What is the plot of the Might and Magic series?

The Universe of Might and Magic

(1) The Beginning of the Myth

"Might and Magic, Book 1: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum", this is it its first name; 1984, which is when it debuted; an Apple II c computer, which is everything that made it possible; and, of course, a guy named Jon Van Caneghem (known simply as JVC). From the early conception to the first formal establishment of New World Computing Company for publishing and distribution around 1987 to now, the "Might and Magic" series of games has sold nearly 100,000 copies worldwide in less than 20 years. 5 million sets. Perhaps as 3DO said, it is no longer just a series of games, but a legend in role-playing games. This legend is called: "Magic and Magic" in China

Although there are many elements close to games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Dragonlance, I don't think Might and Magic is a fantasy game, it should be Belongs to Science Fiction. Because everything does not start from a continent shrouded in mystery, but from the vast and distant universe:

There, a group of unknown life forms are called Ancients. They create artificial biosphere systems like "small universes" in various galaxies to support the development of life, create civilized worlds, and carry out activities similar to "seeding". No one knows how they started, and no one knows what their purpose is.

Later, the Ancients fell into a long-term war with the demon race. Due to the attack by the forces of chaos, many places in the universe have lost the full control of the Ancients, and technologies such as communication and transportation have been affected. The stories of the Might and Magic series take place in those parts of the universe. The stories of Might and Magic 1 to 5 all take place on something called flat planets, while Might and Magic 6 to 8 and Heroes 1 to 3 take place on the same planet.

In order to ensure that each planet is in the correct position and operating normally in its galaxy, the advanced civilization Ancients appointed guardians (Guardians) to these planets. One of the guardians, Sheltem, was assigned to the planet Terra, but ran away. Treea is very important to the Ancients, and they don't want to take risks, so they assign Corak to check what happened and ask him to take Sheltem back to repair it (Sheltem is a robot, Corak may be an Ancient or a robot). When Corak found Sheltem and tried to take him back, Sheltem ran away and entered a state of madness, forcing Corak to chase him across the universe. This is the beginning of the story of Might and Magic.

(2) Might and Magic Generation: Secret of the Inner Sanctum [1987]

The escaped Sheltem came to the planet VARN, where he killed King Alamar, and then Start pretending to be him. A group of adventurers hoping to investigate the secrets behind the planet's Inner Sanctum unexpectedly discover that Alamar is not himself. Realizing that his disguise was revealed, Sheltem quickly escaped through the time and space tunnel before his true identity was exposed. The main storyline of the first generation is that simple. At that time, killing monsters was not the focus. Players did not even have tasks to talk about. What they wanted was to solve puzzles, solve puzzles layer by layer, move forward, and find Sanctum during the adventure (I guess it was a space-time gate leading to the Ancients or something). In addition, many things of this generation will appear later, but unfortunately it is basically impossible to play them again now.

VARN stands for Vehicular Astropod Research Nacelle. I don’t know if this has any special meaning.

(3) Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World [1988]

After the previous generation, the time and space tunnel used by Sheltem to escape took him to the CRON planet, and he changed The course of this planet makes it fly to the star step by step! Finally, while our new team of adventurers were busy breaking the code to save the entire planet and themselves, Comrade Sheltem escaped again. Even though the main storyline of the second generation is still just one sentence, the puzzle-solving process is extraordinary. Fortunately, this generation has made an important progress (it should be said to be a leap), and that is the emergence of automatic maps. In the past, games had never had computer-automated maps, and players had to draw them by hand on coordinate drawing paper. In addition, in this generation, the RPG settings of Might and Magic have basically taken shape. Some settings have continued to this day and have even affected the entire gaming industry.

CRON stands for Central Research Observational Nacelle. I don’t know if this has any special meaning.

(4) Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra [1991] ("Fantasy Island Adventure")

Sheltem, who escaped for the Nth time in the previous generation, ran back now He continued his crazy activities on the planet Terra where he was supposed to be stationed. The new team of adventurers who unlocked many secrets finally arrived at the core of the Isles of Terra in the sea, discovered several spaceships, and met Corak, who had been hunting Sheltem. Finally, Sheltem escapes again, but this time in a spaceship, with Corak in hot pursuit. Our group of eight adventurers also got a boat and chased them out, and the game was over. Later, Sheltem's spaceship landed successfully on XEEN, while Corak encountered an accident during landing and was trapped (I don't understand the details). The most unlucky one was our adventurer. , maybe their driving skills were poor, they deviated from the shipping track and disappeared in the universe forever. (But they later became important figures, as you will know later.)

