1998 was arguably one of the best years for video games. Ocarina of Time, Half-life, and Resident Evil 2 all released in the space of twelve months – to name only a few. While we celebrate the 25th anniversaries of our most foundational games, however, one shouldn’t be forgotten. Sometimes, it seems like anyone with a PC at the end of the 90s had a copy, and while not all of us will remember it fully, most will remember it fondly. Released on the 30th April 1998, Might and Magic 6: The Mandate of Heaven is now 25 years old.
I don’t remember if I played Might and Magic 6 in 1998 or in the next two years, but then I don’t recall much of yesterday. What I remember is getting our first Gateway PC – which came in the same dirty beige all PCs of the time seem to use – and Might and Magic 6 appearing soon after. I also remember sinking so many hours into the game that I spent weeks seeing it when I closed my eyes.
Might and Magic 6 plants you on the world of Enroth, as a party of four whose hometown of Sweet Water is destroyed by “devils.” The path to revenge, however, is blocked by the Medieval equivalent of the United Nations, whom you must appease to access the mysterious Oracle. The secret to defeating the “devils” it turns out? Lasers. Big lasers.
It’s a blend of fantasy and science fiction that’s emblematic of the series’ menagerie of inspirations.
“I started playing computer games in college. Ultima and Wizardry were two of my favorites at the time, but I also played a lot of board games as well as Dungeons & Dragons,” designer Jon Van Caneghem told me over email. “Might and Magic was my desire to make a game with all the things I enjoyed from the tabletop game combined with what the computer did well.”