Might and Magic Playing Might and Magic VI for the first time

[V_K]

a granny in the street teaching axe grandmaster

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverMessWithGranny

What killed IX for me were the retarded quests. Granted, plot and writing were never the series' strong suit, but IX just crossed the line.
(and I don't know about VII, never played it, but the few dungeons I managed to complet in IX were boring as fuck)

 

[A user named cat]

So which is worse; Ultima IX or MM IX?

 

[gunman]

Ultima IX by far

 

[A user named cat]

 

[Zeriel]

What did he mean by this?

 

[A user named cat]

<vid>

What did he mean by this?

I'm no Ultima guru but it could be the fact that it's nine games into the series and your character is seriously asking what a paladin is. That is some Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest braindead pandering dialogue.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

And yet, over nine years of RPG Codex people still ask what's a RPG.

 

[V_K]

o which is worse; Ultima IX or MM IX?

I'd say MMIX.
Ultima IX can be a mildly enjoyable hiking sim if you go into it without expecting an Ultima (or an RPG for that matter).

 

[Zeriel]

And yet, over nine years of RPG Codex people still ask what's a RPG.

What IS an RPG, though?

Spoiler

 

[A user named cat]

What is a Hoaxmetal?

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

MMIX is alright, not as good as III, Xeen or VI, but not as shameful as people pretend it to be.
As for Ultima IX, I also like it in its own way, but that's just me, I absolutely understand the reasons why people hate it.
But MMIX is not an heresy as blatant as U9. Not as good as VI, VII and VIII, yes. But it's still built in the same mold.

 

[Daemongar]

I'm really not feeling the area layouts in MM7. Everything is starting to feel disjointed and random, especially the towns, where MM6 maps were much more concise and unique.

I really liked the start of MM7 though. Thought it was a really good start with the contest that quietly got new players up to speed. It continually got looser until the end, but the start was great.
MM6 maintained the same level of activity and challenge through the entire game. There was a feeling that until you saw every square inch of every map, you haven't finished an area, even though 90% of it was optional. I remember being haunted by only finding 13 of the obelisk clues and going back and going to every black spot on my maps...

 

[A user named cat]

I'm really not feeling the area layouts in MM7. Everything is starting to feel disjointed and random, especially the towns, where MM6 maps were much more concise and unique.

I really liked the start of MM7 though. Thought it was a really good start with the contest that quietly got new players up to speed. It continually got looser until the end, but the start was great.
MM6 maintained the same level of activity and challenge through the entire game. There was a feeling that until you saw every square inch of every map, you haven't finished an area, even though 90% of it was optional. I remember being haunted by only finding 13 of the obelisk clues and going back and going to every black spot on my maps...

I actually didn't complete the obelisk sidequest, is it worth it doing? After I crushed the demon queen and was thrust back out into the world, I figured it was uninstall time. I'm almost tempted to reinstall the damn game, I'm kind of missing it even while enjoying Wiz 8.

 

[octavius]

Wow, is it possible to not get overdosed on MM6?

 

[Baron Dupek]

Ultima9 or M&M9? Hmm...
M&M9 have better dungeons than VII and VIII but gamebreaking bugs can still happen. Got copy from GOG (1.3 iirc) and some important monster merged with the wall in castle.
U9 is like Limbo of the Lost but still avaliable to buy, give stronger effect when you played some/most previous Ultimas.

What did he mean by this?

Ultima saga have ~11 games in it, with exception of Underworld series - you play as Avatar, who is basically a paladin.
Imagine at the end of aforementioned saga this moment, where main character ask what's his profession.
It's like Jesus asking "what's the bible" or rusian asking "what's the vodka?".

I actually didn't complete the obelisk sidequest, is it worth it doing?

This is the only way to obtain last spells for Light and Dark Magic schools. Plus bunch of artifacts and unlimited gold everytime you open the chest (would come handy in World of Xeen).

 

[pippin]

Ultima 9 was intended as a return to form to the Ultima formula, since U8 wasn't a good game in Garriot's opinion, and it was just too different from the usual themes of the previous games. Not only that, they really wanted newcomers to enjoy the game too. The use of 3d was a way of trying to get people to try this game. One of the lead designers (not Garriot) quoted Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time as major influences for the game...