This generation can be said to be the most important generation. It became the first generation to appear on PC (previously on Apple computers). Its moderate difficulty and enhanced game performance attracted more players, and it was also translated into Chinese. It is also a very important generation in terms of plot development. The adventure of returning to the source of the story, Terra, allows players to learn many secrets about the Ancients, which is closely connected with subsequent generations of games.

Terra means soil, mother earth, earth, etc. In ancient times, people called the continent terra. There seems to be a hint of the earth and the new world here, but there seems to be little development later.

(5) Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen [1992] ("Mystery of Nebula")

In this generation, Might and Magic has taken another innovative step. As long as By putting Might and Magic IV and the subsequently published V together, the two worlds can be merged into a complete World of XEEN game version, allowing players to take continuous adventures and eventually repair the damaged planet.

Therefore, in terms of storyline, Sheltem will become the final opponent of the fifth generation, so in the fourth generation, a new demon is born. This time it is an undead monster who calls himself Lord Xeen and occupies the Clouds of Xeen in the sky of XEEN. When the player defeated it and was about to celebrate, Sheltem's image suddenly appeared and said: "You may have defeated my men, but the Darkside of Xeen will always be mine! Uahahahahahahaha!" ! ”

There are two theories for the plot of this generation. One is that Sheltem wants to make XEEN a mobile planet base, and the other is that Sheltem is planning to sail XEEN to the star. I have forgotten the truth. In short, the structure of the entire XEEN planet has been severely damaged.

XEEN stands for Xylonite Experimental Environment Nacelle (Xylonite Environmental Experimental Chamber). Xylonite is a material that can be used to make explosives or certain reflective materials, such as film.

(6) Five Generations of Might and Magic: Darkside of Xeen [1993]

As I said above, after the XEEN Nebula Realm was calmed down, the Five Generations immediately unfolded on the dark side of XEEN, just like before , Sheltem continued to use the false identity of Alamar to do evil. The Dragon Pharaoh invites adventurers to the dark side of the XEEN planet to complete various tasks in order to repair the chaotic planet.

Later, they discovered Corak's spaceship that crashed in the third generation and rescued him. In order to win the final victory, the team members found the Soul Box and used this "container" to allow players to sneak Corak into Sheltem's castle and fight him. (It seems to be because if Sheltem knew that Corak was there, he would run away, so it was like this) In the end, just when the much stronger Sheltem was about to win, Corak stepped forward to grab it and activated the self-destruction system, and the two Killed together. The entire story of Might and Magic 1 to 5 officially ends here.

After that, something that everyone knows happened, NWC was acquired by 3DO. RPG games have also begun to grow dull with the rise of strategic battles, first-person shooting, simulated flight, and racing games. It can be said that they have reached a low ebb.

Later on, some Might and Magic fans wrote a Sword of Xeen. This has nothing to do with the main plot, so I won’t go into it. The general plot is that after the enemy is eliminated, a team The adventurers discovered the space-time door that the enemy used to come, and after entering, they broke into another damaged space and finally rescued it.

(7) New Myth, New Beginning

At the beginning, I want to tell the story of the "Silent Age". All the subsequent things happened here. of the times. What is originally a very long matter, in order to save time, I will keep it short.

In the "ancient times", people on the planet Enroth and the Ancients could communicate freely. At that time, people had the Heavenly Forge to provide powerful crafting technology and Magic, at the same time, also creates some extremely terrifying weapons. Once, a group of robbers robbed the Ancients warehouse, and among the goods they robbed was one of the terrible weapons. Then, they were attacked by the local government, and the weapon was confiscated by the mayor there, Alan, and kept it on the grounds of "ensuring safety." Alan is recognized as a good person, and he really did not intend to use this weapon to do evil. But then something happened. His beautiful daughter was murdered, and he was so distraught that he vowed revenge. At this time, a message came that five subordinates of the city government were the murderers. Alan did not hesitate to catch them and execute them without trial. As a result, four of them escaped, while those who failed to escape were painfully hanged.

