History of the Might and Magic Universe

Evolution of the Might and Magic Universe
Fantasy or a "Space Epic"Might And Magic 1 "Secret of the Inner Sanctum"

Released by: New World Computing
When: in 1987
Engine: At first, everything looked very inspiring: for its time, the game had a very decent engine and provided great freedom to the player. Naturally, all of this was written for DOS. The graphics were quite good for that era [16 colors] ;) As for the sound, it was handled by the beeper (internal speaker).
Interface: Everything is rather primitive. All actions are performed exclusively by selecting options using specific keys.
Plot: The action takes place in a world called Varna. For the most part, nothing threatens the heroes except for minor troubles in the form of local little monsters. The main task is to find the Sanctuary Inner Sanctum, where some computer specialist awaited you and guided you toward a new world — "Long live the second part!".

Might And Magic 2 "Gates to Another World"

Released by: New World Computing
When: in 1989
Engine: A significant turnaround occurred. Now the game was saturated with magnificent EGA graphics for that time. The beeper, of course, continued to work, but why would you need anything else? Also, a large number of animated images (sprites) appeared.
Interface: A cute splash screen with a pig. A menu with animated globes ))) + some beginnings of a game interface appeared.
Plot: The computer specialist from the previous part now introduces himself as Keron. Now the heroes must face a greater number of dangers awaiting them behind every closed and open door in the few existing cities. A glimpse of some mysterious backstory already appears in the plot. It becomes known about the confrontation between certain Sheltem and Korak, who wish to destroy each other. The cunning Sheltem decides to finish off Korak. He makes his way into the control center of a planetoid and, reaching the computer, redirects its flight straight into the plasma depths of a neighboring star. He himself escapes through heavenly gates to the next world called Terra. But fortunately, the heroes manage to prevent the destruction of the star by canceling the planetoid's direction. Another planet is saved. The heroes follow Sheltem to Terra.

Might And Magic 3 "Isles of Terra"

Released by: New World Computing
When: in 1991
Engine: The engine is now truly playable. We were given the mouse, graphics are now called VGA, and there is also the possibility to use SoundBlaster ;) The musical accompaniment is no longer irritating and evokes a mysterious medieval atmosphere. It turned out simply magnificent.
Interface: Everything is much more convenient now. With the mouse, you can enter almost any necessary menu. The inventory now looks clearer with images for each item. You can even move using the mouse. Character faces at the bottom of the screen, familiar from subsequent parts, appeared. [In general, everything became approximately as players of later (4-8) parts are used to seeing it].
Plot: At the beginning, we are given a letter from Korak asking us to find a certain magical well and free Morphose. The biggest and most awaited surprise of this part: the plot finally becomes clear — the entire backstory of this universe is revealed to us. And then comes the confrontation between Korak and Sheltem with the help of our heroes on Terra.
Backstory: That was the era of the "Ancients" — an era of peace and prosperity. The civilization of the "Ancients" traveled a long path of formation and strengthening. Now it had colonized unoccupied free stars and spread across the vast expanses of the universe. Sometimes flights to the next star took hundreds of years, but the culture and existence of the Ancients consisted of more than a thousand years spent in the reaches of creation; therefore, generations changed, while peace and harmony continued to feed the energy of light. Everything would have been wonderful if not for the meeting of two societies identical in goal but opposite in means of achieving it: in one of the explored nebulae of the universe, the "Ancients" encountered an equally complex and ancient civilization, the "Creators," whose goal was to settle all planets they encountered while completely destroying any previous remains of existence there. Thus began the Great Elemental War, when armadas of terrible, incredible creatures created by the "Creators" using Elemental Manipulation Technology invaded the planetary colonies of the "Ancients." In the end, the "Ancients" managed to push the enemy back from their domains. But all planets located in the war zones were completely devastated. The "Ancients" decided to launch a Great Experiment to restore the planets: they wanted to revive artificial ecosystems there for further colonization. The first such planet chosen was the third planet of the Minos system — Terra. After the war, this world had been completely destroyed — the "Creators" left only an island surrounded by lava, where their created demonic hell-spawn resided. The plan of the "Ancients" consisted of sending terraforming platforms to the planet Terra to recreate the destroyed ecosystem, and after this part of the Experiment was completed, colonize it again. In theory, the project looked quite feasible, but how could they know how it would actually turn out?The "Ancients" created a cyborg, Sheltem, who was to guard Terra from any possible disturbances and anomalies that might arise during the planet's restoration. Then Sheltem, along with the platform modules for restoring the planet, departed for Terra on the huge ship "Shikbat Zera." Time passed, the experiment approached its final success, but there is always a drop of chaos in an inevitably correct bright path: when creating the cyborg, the "Ancients" made a mistake in the program. The cyborg, realizing his power on Terra and considering himself its sole ruler, was able to disconnect from Center's obedience and took control into his own hands. Now he managed his destiny independently.At the Center, a new cyborg is created — Korak, whose main task was to stop his rebellious predecessor. At this time, it was just time for the Great Experiment to conclude and the "Ancients" were preparing to colonize planets with artificial ecosystems. For this purpose, the "Ancients" sent a huge planetoid called "Keron" into space. On it were Varnas — huge transporters inhabited by colonists. The Varnas themselves already possessed an artificial ecosystem — kind of suns possessing life-bearing energy. The Varnas were to visit planets with artificial ecosystems for further colonization. The final destination of their path was Terra. Also on board the planetoid was Korak, who was to finish off the rebellious cyborg on Terra. Sheltem, however, learning of the grand plans for his destruction, did not intend to wait and used star gates to move to one of the Varnas, and then to the ship "Keron" itself. After which he redirected one of the Varnas into the depths of one of the planets. Such is the backstory...

