Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (2000) is the eighth Might and Magic role-playing game, developed by New World Computing and published by The 3DO Company for Windows; Imagineer ported it to the PlayStation 2 in Japan[1][1]. It is set on Jadame, a continent of the world of Enroth[1][1].
Development
- It reused the Might and Magic VI engine, fundamentally unchanged since 1998, and came out less than a year after VII[1][1][1].
- Jon Van Caneghem later said the engine and design had run their course after VI and VII and that the team needed new technology and more time, "but pressures from 3DO required us to release projects at a much faster pace than we wanted"[1].
- Paul Rattner directed and Peter Ryu produced; the music was by Rob King, Paul Romero and Steve Baca[1][1].
Releases
| Release | Date | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Windows, North America | early March 2000 (sources give 29 February to 7 March) | 3DO |
| Windows, United Kingdom | 30 June 2000 | 3DO |
| Russia: «Меч и магия VIII: Эпоха разрушителя» | 2000 | Бука |
| PlayStation 2, Japan | 6 September 2001 | Imagineer |
| Platinum Edition (Might and Magic VI–IX) | 2002 | 3DO |
Per Wikipedia, Old-Games.ru and GAME Watch[1][1][1][1][1]. It is still sold on GOG.com[1].
Setting
The hero starts as a caravan guard on the Dagger Wound Islands[1][1]. The planeswalker Escaton raises a crystal in the city of Ravenshore that opens gates to the planes of Fire, Water, Earth and Air, and the party must free the imprisoned Elemental Lords and stop him[1][1][1]. Along the way it makes two permanent choices — dragons or dragon hunters, and the priests of the Sun or the necromancers — that change quests and companions but not the ending[1].
Gameplay
- A party of up to five. Only the main character is permanent; the others are recruited and can be swapped at the Adventurer's Inn[1][1].
- Characters are created by class alone, without a separate race[1][1]. There are seven starting classes, each with one promotion, plus the dragon, which joins only as a companion[1][1][1]:
| Class | Promotion | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Knight | Champion | |
| Cleric | Priest of the Sun | the only class with Light magic |
| Necromancer | Lich | the only class with Dark magic |
| Dark Elf | Patriarch | racial abilities |
| Vampire | Nosferatu | racial abilities |
| Minotaur | Minotaur Lord | |
| Troll | War Troll | |
| Dragon | Great Wyrm | companion only, never the main character |
- The nine schools of magic return, alongside racial abilities learned automatically by dark elves, vampires and dragons[1].
- Skills rise through Normal, Expert, Master and Grandmaster; combat can be real-time or turn-based[1][1].
- Arcomage returns in the taverns with new cards[1][1].
- Dragons, with unlimited breath attacks, are widely called overpowered[1][1].
Reception
- GameRankings: 55%, the lowest in the series to that point[1][1][1].
- RPGFan gave 75 out of 100, calling it too easy, too short and unoriginal[1]. GameRevolution wrote that VI, VII and VIII are as hard to tell apart as three new golf balls[1]. Gameswelt found it too good for mediocrity and too weak for a hit[1].
- Wikipedia lists GameSpot 6/10, IGN 6.5/10, Computer Gaming World 2/5 and PC Gamer UK 27%, and Famitsu 24/40 for the PlayStation 2 version[1]. Absolute Games gave 45%[1].
- Russian retrospectives are kinder: Old-Games.ru gives 9 out of 10 while calling it somewhat weaker than its predecessors[1], and DTF calls it an exotic experiment at the end of an era[1].
Russian release
Бука published it in 2000 as «Меч и магия VIII: Эпоха разрушителя», localised by МиСТ ленд – ЮГ[1][1][1]. Хабр calls it the first licensed Might and Magic in Russia[1], and DTF notes that fans regard the localisation as masterful[1].
Fan projects
The GrayFace patch covers every language version of VIII, and its MMExtension adds Lua scripting to VI–VIII[1].
More on this game: classes, skills, spells, items, places and monsters.