Alan then mobilized troops to pursue the prisoners until they reached Vissias, the country where the four sought refuge. The people there refused to hand him over, war broke out, and his son died that night. He finally couldn't control himself, and his grief and anger covered everything. He activated the ancient weapon. For a moment, nothing was left. The beautiful land became what we call Dragonsand today, and that day was called the Day of Fire.

Afterwards, the central authority of Enroth repeatedly asked the Ancients for help, but their pleas received no response. The Silence descends. Some people think that Ancients have questioned the level of civilization on this planet and will not continue to communicate with us until people are more civilized. Others believe that the two things have nothing to do with each other. Ancients will not abandon their "children" for such a trivial matter (remember Ancients are the ones who sow seeds in the universe).

In short, since then, technology has declined and Heavenly Forge has lost its effectiveness. That year became the first year of the "modern calendar", that is, Year 1 of the Silent Age.

Might and Magic VI begins in the year 1165 of the Silent Age, Might and Magic VII in 1168, and Might and Magic VIII in 1172. Sometimes when people see A.S., it means After the Silence. The period before the Silent Age was later called the "Time of Wonders".

The truth of the matter is that the "Silent Age" was caused by a war between Ancients and demons: communications were disrupted. This is explained after meeting the Oracle in the later stages of Might and Magic VI. The above story was published together with Might and Magic VII. The final mission of the Light series in the seventh generation is to repair the communication, regain contact with the Ancients, and end the silence.

(8) Heroes of Might and Magic I & II [1995~1996]

Back to the above topic, in the silent era of RPG , Jon Van Caneghem decided to develop a turn-based strategy game (turn-based strategy) set in the Might and Magic universe.

A new series of stories has begun, bringing a new game. The first is Heroes of Might and Magic I: A Strategic Quest. The storyline is probably Lord Ironfist ( Morglin Ironfist) failed in a power struggle on another planet. Without enough power to fight back, he had to escape and accidentally fell into a portal during his escape and came to the continent of Enroth (Enroth) on another planet. He led the knights and became the king of Enros continent after a great battle. This is the story of the hero Invincible One. Enroth is located on a new planet. I don’t know what it’s called, but all future stories will take place here. And it’s continuous, so I say this is a new beginning.

Having said that, in fact, Invincible Heroes is not new. In 1990, NWC produced a game called King's Bounty, which is almost the same as today's Invincible Heroes (castles and heroes holding flags on the map, etc.). You fight for the king's bounty. To hunt down the enemy, it is exactly the same as the victory mode in Heroes of Invincible by destroying a certain hero. The evaluation at that time was pretty good, but after all, the technology was limited. (If I'm not mistaken, EA is also involved in this game, maybe just publishing it.)

Then there is Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars [1996], here It is a familiar and relatively simple story: after Morglin Ironfist died, his two sons: Roland Ironfist and Archibald Ironfist started a war for inheritance, and that was it.

When it came to Heroes of Might and Magic III [1999], things started to get complicated, because it had two expansion games: Death's Shadow and Doomsday Blade. Including the original version, these three stories take place in different places and times, and are intertwined with the story of Might and Magic, so I will tell them in chronological order first.

(9) Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death [2000]

Yes, although it is the last expansion released, the storyline is the most The one that happened first can be said to be the prequel to the Mihara arc of Might and Magic. In the original story, Queen Catherine left Enroth to attend her father's funeral, but upon arrival she discovered the fall of Erathia. The Shadow of Death is about how Catherine's father died and how Erathia fell.

The background of the beginning of the story is almost like this. King Roland of Enroth received a letter. On the continent of Antagarich (the location of Erathia) far away from the continent of Enroth, the Kingdom of Griffin Heart (i.e. the Kingdom of Erasia) The king of the Kingdom of Lathia wanted to marry his daughter to him, and Roland agreed.

With this marriage, the two continents began to have extensive exchanges. Many adventurers began to travel around. Among them is the extremely power-hungry necromancer Sandro. In order to control all of Antagarich, he wants to obtain two legendary combined treasures: the Cloak of the Undead King and the Armor of the Damned. So he began an evil plan to use four heroes traveling on the continent to obtain these treasures.

