Might and Magic X: Legacy

[BloatedGuppy]

Anyone playing this? I know Grimrock was reasonably popular here, and Legacy is a bit like Grimrock +.

I got it after reading the glowing review of it at RPS, despite some reservations resulting from a pretty woeful Metacritic score and rumors of terrible performance issues and difficulty problems. And so far I've actually enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm old enough to remember playing the games it was inspired by, so the tile-locked movement is more nostalgic boon than galling throwback. I've found it really easy to settle into for long play sessions, and hard to put down. And it's really not THAT difficult at all. It has a pleasing retro charm.

The performance issues though...oy vey. How a game that looks like it does can justify running that bad is beyond me.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I've been meaning to buy it, but I've been having money troubles (AGAIN) lately.I loved the Xeen games, and I played them for the first time last year, so I doubt the retroness will bug me at all.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I've been meaning to buy it, but I've been having money troubles (AGAIN) lately.I loved the Xeen games, and I played them for the first time last year, so I doubt the retroness will bug me at all.

I think the major changes from old school Might and Magic would be limited enemies (maximum three per "square" at a time, they fight you as individuals, not as a huge mob ala M&M or Bard's Tale) and no respawns. The latter seemed to really bug some of the Might and Magic grognards, as there is no ability to go level up off trash and come back to revisit a tough fight. The game is pretty heavily encounter gated. There's so much XP per "area" and that's it, you either make it work or you're boned. Fortunately there seems to be a lot more leeway in terms of how you do that than I initially feared. I think you'd have to be quite the RPG neophyte to gimp yourself too badly.

 

[DoPo]

I must say - while the quality of the M&M games Ubisoft have release varies, I am actually pleased with what was produced, so when M&MX was announced, I put it down as a "almost must buy" and after not hearing too negative things about it, it's a "must buy" now.

So I've been meaning to get it but I was a bit tight with the money so I waited. And now I do have money for it but I'd wait again, as I might need them for something else this month. But I'll definitely buy it - if not this month, then absolutely in March. I really liked the old M&M games (though, I've not played nearly all but still). After Ubisoft got the franchise I've been waiting and waiting for them to release another M&M game. It certainly took awhile. But now they finally did.

So...this is to say I'm excited about the game but I am not currently playing it. Will be when I can. I'm glad to hear your opinion is not negative - seems I've made the right judgement about the game.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So...this is to say I'm excited about the game but I am not currently playing it. Will be when I can. I'm glad to hear your opinion is not negative - seems I've made the right judgement about the game.

Yeah I think there's enough there to appeal to people old enough and nostalgic enough to remember the originals. Newer CRPG fans will probably be left wondering WTF is going on and why they can only walk a single tile at a time.

Do be warned though, the performance issues are real and no joke. They really kick in once you finish Chapter One and start unlocking more of the map. Game runs like a hoary old goat. Framerate stuttering, long load times, you name it. Due to the nature of the game it's not really THAT devastating, but the game ain't exactly bleeding edge, so one wonders what the problem is. I sure hope the answer isn't "The Unity Engine", because if that's the case a lot of these Kickstarters are going to be depressing.

 

[Weaver]

I'm, personally, waiting for a sale. $30 just seems a bit too much for one of these oldschool dungeon crawlers, especially when Grimrock released at $15.

That said, I'll totally get it eventually as I like these kind of games.

 

[hazabaza1]

I think it looks really good and Grimrock was great so I'd be really excited except... Uplay.

If that ever gets removed then I'll definitely pick it up first steam sale I see.

 

[DasDestroyer]

I picked it up when it came out, and despite not having had much time to play it, I rather enjoyed it. The only other M&M game I've played was 8, back in the day, and apparently 8 was more of an outlier with it's non-grid-based world and being able to swap out party members. Now the grid-based thing I have no problems with but it was fun to find party members in your explorations, if a little bit overpowered at times.

Sadly, Legacy is much more linear, and while that's not inherently bad, it does mean that some mechanics in the game are kind of pointless when the only way to unlock the next town is to complete a bunch of quests and beat the final boss of the act. This is most obvious with the skill trainers. Since you used to be able to get a ride to any town, even if leaving said town would lead to your instantaneous demise, skill trainers for even the first rank of a skill could be in the highest level town, all you'd need to do is find them. However since towns are unlocked one by one, almost all of the first rank trainers are in the starting town, the second town has a bunch of second rank trainers, and I'm assuming the same goes for the rest, which sort of defeats the purpose in my opinion. Another such mechanic is getting a ride to another town. The map is pretty damn small, and unless some later quest requires you to go to a previous town or you need the trainer there, there is no reason at all to not just stay in the current town.

I'm also disappointed that there's no tavern card game and that you can't wear unidentified gear, but those aren't major complaints. Oh, and there seem to be far fewer traps, I recall always making sure I opened chests with my necromancer because had the highest magic resistance and about 30% of chests were booby trapped, as well as always making sure I had a trap detection spell(or was it just a char with high perception? I don't remember) because otherwise I'd be constantly triggering fireballs, enemy ambushes and falling traps, or missing secret panels on walls. In fact, I don't think I've encountered a single trap thus far, only some triggers that spawn ambushes but are necessary to progress.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I picked it up when it came out, and despite not having had much time to play it, I rather enjoyed it. The only other M&M game I've played was 8, back in the day, and apparently 8 was more of an outlier with it's non-grid-based world and being able to swap out party members. Now the grid-based thing I have no problems with but it was fun to find party members in your explorations, if a little bit overpowered at times.

Sadly, Legacy is much more linear, and while that's not inherently bad, it does mean that some mechanics in the game are kind of pointless when the only way to unlock the next town is to complete a bunch of quests and beat the final boss of the act. This is most obvious with the skill trainers. Since you used to be able to get a ride to any town, even if leaving said town would lead to your instantaneous demise, skill trainers for even the first rank of a skill could be in the highest level town, all you'd need to do is find them. However since towns are unlocked one by one, almost all of the first rank trainers are in the starting town, the second town has a bunch of second rank trainers, and I'm assuming the same goes for the rest, which sort of defeats the purpose in my opinion. Another such mechanic is getting a ride to another town. The map is pretty damn small, and unless some later quest requires you to go to a previous town or you need the trainer there, there is no reason at all to not just stay in the current town.

I'm also disappointed that there's no tavern card game and that you can't wear unidentified gear, but those aren't major complaints. Oh, and there seem to be far fewer traps, I recall always making sure I opened chests with my necromancer because had the highest magic resistance and about 30% of chests were booby trapped, as well as always making sure I had a trap detection spell(or was it just a char with high perception? I don't remember) because otherwise I'd be constantly triggering fireballs, enemy ambushes and falling traps, or missing secret panels on walls. In fact, I don't think I've encountered a single trap thus far, only some triggers that spawn ambushes but are necessary to progress.

There seems to be a fair amount of back tracking, largely due to lacing earlier areas with more powerful encounters you're meant to return to. Trainers are also mixed up a wee bit, but yes...there's a pretty clear tier progression with them.

Traps are relatively rare, although all secrets are "trapped", insomuch as they'll cause pretty huge damage if you don't pass a stat threshold check on the character opening them.