I’m going to start off with a more text-heavy Let’s Play, mostly because I can’t video to actually record for MM7 without it horribly breaking and I just don’t feel like it. Maybe if I actually had any readers for my blog to speak of. :P
Background
Might and Magic VII is a First-Person Action-RPG for the PC, released back in 1999. It is on my list of favorite games, although pretty far down the list. Strangely, while I’ve certainly slaughtered the game, I’ve actually not beaten it nearly as much as most people would think.
The general idea behind the game is that you typically create some form of a balanced party between “Might” (melee/weapon oriented) and “Magic” (healy/buffy/explody oriented) and play through the game stumbling along a decently large number of side quests on the way.
I’m.. not going to play it that way. You see, I like playing these type of games with oddball parties that challenge me. In MM6, for instance, I played with a half dead party and the other half of the characters being amongst the worst in the game. I actually stopped because it stopped being fun – who knows, I might do that here. This game, on the other hand, I’m going to run through the plot plus some of the more essential sidequests.. with a party of idiotic goblins.
The Party
Our party leader is Ash the Knight. The Knight class in MM7 is the pure combat class – they have all sorts of awesome ways to beat the crap out of you, take hits like a champ.. and that’s about it. They are the only completely 100% non-casting class in the game. Ash here is a typical Goblin Knight – extremely strong but has the personality and intellect of a box of rocks. 13, for reference, is the stat in the game with no positive or negative modifiers – the average stat, if you were to compare to a P&P roleplaying system. A 5 on that scale indicates that Jason’s mother obviously had a bit too much lead vodka to drink during his pregnancy, even for a Goblin (they start at 7 of each). Knights can eventually grandmaster the Sword, Shield, Spear, and Platemail. Given that I’ve never used it in MM7, I’m having Ash aim toward Spear + Shield. If you would like to play MM7, Ash isn’t a terrible character to make – just don’t do Spear+Shield. :)
Following the party leader is Jason the Ranger. Rangers in MM7 are considered the weakest class of the game, being a mix of the Knight class and the Druid caster class. Rangers start with.. absolutely no magic whatsoever and are weaker than Knights in every way (save being awesome with a crappy weapon and being better with bows than Knights). By the end of the game, they’re.. probably still worse than a Knight, but they can cast both Self-based spells (traditional Cleric-y spells) and Elemental-based spells (traditional Mage-y spells).. albeit crappily. Unlike normal Rangers, Jason is also a goblin whose mother drank too much Lead Vodka. You’ll see this as a pattern. Unlike the Knight, the Ranger is built… slightly poorly. Casting stats are both Personality and Intellect, so I’m never going to be good at spell slinging, but I can’t even do that much until I’m promoted anyway – so not terrible, but not great. Jason will be using the Axe method of melee combat.
Kathleen the Monk is the hoarder of the group, being the character I’m going to throw useful crap into her inventory for storage. Monks in MM7 are unarmed combatants that are a combination of the Knight and Paladin classes and, as such, suck almost as much with magic as Knights, save the fact that they at least get something. Monks can cast Self spells (so like a Cleric) up to either Basic or Expert level depending on what path in the game you take (in my case.. Basic). Kathleen is.. well, she’s built terribly for a Monk. Monks need personality and Kathleen must come from the same family as the rest of these goblins given her deep-as-a-puddle personality. If you want to play MM7.. don’t make a Goblin Monk, unless if you already have some healer. Even then, Monks normally don’t have any magical power until after their first promotion.
Rounding out the party is Rachel the Thief, our resident merchant character.. who also likes licking lead paint wall candy. Thieves in MM7 are a combination of a Knight and an Archer, having the power of a Knight and the magical ability of a turnip (which, may I note, is still better than the Knight and Monk). They are masters of the dagger and leather, and Rachel is no exception. I’m going to try and use the Stealing skill for the first time… ever, I believe, which is the other thing Thieves are known for (gee, what a surprise).
General Thoughts and Notes
I’m not going to be able to keep up writing this all ‘in character’ of a bunch of people with the brain activity of a dead rat, so I’m mostly going to write this from the perspective of the various NPCs in your travels when you play the game. Finally, this talkthrough has spoilers – lots of them. It is almost as though I’m reading through the entire game. :)