Gem was originally a warlock going to the elven country of Avlee. Sandro pretended to be a human and said that he was a researcher of anti-undead magic and needed three treasures to study and destroy them. After being deceived, Gem found and gave him the three items (Cloak of the Undead King).

And Crag Hack is a barbarian traveling in the immigration wave. Sandro lied to Crag Hack that his master originally wanted to destroy three evil treasures, but these treasures were stolen by evil forces and asked him to help find them. Those are the Armor of the Damned.

In addition, Gelu is a ranger of Avlee who accepts the order of Lord Faloral to find the Elixer of Life. In Bracada, Yog, a wizard who wants to become a barbarian, is heading to Krewlod to forge a sword: Angelic Alliance.

Let’s talk about Sandro who deceived two joint treasures. After he succeeded, he took the treasure to Deyja, the kingdom of the necromancer (the translation of Degas/Dia is also very confusing), and killed him. He killed his master Ethric (Sandro was originally a magician who later became a necromancer), found a new ally Finneas Vilmar, pushed him to power, became the king of Deyja, and began a war of aggression.

The words were divided into two parts. Gelu suddenly discovered that Lord Faloral was dead and became a vampire. He wanted the Elixer of Life in order to destroy it (it was Sandro who killed him and asked him to destroy the treasure. ). Gem has similar findings. Crag Hack and Yog also discovered that something was wrong. The four heroes gathered together and decided to continue Yog's plan and find the Sword Angel Alliance. After a battle, Sandro's two evil joint treasures were destroyed.

However, after failing once, Sandro's desire to rule is far from over. He has a new idea: let Lord Haart poison King Gryphonheart (Catherine's father) of Erathia. Taking advantage of the leaderless situation, Sandro once again launched a war and united the demons of Eeofol and the magicians of Nighon. For this alliance, they built undersea tunnels from Eeofol and Nighon to Erathia, and finally launched a full-scale attack on the Antagarich continent.

At the end of this story, Finneas Vilmar also learned to play better than his master and put Sandro in prison. He took all the credit.

(10) Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (1999)

The Restoration of Erathia is the original chapter of Might and Magic III, but The storyline follows its expansion piece Death's Shadow. Queen Catherine, who was returning home to attend her father's funeral, began to know that something was wrong and heard many rumors. After landing in Antagarich, it was discovered that evil forces had spread throughout the continent, causing a chain reaction. Many small countries that originally wanted to take advantage found their mortal enemies on the battlefield, and instead started fighting among themselves.

While Catherine was busy taking back small countries like the Beast Trainer, the evil forces were also on the side. The invading army found the tomb of King Gryphonheart and turned his body into Lich( Necromancer). Finneas Vilmar was killed and Sandro came out (I don't know how he came out). Lich Gryphonheart is so powerful that no one can control it, and the demons have also revealed their true colors. They have never wanted to conquer the world, they want to destroy it! The helpless necromancers had no choice but to ask Queen Catherine for help. In exchange for help, Catherine learns about his father's murderer: Lord Haart. Finally, Catherine brought Lord Haart to his dead father and asked "father" to take revenge. Then the territory was regained and order was restored.

(11) Might and Magic VI: Mandate of Haven [1998]

This is the first time there is a Might and Magic RPG after being dormant for many years. The sequel, its story takes place at the same time as "Heroes III: The Restoration of Erathia". It's just that one is in Erathia and the other is in Enroth. Queen Catherine left for Erathia, and King Roland was also captured in a battle against demons. Now only their youngest son, Prince Nicolai, is left in Enroth. Our new adventure team is a group of warriors from the ruined Sweetwater Town who faked their death and escaped during the Night of Shooting Stars. After studying under Falagar for three years, I finally started my own adventure.

