Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (1993) takes the party to the other side of Xeen and closes the story of the Guardian Sheltem that began with the first game[1][2]. Installed together with Clouds of Xeen, the two games join into one: World of Xeen[3][1].
Releases
| Platform | Released | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| MS-DOS | 1993 | New World Computing |
| PC-98, FM Towns | 1993–1994 (Japan) | StarCraft |
| World of Xeen CD-ROM (DOS) | 1994 | New World Computing |
| World of Xeen (Macintosh) | 1994–1995 | New World Computing; port by Presage Software |
Per Wikipedia, Hardcore Gaming 101 and the CRPG Addict[1][4][5]. The core team was the same as for Clouds of Xeen[3].
Setting
Following Prince Roland's trail to the Darkside, the party finds Sheltem ruling under the name Alamar — the king he impersonated in the first game[1][6]. The quest involves the Dragon Pharaoh, guardian of the Darkside; Queen Kalindra, turned into a vampire by Count Blackfang; the Ancients' Cube of Power; and the Guardian Corak, carried to the final confrontation in a soul box[1][6][3].
Gameplay
The engine and rules are those of Clouds of Xeen; Darkside is harder and expects characters brought over from it, though a new party can start too[1][7]. It leans more on puzzles, one dungeon being laid out as a crossword[4].
World of Xeen
- With both games installed, pyramids link the two sides of Xeen — Vertigo on the Cloudside, Castleview on the Darkside[3][4].
- Each side's main quest can be finished on its own, but a third quest and ending exist only in the combined game: the Dragon Pharaoh asks the party to complete Roland's task of uniting the two halves of the world[3][1][8].
- The 1994 CD-ROM edition came already combined, with digitised speech wherever the game calls for it, recorded by 22 actors[3][1].
- Swords of Xeen, a bonus game on the Xeen engine by Catware with a story by Ellen Beeman, was never sold separately; it came with the Might and Magic Trilogy compilation, which sources date differently[1][6].
Reception
- Computer Gaming World's Scorpia called it a satisfactory conclusion and a must for long-time fans[8].
- In its 1994 awards Computer Gaming World made Darkside a finalist for role-playing game of the year, which went to Betrayal at Krondor, and called World of Xeen "the most impressive linking of two CRPGs in computer game history"[9].
- Dragon gave World of Xeen 3 out of 5[10]. The CRPG Addict gave Darkside 42 out of 100[5].
Russian release
No official Russian edition is known[2][11].
More on this game: classes, skills, spells and monsters.