Might & Magic X - Review @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun takes a look at Might & Magic X in a new Wot I Think article.

Might & Magic X, released last week, is a resurrection of the ancient first-person roleplaying series. It’s not to be confused with strategy-RPG sister series Heroes of Might & Magic, or Crusaders of Might and Magic, or Warriors of Might and Magic, or Legends of Might and Magic, or Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, or Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes. Despite the scary number ten suffix and an unhelpful patina of dull lore, you can go in cold on this one, no prior experience of the series required. That was the case for me, and indeed I’ve consciously avoided tracking what this does or doesn’t do compared to the series’ past and its rivals in favour of having my own, unadorned reaction to it. Said reaction is below.
More information.
 
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OK, that’s done, now onto the game itself at last – a consciously retro revisit to the tile-based, squad-based, first-person fantasy roleplaying games that were so popular back in the last time that alt-culture was obsessed with lumberjack shirts.

Baggy pants and baseball caps worn backwards. Baby-doll dresses. Definitely NOT flannel shirts. What is this guy, European or something? I don't think they even had these games in Europe.
 
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Well Rock, Paper, Shotgun has been degrading in quality. The site is nothing like it was last year. It probably has to to with the new chief Editor they hired.

The only good thing about the site now is the interviews.^^
 
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Amazingly pathetic; that review truly doesn't deserve to be linked. The guy is a complete tool; he even manages to compare M&M to Word of Warcraft… lol, what!? And, indeed, the article reads as if WoW was probably the guy's first foray into "RPGs" as well.

Waste of time.
 
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It's not that easy to review an old-school RPG if you haven't played one. Ever.
I agree on the quality of RPS, but I'm still reading it due to lack of alternatives.
 
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Why do you have to have previously played an 'old-school' rpg to review a game? While I thin it is important that the reviewer likes the class of games he is reviewing (single player rpg tbs); I think the game itself has to stand on its own. I started playing M&M X (8 hours; act 1 finished) and right now I think I would give it a 6 overall but with the right patches they could probably get it up to 8. It just has too many bugs and design flaws (old or new) to be great. Some of the issues include:
a) no scaling as area transition (I'm not talking about level scaling; I'm talking about being able to figure out if you are entering a high level area.
b) no way to end combat (if you escape an enemy combat never ends no matter what you do)
c) no way to flee (if a critter finds you there is no way to run away)
d) voice acting is a bit of the lame side
e) outside area is very compressed
f) no 16x10 support (my monitor is 22inch 16x10)
g) level progression seems off (might be my fault I'm playing on warrior with rune priest, mage, blade elf and dwarf scout).
h) ...
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My view of the game might change (better or worse) as i progress - I think I'm around 1/4 of the way through but I really hate this lack of level progression (being able to figure out where to (or not to) go without reloading.
 
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Act 1 is pretty bad. But after you finish it and unlock almost the whole map… It's a completely different experience.

Bugs? Yes there are a few including a crash if you play it continuously for several hours, but the game is not bug-o-rama, in fact bugs are rare.

a) not a flaw, you try to fight blackguards too early, get your arse kicked, you won't try it again when you see them… for a while. Or you mean those sceptres of doom in front of Cursed Ruins, skip them, you'll nail them easily later in the game.

b&c) not a flaw except the inability to move if hostiles are in the adjacent square

d) maybe, dunno, but since there are subtitles included, you can always turn voices off

e) good! not much of useless mapspaces just for sakes of "exploring" and finding nothing worth bothering with

f) true, that should get fixed

g) not quite sure what do you mean by this

h) excessive use of mana pots is bad design, ranged classes are practically worthless, combat design forces you to up health on all classes


Your problem is level progression, whatever it might be, or party composition? I don't see earth (healing) or light (OP armor spell) in your party and you took hard difficulty.

And you don't have to play any dungeon crawler to review another. If it's fun, it's fun. M&M10 is fun.
 
