretty good. But there are toooooo many buggs. If you want, you can swim underneath the stage, without doing much (just head in the water, and swim a bit and you are there). Items dissapearing happend to me sometimes (like the hammer from the monks). I bought mine for €5, so can't complain about th price/quallity. But if I were you, I wouldn't pay more for it...

[Variol]

You'll play it once and it will "mostly" suck. Then you will never need to play it again. Some of the cities in the game look excellent though.

[jeff]

First I'm assuming you meant IX, if you do buy it, be sure you get the latest patch from the TELP website. It fixes broken quests and most/all of the bugs. They had planned on a later patch that would have completed the story as originally intended by NWC, but sadly it went the way of most fan projects and was never completed.

[Deadguy118]

So the general consensus is that the game would be mediocre even without all the game crashing bugs fixed by the TELP patch?

[jeff]

It has a different feel to it, the story offended a lot, the fact it was released with so many bugs turned others off. To be honest I never finished it, though I was near the end game when I stopped. For less than $5 it would probably be worth the risk. If the first time I played it was with the Telp patch, I would have thought better of it, but that's just me.

[GreatEmerald]

They had planned on a later patch that would have completed the story as originally intended by NWC, but sadly it went the way of most fan projects and was never completed.

Interesting, hopefully some relations to older MMs? Corak and sci-fi elements anyone?

Off topic: Nice nick, Sure Valla!

[jeff]

They had talked to the part of the development team about features that were planned but eliminated as the money ran out and were going to put them back in. They were secretive about exactly what they had planned but it no longer matters as it died a couple of years ago.

[HodgePodge]

So the general consensus is that the game would be mediocre even without all the game crashing bugs fixed by the TELP patch?

Mediocre is a stretch. It should more accurately be described as but for under $5 you won't be crying too hard while you're rolling your eyes.

[Lord13]

I never finished that game cause was really
terible. If you compare it with the previous parts
of MnM it makes you angry, shouldn't carry the
MnM logo on it, as a common cRPG is just...bad.
But for 5$ I would grab it for the collection

[Deadguy118]

I see. I will probably buy it anyways the next time I bother to get something off Amazon, both as a curiosity to see how bad it really is and also for my inner completionist so I can have the prestige of owning all the games in the series.

But I really don't feel like killing the thread now. So tell me: Discounting all the game-crippling bugs, what is the biggest problem with M&M IX? Is it something like the balance issues of M&M VIII? Or is it more of a scale issue?

[Avonu]

Gimme me a brake...

Yes - MMIX is bugged, unfinished beta (or even alpha) version, the worst game of Might and Magic series, shouldn't never be released (in that state), etc. but... if you look on the newest so called RPG games (Fable, Mass Effect, Fallout and even RPG NWN2) it is still superior to them and even less bugged in some cases.
Not to mention that today players also have to fix games bug themselves.

MMIX still have plot, interesting NPCs, riddles and very good desinged dungeons. All what you have lack in the newest RPGs. In which other game you can lost direction in cities?

[Deadguy118]

Gimme me a brake...

Yes - MMIX is bugged, unfinished beta (or even alpha) version, the worst game of Might and Magic series, shouldn't never be released (in that state), etc. but... if you look on the newest so called RPG games (Fable, Mass Effect, Fallout and even RPG NWN2) it is still superior to them and even less bugged in some cases.
Not to mention that today players also have to fix games bug themselves.

MMIX still have plot, interesting NPCs, riddles and very good desinged dungeons. All what you have lack in the newest RPGs. In which other game you can lost direction in cities?

I have problems finding specific houses in New Haven (M&M VI) and in pretty much every single town in M&M VIII. Sorry to tell you, but the Might and Magic method of searching for specific skill trainers isn't exactly fun.

Also, I like all the "so called" RPGs you listed. Sure, they all have their problems, but so does the Might and Magic series (i.e. No actual Role-Playing)

[Salamandre]

Indeed it is not easy to find locations especially in MM7. But here come for different tastes. I like the challenge and dislike going through the game like a robot and having all hints under my nose. When I visit a new town in MM7 I take screens from every dialog and note on a paper the location and what it does. It takes a few seconds but it saves you hours of later search, not to mention the satisfaction of getting the solution.

I play right now the MM7 BDJ mode and he changed all the trainer/quest items locations. So it is like a new game. There is no walkthrough and first I cried for one as I was conditioned by fast play. But I must admit that without any hint it turned into a very interesting challenge. And a new game. There is no rush anyway.

I think that having M&M IX is a good idea, even if the game is not as good as previous. It still has that 3DO flavor which makes them all uniques. It will not be soon that we will play similar games in quality of creativity, and not only graphics.

[GreatEmerald]

I have problems finding specific houses in New Haven (M&M VI) and in pretty much every single town in M&M VIII. Sorry to tell you, but the Might and Magic method of searching for specific skill trainers isn't exactly fun.

Also, I like all the "so called" RPGs you listed. Sure, they all have their problems, but so does the Might and Magic series (i.e. No actual Role-Playing)

Yes, it's annoying at times, but they give hints about where you can find specific teachers and write that to your Auto Notes, so it's not as hard as it could be.

What do you mean, "No actual Role-Playing"? M&M was initially designed to be a Dungeons & Dragons game (even the name hints at that ), and D&D is an RPG classic. You don't find many more RPGs that would be more RPG-like. And it continued the D&D tradition nicely, for example, with skill points added in MM6, which is an addition to D&D in some of the later releases as well.

[Deadguy118]

Yes, it's annoying at times, but they give hints about where you can find specific teachers and write that to your Auto Notes, so it's not as hard as it could be.

What do you mean, "No actual Role-Playing"? M&M was initially designed to be a Dungeons & Dragons game (even the name hints at that ), and D&D is an RPG classic. You don't find many more RPGs that would be more RPG-like. And it continued the D&D tradition nicely, for example, with skill points added in MM6, which is an addition to D&D in some of the later releases as well.

I meant Role-Playing as in Dialogue choices and stuff like that. If you remember, M&M VI tried to do some of that half-heartedly with the incredibly useless Diplomacy skill. I'm not trying to knock the series for that, there's something to be said for focusing on the gameplay, but it's not the end-all for RPGs if you want choice.

But whatever, we are starting to deviate off topic. Now let's get back to talking about how crappy M&M IX is!

[darknessfood]

Oh, it's pretty baaaaad ...

[HodgePodge]

I have problems finding specific houses in New Haven (M&M VI) and in pretty much every single town in M&M VIII. Sorry to tell you, but the Might and Magic method of searching for specific skill trainers isn't exactly fun.

Finding teachers, trainers, quest-givers in Free Haven was especially tiresome but I had the Strategy Guide with the maps in the back. There I circled & labeled houses where the important people lived.

Obviously even the developers realized that searching for teachers, trainers, etc. was more of a chore than fun because they fixed the problem in MM7 & MM8 with the Auto Notes describing in which region the teachers & trainers could be found. Not only that but the areas were much smaller. There wasn't any huge sized towns like Free Haven in either MM7 or MM8.

I can't remember for sure, but I think the Auto Notes in MM9 also said where the teachers & trainers could be located.