Spring announcement Might & Magic 10: Legacy sounded like thunder from a clear sky, but its rumblings were exceptionally caressing to the ear. It would seem that such old-believer RPGs, where a party of heroes explore the world with a view from their eyes and beat up lizards, spiders and skeletons in a step-by-step mode, are made today only by fans in their free time from work or study, and by independent developers (how can one not remember Legend of Grimrock). And herself Ubisoft after a not very warm reception, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 seemed to have decided to finally transfer the famous gaming universe into online and free-to-play mode – it was for this purpose that the shareware action/RPG was announced Might & Magic: Raiders and browser Might & Magic: Heroes Online. And is it really the unexpected return of the classics?? IN Ubisoft They assured that this was exactly what would happen, but after what they did with the sixth “Heroes”, not everyone believed them. Early version Might & Magic 10: Legacy partially dispels these doubts, but leaves a number of important questions..

Such things as personality and speed have disappeared from the set of characteristics, and the perception parameter is now responsible solely for the accuracy of ranged attacks.

All familiar faces

What awaits us is a classic RPG style Might & Magic, it becomes clear already in the start menu, which offers you to choose three options for creating a party: by default, generate the composition randomly or do everything yourself. Naturally, we chose the latter option and immediately discovered that the role-playing system Legacy generally fits into tradition, although it has not avoided (at least for now) some abbreviations.

As in most games in the series, the party includes a maximum of 4 main characters, which can represent familiar characters Might & Magic races: humans, dwarves, elves and orcs. Each of them, of course, has its own advantages: for example, orcs deal increased damage to demons, dwarves receive two additional health points with each level, elves have bonuses to evading attacks, and humans start the game with additional skill points.

The latter are divided into groups. Some are responsible for the mastery of different types of weapons (there is a sword, dagger, mace, spears, bow, crossbow, axe), others are responsible for the magical arts (a total of 7 schools are represented, including the magic of water, earth, air, fire, dark witchcraft). The third ones, united under the guise of “Miscellaneous”, are just as familiar: they increase the level of health or mana, the chance to avoid damage, the effectiveness of using two-handed weapons, medium or heavy armor, and so on. As in Might & Magic 7, each skill has four levels of development: beginner, expert, master and grandmaster. Moreover, in order to achieve the same expert or master, it is not enough to have free skill points – you also need to find the appropriate teacher and pay him money.

The starting skill set depends on the https://silkbingocasino.co.uk/login/ character class. Here Legacy follows the traditions of the ninth (according to many, the most unsuccessful) part of the series. There is no free choice of specializations. Each race has access to three basic classes, which then, subject to certain conditions, can be “pumped up” to more advanced options. Thus, human mages can become archmages, elf archers can become wardens, orc barbarians can become warmongers, and dwarf defenders can become masters of shield guards.

Some people, of course, will not like this system, but in general it does not greatly infringe on freedom: 12 classes for 4 races plus different conditions for obtaining prestigious classes – this is quite enough to enjoy character development. Much more worrying is the absence in the game of many classic skills for the series: repair, trade, detection and deactivation of traps and hidden doors, alchemy, training, theft. And this ultimately affects the gameplay in a bad way.

Returning home

However, at first the game is extremely pleasing. The very first minutes seem to take you back to the happy time of childhood and adolescence, when the trees were big and computer role-playing games were exciting, real and complex. Not much has changed here; except that nice modern graphics have been added. We still move strictly through the cells with a view from our eyes (you can only go forward-backward-left-right and turn 45 degrees) and fight spiders, bandits and the undead in a step-by-step mode, where all participants in the fight hit, defend themselves or use spells in turn.

At the very beginning of the game, our group of adventurers, known as raiders (so Ubisoft clearly trying to build bridges with the future Might & Magic: Raiders), is greeted by a resident of the coastal town where they landed after a long swim, and offers to take them on an excursion – so to speak, to show them the local attractions. But for fans of the series, everything is familiar even without him. Here is a blacksmith’s house, where you can buy new weapons and repair old ones, here is a tavern where you can spend the night to restore strength and health (a daily cycle is implemented here, and sleep-deprived fighters receive penalties to their characteristics), here are the shops of a magician, a healer and an armorer, a training room, a local garrison. And finally, a church where you can revive wounded and unconscious heroes, cure them of illnesses and resurrect the dead (having lost health points, characters first lose consciousness, and if they continue to receive damage, they die after a while).

Even if 11 years after the release of the ninth part you forgot about the existence of the series Might & Magic, hands and instincts still remember. By pressing the R key, the party sets up camp for the night even in an open field or on the street – however, for this, as before, you need to have supplies, which are replenished in the tavern. The traditional option for the series to take an additional character into the party, who will not directly help in battles, but will give bonuses, is also in place. Thus, a local scout will help you quickly and efficiently study enemies in order to discover any Achilles heel they have.

Heroes on the run

Might & Magic 10: Legacy quickly draws you into its networks – primarily due to the great opportunities for exploring the world. The region of Ashan, completely new for the series – Agyn Peninsula – attracts the true adventurer with abandoned temples and extinct lighthouses, dark caves where you can stumble upon a sad Cyclops guarding treasures, dangerous bandit camps, cemeteries full of ghosts, cities, towns and castles.

In addition to studying monsters, here you can collect some ancient books with local legends, knowledge and even poems, look for treasure chests and, of course, complete numerous quests. The plot assumes that our raiders, who arrived on the lands of Agyn Peninsula to fulfill the last will of their leader, will find themselves embroiled in political squabbles in Kartal, the largest city in the region. However, as soon as the players leave the first village they encounter, the scriptwriters set them free and quickly load them with numerous side quests.

Traditional quests: take flowers to a grave, light an extinguished lighthouse, find some lost item or treasure, defeat a gang of bandits. And in general in Legacy the spirit of vintage “old school” RPGs is felt. For example, all these tasks, common for the genre, are handed out by NPCs who are tightly chained to the ground, who, unlike their colleagues from the series Gothic, do not imitate increased vital activity, do not fetch water and do not forge swords in front of everyone.

But this does not mean that everything here is dry and conventional. Residents willingly enter into dialogue, share rumors, knowledge and funny stories. Yes, and humor is not alien to them. In the tavern they will tell you about the attack of goblin pirates, one of which now works in the local kitchen (you can ransom him if you wish), and the leader of the guards, giving the first story quest (naturally, to prove your strength and defeat someone!), will reassure: they say, this will not be the task “Rats in the Basement”… it is called “Spiders in the Sewers”!

And everything would be fine, but so far the impression of the game is spoiled by obvious problems with balance. If they are not yet so noticeable at the Adventurer difficulty level, then all true fans of the series who have chosen Warrior will quickly see that without repair skills, alchemy and the Town Portal spell (we never discovered it), the game turns into continuous races from the city to the first major fight and back. Enemies literally do not allow you to walk in peace, the healing potions of the only healer in the settlement are not replenished, equipment breaks incredibly quickly, day turns to night in five minutes, the heroes are constantly whining from fatigue, and constant visits to the city quickly deplete their cash supply – this is where trading and theft skills would come in handy.

However, we will not draw final conclusions based on the earlier version. Naturally, the authors will still work on the balance, and some skills and spells may be returned – if the community urgently asks them about it. The main thing is that the creators are not trying to simplify and “casualize” everything by including some newfangled social network with a hidden microtransaction system in the game, but, on the contrary, are trying to reproduce the “old school” spirit of the series. So in 2014 we will see a real return of the classics, of which there are few today. Straight from childhood.