That said, you can only ask what's a paladin if you choose to say that line. It's not forced upon you, but it's still quite stupid to ask this within the context of Ultima 9.

 

[Daemongar]

I actually didn't complete the obelisk sidequest, is it worth it doing? After I crushed the demon queen and was thrust back out into the world, I figured it was uninstall time. I'm almost tempted to reinstall the damn game, I'm kind of missing it even while enjoying Wiz 8.

Is it worth playing the whole game from start to finish just to finish the obelisk quest? No.
If you had a save game with 90% of that quest done, would it annoy the hell out of you to finish the game but not finish that quest? ABSOLUTELY!

 

[A user named cat]

I did keep my saved game but I actually ended up reinstalling MM7 instead to give it another chance with a different party. I'm finding that a thief is basically required with gold being so scarce near the beginning and with how damaging treasure traps are. I read that they actually end up being the biggest melee damage dealers in the game too when you find a specific knife.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I did keep my saved game but I actually ended up reinstalling MM7 instead to give it another chance with a different party. I'm finding that a thief is basically required with gold being so scarce near the beginning and with how damaging treasure traps are. I read that they actually end up being the biggest melee damage dealers in the game too when you find a specific knife.

Monk is better imo and they are good at traps with their ninja promotion if you follow the evil path.

 

[A user named cat]

I did keep my saved game but I actually ended up reinstalling MM7 instead to give it another chance with a different party. I'm finding that a thief is basically required with gold being so scarce near the beginning and with how damaging treasure traps are. I read that they actually end up being the biggest melee damage dealers in the game too when you find a specific knife.

Monk is better imo and they are good at traps with their ninja promotion if you follow the evil path.

What about stealing though? Isn't that a thief-only skill? Spells and equipment are pretty expensive early on, and even during my last play attempt, I wasn't rolling in gold even after almost clearing Harmondale.

Edit: Nevermind, just learned you can't even steal spell books. Well damn, I guess I should go with a monk then instead.

 

[Cyberarmy]

What about stealing though?

Good monk can steal but onyl at normal level, ninjas can upgrade it but to which limit I don't remember.
Also monks are good without gear so that'll help on the gold side

 

[A user named cat]

All the skill restrictions in MM7 are pretty annoying but I suppose it adds some Sawyer balance and difficulty compared to MM6. Perhaps I'm used to being spoiled with more player freedom. Not being able to even learn the Fly spell without first doing the whole wizard promotion quest is just grating. Sorcerer unable to learn body building is cruel as well plus many of the other shackles and brick walls you run into when trying to expert/master, only to find certain classes can't even do so.

 

[duchU]

You know skill class/advanced levels restrictions from the beginning (white/yellow/red colors when clicking with RMB on a skill) so it's only about good planning which involves skills distribution between the party members.

 

[Snorkack]

I agree that VII is inferior to VI in every way except character progression. Phantasmal , if you haven't already done so, I'd advise you to rather play the earlier MM titles instead of forcing you through VII. The maps won't get much better than harmondale. Or try to get Wizards&Warriors running, thats the game closest to the MM6-9 titles that I know of(although its probably closer to Wiz8).

 

[A user named cat]

You know skill class/advanced levels restrictions from the beginning (white/yellow/red colors when clicking with RMB on a skill) so it's only about good planning which involves skills distribution between the party members.

Ahh I had no idea about that, thanks for the info. Figured it was just a ridiculous guessing game as I kept finding out the hard way when hunting down skill experts.

I agree that VII is inferior to VI in every way except character progression. Phantasmal , if you haven't already done so, I'd advise you to rather play the earlier MM titles instead of forcing you through VII. The maps won't get much better than harmondale. Or try to get Wizards&Warriors running, thats the game closest to the MM6-9 titles that I know of(although its probably closer to Wiz8).

At most I'll likely give World of Xeen a better go some day but last I tried, I couldn't get into it. World felt too empty, too many clunky DOS-era quirks and it was step-based movement which I've soured on over the years. Playing through Lands of Lore was the last time I enjoyed a game using that movement type. Much prefer the freedom of Wiz 8 and obviously MM 6-8.