Might And Magic 4 "Clouds of Xeen"

Released by: New World Computing
When: in 1992
Engine: Compared to the previous part, the engine practically does not change.
Interface: A very interesting introduction, even with voice acting. Compared to the previous part, the interface has practically not changed, although it was slightly adjusted. And it became even more beautiful.
Plot: The action takes place in the artificially created world of Xeen. In the introductory video, a certain Krodo tells about these lands, about Lord Xeen who rules here and laughs at everyone. Also about the problems of peasants in these lands, etc. And if we remember the global theme, this part is the culmination of the confrontation between Sheltem and Korak. But we are just heroes on Xeen and our lot is to help the destitute and complete quests, while not straying from the main plot line and participating to some extent in the confrontation.

Might And Magic 5 "The Darkside of Xeen"

Released by: New World Computing
When: in 1993
Engine: No revolutionary changes — only a small adjustment to the already remembered masterpiece.
Interface: We stick to the established standards.
Plot: This is a kind of full continuation of the journey on Xeen. Only now the game is called The Darkside of Xeen. And an equally dark plot. Again, a journey destroying faithless orcs and goblins. In the main line of the game, something unexpected happens: in the end, our confrontation between cybernetic minds leads to their self-destruction and now there is no danger from them, and the plot turns away from this theme since it has been exhausted from within.

Might And Magic 6 "The Mandate of Heaven"

Released by: 3DO-New World Computing (now part of 3DO)
When: in 1998
Engine: After so much time since the release of the 5th part, we finally see a real revolution: beautiful graphics (DirectX), all characters are detailed, wonderful soundtracks, everything is voiced down to the smallest detail. And now it's no longer old good DOS, but a WIN application.
Interface: The interface is created in the image of past parts, only now it is simply more playable compared to its predecessors. A map has been added at the top-right; spells are now very easy to use. The possibility to take mercenaries into the party appeared.
Plot: More than a thousand years have passed since the end of the 5th part, and fate has descended upon these lands ravaged by elemental wars. The colonies of the "Ancients" prospered and constantly maintained contact with the Center. But everything would have been fine, but the "Creators," defeated in the war, were very offended by this defeat. Therefore, the Demons — Kreegans (as we can guess, since nothing is said about their connection to them). Let's overlook this so as not to spoil the global design of this plot and assume that the Kreegans are indeed messengers of the "Creators." They attacked remote colonies of the "Ancients," destroying and devastating everything in their path — such is their nature. Key space stations providing communication between colonies and the Center were destroyed, marking the beginning of a new era — the Silence... The action of this part unfolds on the planet Enroth, which also came under attack by Kreegans. Here, for many centuries, the Ainofist dynasty has ruled, which now faces collapse. While the kingdom suffers from discord, followers of the dark cult of Baa are hatching plans to put their adherent on the throne. Fear creeps into the souls of subjects; they begin to murmur and doubt whether their rulers have lost the sacred artifact that grants power. Your heroes are at the gates — now they will decide the fate of this kingdom: dangerous adventures in dungeons, investigations of the cruel cult of Baa, and study of royal court intrigues await them. A very well-thought-out non-linear plot — a mass of quests and tasks. (Having played out the main space scenario, we descend to local disputes in a very specific place — on one of the continents of Enroth).