The adventurers who knew nothing about the demonic invasion discovered that a new religion, the Sheep Calling Cult (Baa), had ulterior collusion with the traitors in the palace and the demonic attack. They followed the teacher's instructions, contacted the lords everywhere, and completed their tasks in order to obtain authorization to meet the Oracle. Unexpectedly, the Yangming Sect secretly stopped him and bribed the traitors in the parliament. So the player had no choice but to take risks to find evidence of his rebellion and drive him out of the parliament. Finally, after repairing the oracle destroyed by Archibald, the truth finally came out that he was the "guardian" of this continent. He was persecuted for refusing to support Archibald in the civil war over the succession (in another letter we learn that Archibald removed the oracle's memory crystal in order to know why the oracle did not support him. He was determined to I feel that I am the right one.) The oracle instructed the adventurers to find the control box to enter the planet's control center and obtain the weapons of the Ancients necessary to destroy the demons.

Finally, because there is a set of reactors in the demon's base that will explode and destroy the entire planet when attacked, the adventurers must obtain a magic that can teleport the entire demon's base to the void. For this reason, they had no choice but to release Archibald, who was turned into a stone statue after the War of Succession. (In addition to the successful ending, the game also has a failed ending. If you destroy the demon without getting the magic, you will see the magnificent scene of the planet exploding.)

(12) Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor [1999]

The story of Might and Magic VII is the same as the previous one, and is once again closely linked to the first five generations of Might and Magic. And a major innovation has been made: you can freely choose to join the forces of light or darkness. Therefore, like Might and Magic VI, this generation also has two endings, both of which are victory endings.

Remember the eight poor adventurers in Might and Magic III? They never landed on XEEN, yes, and their spaceship eventually crashed in the sea off the Avlee side of Antagarich. They were the ones coming up from the sea in the animation at the beginning. After landing, the eight of them had a conflict. Four of them wanted to use "technological materials" to create a space-time gate to regain contact with the Ancients and end the silent era of lost communication. The other four people hope to use "technological materials" to establish a weapons production base and use high technology to conquer the world. (The "technological material" is something they found on the planet Enroth. I don't know what it is.) They eventually broke up and went to Bracada and Deyja respectively.

(In addition, in Deyja, Archibald, who was released in the previous game, has replaced the power structure of the old undead tribe that was defeated in "The Restoration of Erathia" and became the new king.)

< p>The game begins immediately. Players, as a team of adventurers, are invited to participate in a treasure hunting competition and win a small piece of land and the Harmondale Castle. However, years of war have left the castle in dilapidated condition. In order to repair, the player helped the dwarves defeat powerful enemies. This move proves the strength of the players. As a new force, players are involved in the struggle between humans and elves.

Later, the Arbiter responsible for regulating humans and elves died of a heart attack. At this time, Bracada and Deyja, who are outside humans and elves, elect new arbiters respectively. Which one you choose is your freedom. Choosing Bracada is the path of light, and choosing Deyja is the path of darkness.

Towards the end, the player used the tunnels dug for the war in "The Restoration of Erathia" to go to the demon's territory, killed the demon leader Xenofex, and salvaged important machinery from the crashed spaceship. pieces. The ending of the Light System is the construction of the Space-Time Gate, reopening the interstellar passage. There, the adventurers traveled across the universe, met an Ancient, and asked: "Where can we go from here?" The man replied: "Anywhere you want to go." The game ended. (The ending of the dark series is to start a war and rule the world.)

(Thirteen) Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade [1999]

This story It takes place after Might and Magic VII. In Might and Magic VII, the demon leader Xenofex was eliminated. After its death, it uses telepathy to notify the new demon king Lucifer Kreegan that the way to turn around is to collect multiple treasures and combine them into a doomsday sword.

The knights and elves discovered the conspiracy and joined forces to attack. During the battle, they discovered a new castle garrisoned by elemental creatures. The heroes there are said to be "summoned by gods to fight against demons" (the gods here may refer to Ancients, or they may be simple elemental gods).

Later, the coalition forces successfully destroyed all the demons and captured Eeofol. The Doomsday Blade was handed over to Gelu by Roland and Catherine, and he left immediately. No one saw him again (I don't know why, but making money from the sequel may be the biggest reason.), and the Elemental City is also on the mainland. disappeared. The king and queen left Erathia and returned together to their kingdom of Enroth.