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Why do you have to have previously played an 'old-school' rpg to review a game? While I thin it is important that the reviewer likes the class of games he is reviewing (single player rpg tbs); I think the game itself has to stand on its own. I started playing M&M X (8 hours; act 1 finished) and right now I think I would give it a 6 overall but with the right patches they could probably get it up to 8. It just has too many bugs and design flaws (old or new) to be great. Some of the issues include:
a) no scaling as area transition (I'm not talking about level scaling; I'm talking about being able to figure out if you are entering a high level area.
b) no way to end combat (if you escape an enemy combat never ends no matter what you do)
c) no way to flee (if a critter finds you there is no way to run away)
d) voice acting is a bit of the lame side
e) outside area is very compressed
f) no 16x10 support (my monitor is 22inch 16x10)
g) level progression seems off (might be my fault I'm playing on warrior with rune priest, mage, blade elf and dwarf scout).
h) …
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My view of the game might change (better or worse) as i progress - I think I'm around 1/4 of the way through but I really hate this lack of level progression (being able to figure out where to (or not to) go without reloading.

Because if you don't have some sort of background on what you're writing about you risk comparing MM X with WoW and become ridiculous. This is my opinion and this is how I'd do things, but you are entitled to your own opinion ofc:)
 
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I actually don't think its a bad article. It shows that someone who has absolutely no idea about these kinds of games (which the man freely admits) can be caught up in this kind of game and like it. Isn't his point that MMX is a diamond in the rough, and one that can appeal to someone who has never played a classical rpg? I actually am very happy about it, as it might bring more fans to the series (who also have no idea what a classical rpg looks like), which in turn will hopefully convince Ubisoft to develop a sequel.
 
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Some people around here need to get laid, including me.

But I can still accept someone not being a hardcore old-school fan having an opinion and speaking openly about it.
 
When you're done playing with yourself, look at the article with a fresh perspective :)

Already did and I don't find it bad at all, just not to my liking. But that's video game journalism, you can't please everyone no matter how much you try:)

Usually, I try to put someone to write about stuff they already have some experience on for a more insightful opinion. I think MM X deserves that, and RPS should've put someone else to review this game even if the current review is not bad at all. Sorry if my opinion hurts anyone:)
 
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Already did and I don't find it bad at all, just not to my liking. But that's video game journalism, you can't please everyone no matter how much you try:)

Usually, I try to put someone to write about stuff they already have some experience on for a more insightful opinion. I think MM X deserves that, and RPS should've put someone else to review this game even if the current review is not bad at all. Sorry if my opinion hurts anyone:)

Why would you think your opinion hurts anyone?

Are you hurt because I disagree? If that's how it works for you, then I'm going to kick your ass around here, I promise ;)

MMX "deserves" that only people who have insight into the genre speak openly about it?

If you had developed your own game, would you not want to hear from all fans of it?

Lots of people with more insight into the genre have already written about it - do we really want more of the same only?

Ok, I think that's a disservice, especially considering this guy likes it.

Then again, I'm the sort of person who's interested in hearing from all kinds of people - and when they're open about who they are and what they like - their opinion is that much more interesting.

I like variety and I like to hear from casuals as well as hardcore fans. But that's me :)

Sorry if that hurts!
 
I agree with Dart on this one. (excuse me I just threw up a little in my mouth);)

He prefaced the article by saying he doesn't have any prior experience with this kind of game and is just giving his view on it.

This is a review for people that also don't have experience with this kind of game as they will probably have a similar reaction. It's not a review for people who have played the series or grew up playing hardcore pc rpg's.

That doesn't mean I agree with anything he said. just as I wouldn't go to a vegetarian for a review on a steak place or someone who's never driven a car for a car review I won't go to him for a review on an old school RPG.

I don't however have any problem with him giving his opinion and found it somewhat interesting to see the viewpoint of someone not used to this kind of game but, yeah I didn't agree with 99% of it.
 