Might And Magic 7 "For Blood And Honor"

Released by: 3DO-New World Computing (now part of 3DO)
When: in 2000
Engine: The already proven engine from Might And Magic 6 is used to its full extent. However, the graphics became a bit more colorful — after all, a year has passed.
Interface: Slightly refined game interface — it became more convenient. This applies to the map, quests, and spellbook.
Plot: The action unfolds on one of the continents of Enroth — Antagarich, more precisely in the kingdom of Erathia itself. Our heroes, having visited Varna, Keron, and Terra, now learn that somewhere here on Enroth, heavenly gates can be found leading straight to the center of the vanished civilization of the "Ancients." Besides the global goal, many adventures await us on our path, related to clearing dungeons, uncovering secrets of castles, visiting temples, and simply completing mysterious quests.

Might And Magic 8 "Day of the Destroyer"

Released by: 3DO-New World Computing (now part of 3DO)
When: in 2000
Engine: The engine from the 6th and 7th parts, which is partially outdated and requires some modernization.
Interface: Now we have 5 hero portraits. The spellbook has been changed. It became more convenient to play — everything is refined beyond the maximum that can be squeezed out of this engine. Also, a magnificent thing appeared: QuickSave — now saving only requires clicking one key... And also we now have the largest field of view — everything was removed and neatly packed at the top and bottom.
Plot: The action unfolds on the third continent of Enroth — Jadame. A cybernetic messenger of the "Ancients" — the Destroyer — flew here. He came to destroy, according to his data, the Kreegans present here and blow half the continent to smithereens. But unfortunately, they were all dealt with during the Armageddon's Blade campaigns and are no longer here. But he didn't know that — so it's not his fault. The game is quite unusual — now we choose one hero for ourselves; others will join us as the game progresses. But besides everything, we can even choose a minotaur or troll, and later in the game even add a dragon to our party. Also, in every tavern there is an entertaining "Archmage" game, by completing which you can get a prize — in a chest. Since at the beginning of the game the Destroyer destroyed everything and incited fire, water, air, and earth elementals — now our task is to put everything back in its place, i.e., appease the elementals and help everyone: for example, drain flooded minotaurs, help destitute trolls, deal with evil orcs, and help elves. On your path, you must unite everyone to defeat a great evil.
While doing so, you must unite some and destroy the rest. You will have to choose between Sun clerics and Necromancers, and Dragons and Knight. Two nations from these pairs will unite, and two will be destroyed by you. In general, once everyone is united and you finally enter the crystal to the Destroyer. There you'll have to fight crystal dragons, after which you need to play a "remember the combination of crystals" game, then we enter the "Destroyer's world" — the "Dimension between dimensions." We fight strange creatures and thunder-bringers there, and then arrive at the main character's lair. Do you think he needs to be killed? No, he will talk to you, and then give three strange riddles; without thinking long, they can be answered easily. And with that, harmony prevailed. The Destroyer will apparently fly back.

Might And Magic 9 "Writ of Fate"

Released by: 3DO-New World Computing (now part of 3DO)
When: in 2002
Engine: The engine was changed, of course, but did they do it correctly? The graphics are quite scary, and the engine sometimes shows glitches, for example, texture blending. And honestly, this engine had been seen somewhere before; could it be that 3DO didn't write it? Who knows... In general, we got something completely new, but not playable enough in the RPG\Action genre.
Interface: Well, here it is really bad. The game starts with an absolutely brazen and incomprehensible small introductory video of a ship crash and doesn't even hint at the idea of Sword and Magic. How colorfully items and the entire inventory were drawn in parts 6-8. But no — everything had to be ruined and turned into some kind of slots with barely distinguishable swords, and in general, now all items are one small cube size 64x64. The hero is now just a static image roughly resembling a human hero — apparently, the last designer left 3DO. Moreover, all graphics even outside the inventory look somewhat meager. Well, the engine is indeed 3D, but before everything was much better...
Plot: A narrative that Enroth is now gone, it was so to speak blown up back in Heroes Of Might And Magic 4 and the action moved to Axeoth — "New Planet," but now we are on another continent of Axeoth. The plot is partly based on Scandinavian myths and many gods appear here who are not typical for a space universe. But who knows, maybe that was Kanghem's design, maybe gods are inherent specifically to Axeoth. But the plot is not linked to our space universe at all — it isn't even mentioned. Everything begins with the main character's journey from Chaidian to Mendous, with the goal of buying supplies.
But the travelers' ship crashed near Ash Island in the middle of the Verrofin Sea. You and your surviving companions woke up among the wreckage of the vessel. Just as you gathered the remains of your party together, you discovered that fate intended for you to reunite the six Clans of Chaidian against a horde of invaders from the west. And what is all this for — apparently it's a new world, no longer Enroth, although this world was drawn much more beautifully in Heroes of Might and Magic — so it's just another continent.