(14) Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer [1999]

Eight generations are the same as the previous six and seven, and they are still from ancient civilizations A connected secret begins. First, let me mention the previous things. The Ancients have a commandment: Planets attacked by demons must respond quickly and destroy them within a certain period of time, otherwise the Ancients will personally intervene. Because the Cregans have existed on the continent of Eeofol for too long, the Ancients sent Escaton, one of their artificial servants, the strongest Planeswalker (a person who can travel through various interfaces and spaces). Escaton was ordered to destroy the entire planet, so he captured the four elemental kings of earth, fire, air, and water and locked them in his dimension. The various elemental planes that fell into chaos lost control and began to destroy everywhere. And Escaton came to the third continent of the planet: Jadame continent. He summoned the Crystal Conflux that led to various interfaces. The elements flew out of their respective interfaces and attacked the crystal. As soon as they reached the crystal Together, the world will be destroyed.

This is the problem with the eighth story of Might and Magic, because in the previous game, the demons on the continent have been wiped out (in the story of Doomsday Blade). The artificial destroyer Escaton cannot change its own destruction program.

Okay, now the game officially starts. The new adventurer (yes, there is only one adventurer in this generation, and the other team members are all set as NPCs) serves as the mercenary of the dark elf caravan and comes with the team. Arrive at Dagger Wound Islands.

There, Escaton opened the earth elemental plane, so a huge volcanic eruption occurred, and the bridges connecting the islands were destroyed. Players must find ways to escape in time, report to the leader of the continent: the Dark Elf Chamber of Commerce, and find ways to solve the problem.

After proving to the dark elves of Alvar that the world was facing destruction, the adventurers traveled around to unite other races on the continent. Finally, even King Roland and Queen Catherine came, accompanied by a senior mage named Xanthor who will tell you how to enter the crystal summoned by the Destroyer, but they were blocked by the fleet of Regnan pirates, and the adventurers continued non-stop. to destroy the Regnan fleet. When Xanthor arrives, he will tell the players that the key to the crystal must be made from four hearts of the elements. Therefore, the team ventured into the elemental space, seized the gems, and finally entered the crystal. They found the destroyer Escaton in the space between interfaces and learned the truth. Escaton also knew the fact that the demon had been eliminated, and after the adventurers answered his prompting questions, he handed over the key to freeing the King of Elements.

The rescued elemental kings united, destroyed the crystals, and closed all interfaces. The Escaton left in the crystal was also severely damaged. Part of its body separated and turned into a small robot. Before Escaton died, he said to it: "Tell them...I...failed." (They probably meant the Ancients.) After that, the robot ran away.

The king and queen also returned to the country, the crystal disappeared, everything is normal, everything is fine...

(15) Might and Magic IX [2002]

< p>Yes, there is no subtitle for this generation. Perhaps this sensational event in foreign countries has not attracted the attention of Chinese players, but from "Pool of Light II - Ruins of Myth Drannor" to "Diablo II - Lord of Destruction" to "Badur" "Gate II - Throne of Baal", it is really rare for an RPG without a subtitle. What's more, there are more than ten previous works. So, just when people were complaining, the subtitle of the ninth generation appeared mysteriously: "Writ of Fate". I didn't realize that 3DO had changed anything. Maybe it was the players themselves. Since I haven't played this generation thoroughly, I really can't tell the story clearly. It's probably about uniting various scattered players to fight against a new big devil. In fact, the biggest disappointment for players is that in the sixth, seventh, and eighth generations, the war between Ancients and demons became more and more obvious. Everyone thought that the ninth generation would take place in the vast universe, but the result was that the main line could not be withdrawn. The story of relationships has completely dampened the curiosity of past generations about ancient civilizations.

From what I have played, I think this game is quite a failure. In the business field, there is a very important principle called "Audience Benefits", which means that when speaking to customers, you should focus on expressing the benefits that customers can get from it. What Might and Magic VII did was very successful: first participate in the treasure hunting competition, then find someone to repair the won castle, and so on. The entire mission unfolds with players fighting for their own benefit. The Ninth Generation was a huge failure. At the beginning of the game, the NPC emphasized that you must complete the tasks given by her. This is fate, and you cannot control how it happens. My heart said, why can’t I control it? So, I deleted Jiudai... In addition, I heard that in the later stage of Jiudai, you have to find a way to commit suicide before you can go to Paradise City. I really don’t understand which big brother came up with such a heart-wrenching idea. What a great idea, I really admire it...

(16) Invincible Heroes IV [2002]