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Well Rock, Paper, Shotgun has been degrading in quality. The site is nothing like it was last year. It probably has to to with the new chief Editor they hired.

The only good thing about the site now is the interviews.^^

I know it got worse when Kieron left, but I think they managed to maintain their still high level of quality since. What are you referring to?

Considering this review, I think it's quite fair and actually rather inspired, a M&M noob mainly writing to his own kind.
 
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I liked the review and actually found it more telling that a newbie could pick up a game like this, which is unabashedly old-school, and come out of it a fan… who wants to play more. He also speaks to the fact that the game gives a bad first impression but has a long, slow burn that stays with you… which characterizes some of the best games I've ever played (Daggerfall, Deus Ex, Star Trail, etc…). Not that MMX falls within that company of games ('cause it doesn't), but it is a game that takes some time and effort to love, but boy is it worth it.
 
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You are clearly too dense to understand (b) so I will spell it out for you in clear steps:

There are occasions where the game will trigger combat mode but the enemy cannot reach you. If you walk away no matter how far you go or where you go the game will never exit combat mode. This can also be triggered via teleport and other methods but for myself it happended when there was a barrier between myself and the enemy. You clain this is not a flaw and I have no clue why that is the case but I think the average person would find it less than amusing. Anyways the developer posted a fix on the steam forum and said they would fix it in the next patch so they must feel it is a bug even if you do not.
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With regads to your comment on (a) the issue is that for the most part the only method of avoidance is reload which imho (which obviously differs from yours) is a poor game mechanic. There should be a method by which you can escape if you realize your foe is too strong. While this 'method' is not always effective for various cases with good reason it is a general discussion of mechanics.
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Anyway many of my points are a matter of opinion and I won't argue over those of opinion because there is no 'right' answer but imho the game is not well structured and is also buggy. I contrast this to grimlock (another turn base/gride base) game and I do not have these sort of complaints. I prefer M&M-X world to grimlock as grimlock is more of a puzzle game and less of an rpg but I feel they did get the basics right where M&M X failed (and I mean failed with a capital F). The basic mechanics they can improve with patches and reading some of their acknowledeged issues those aspects of the game will improve but I generally dislike of the idea of a level 30 critter in an area surrounded by level 2 critters with no-options other than insta-death. It is counter exploration and using reload as a basic game mechanic seems plain wrong.

Act 1 is pretty bad. But after you finish it and unlock almost the whole map… It's a completely different experience.

Bugs? Yes there are a few including a crash if you play it continuously for several hours, but the game is not bug-o-rama, in fact bugs are rare.

a) not a flaw, you try to fight blackguards too early, get your arse kicked, you won't try it again when you see them… for a while. Or you mean those sceptres of doom in front of Cursed Ruins, skip them, you'll nail them easily later in the game.

b&c) not a flaw except the inability to move if hostiles are in the adjacent square

d) maybe, dunno, but since there are subtitles included, you can always turn voices off

e) good! not much of useless mapspaces just for sakes of "exploring" and finding nothing worth bothering with

f) true, that should get fixed

g) not quite sure what do you mean by this

h) excessive use of mana pots is bad design, ranged classes are practically worthless, combat design forces you to up health on all classes


Your problem is level progression, whatever it might be, or party composition? I don't see earth (healing) or light (OP armor spell) in your party and you took hard difficulty.

And you don't have to play any dungeon crawler to review another. If it's fun, it's fun. M&M10 is fun.
 
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The review was pretty fair, in my opinion. The reviewer, however, went a little overboard expressing his contempt for old school games and the old school gamers who like them (and I highly doubt he did that with XCOM). He also failed to understand that what he was saying he liked wasn't "old school", but simply good game design. Modern era gamers aren't used to being challenged. As a result, they aren't used to feeling like they've actually accomplished anything as they progress through a game they couldn't lose at even if they were trying.
 
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