Might & Magic X: Legacy
RRP: $24.99 (PC) | Website: http://might-and-magic.ubi.com
A
s a member of the venerable
Might & Magic franchise (not
to be confused with series
spin-offs like Heroes of Might &
Magic, Dark Messiah of Might &
Magic and all the other games that
have been slapped with the Might
& Magic moniker), Legacy is an apt
subtitle for this tenth entry in the
tile-based role-playing series. It’s
a throwback to the old ways of PC
adventuring, before BioWare, Black
Isle, Interplay and their ilk changed
our expectation of role-playing
games. It’s perhaps a response to the
extraordinary popularity of similarly
classic-inspired indie darling Legend
of Grimrock, a way to milk gamer
nostalgia for maximum reward. And
once you’ve gotten past the game’s
shaky beginnings, you’ll clearly see
just how much love the developers
44 The OverClocker Issue 28 | 2014
have for the type of classic games that
influenced it.
However, before you get to Legacy’s
soft, chewy, delicious centre, you’ve
got to deal with its tough, repellent
outer shell, which may be enough
to cause even die-hard old-school
fans to just turn around and go home,
giving up on their dreams of reliving
gaming’s past. Even with all the might
of publisher Ubisoft to back it up,
Legacy is very obviously a title on a
strict budget. Its presentation suffers
for it, with tired, unattractive visuals
that, while workable, don’t exactly
do much to help the game’s already
awful initial impressions. Similarly,
the party of four characters that you
guide through this fantasy world
insists on spouting inane, repetitive
dialogue at every opportunity to alert
you to surrounding events, and their
gag-laden speech does little but
serve to quietly drive you mad.
What’s more, the game’s starting
area is frustratingly boring and
incredibly restrictive on the player.
Populated mostly by useless NPCs
who don’t do much except pummel
you with mundane world lore,
this stage of the game is where I
expect that most players will lose
interest – and it’s unfortunate,
because once you’ve completed a
few starter quests, gotten a feel for
your characters’ abilities, and seen
the world open up a bit to allow for
further exploration, Legacy really
becomes quite gripping. Movement
is tile-based, which can take some
getting used to compared to the
real-time movement systems of
more contemporary RPGs. Later
in the game, moving your party of