Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen - In-depth Written DOS Review With Pics

Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen

MS-DOS, 1992

New World Computing

$69.95

*My video review for Might and Magic Clouds of Xeen
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*Game shown in its intended 4:3 aspect ratio, pics of a CRT screen

The combined works of the Might and Magic franchise, on the whole, are probably my favorite series of games. The only competition in my mind would be from Wing Commander, and depending upon my mood and what I'm playing, perhaps those are my favorite games. But today, it's going to have to be Might and Magic. I was originally exposed to it as a kid via the Amiga version of Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. I had a lot of fun putting around in the colorful world, but never got all that far at the time. It wasn't until my father bought Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven that I really started falling in love with not only the franchise, but role playing games in general.

Our Might and Magic VI was a special collectors edition, containing all previous series entries. During stints when I didn't know how to proceed in VI, I ended up messing around with the previous games, but Might and Magic Clouds of Xeen would be the first of the classics that would ever suck me in. The fans of the games often refer to the first five games as the classics, due to their similar style, while the sixth started a new line of 3D titles. Some fans seem to only appreciate the classic games, some only appreciate the 3D ones, and there's even a subset of the classic fans which only like 1-2, or 3-5. Of course it's difficult for me to view them as fans at all, for I love them all (until IX anyway). 

^Cinematic introduction featuring voice acting, party creation

Advertised from its release, Clouds of Xeen was meant to be combined with the future sequel, Darkside of Xeen. Coming out prior to the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles merger, and having a great more features than those titles, Clouds broke new and rarely revisited ground here. In fact, any reviews of the time period which may have originally felt the game, while good, did not live up to its competition, would come to note the greatness of Clouds when combined with its sequel. Either game can be accessed from the other, nothing is lost while playing combined, and a completely unique quest which encompasses around a half game on its own is only accessible when both games are combined. Clouds can also be completed fully without visiting Darkside, and for the purposes of believing each game deserves separate coverage, I'll be saving my look of the combined games for a separate review. ^Animation, shopping, our first quest

For the first time in a Might and Magic game (and last if not including Darkside) there are two difficulty settings to choose from when starting. "Adventurer" or "Warrior" mode, the former being the easier setting, while warrior is more difficult. The naming is not at all obvious when dealing with difficulty, and the more difficult mode is really just the normal mode the game was built upon. The easier setting was apparently tacked on in the final stages, as adventurer simply deceases the hitpoints of your enemies, nothing else effected. You start the game with a premade party, but much of the enjoyment of a role playing game is living through your lovingly crafted characters, which you can create at the local inn. ^Completing our first quest, training, spell casting

First featured in its predecessor, Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, party creation not only involves dice rolls, but a welcome ability to substitute any attribute you roll with another. Looking to create a sorcerer but you rolled a weak 12 for intelligence? Take the 20 you got for might and switch it. Got a 19 that rolled for personality? Change it to your speed, it's a very nice system when dealing with character creation. Trust me, I have all the patience in the world to keep on rolling until I get a near perfect character, and this saves me incredible frustration. This game, along with prior ones, allow a bit of scumming via salvaging the premade party's items by transferring them to your new party, a practice I've never personally followed.
^More animation, exploring the outside world

You're more than capable of outfitting your brand new party using their available gold by visiting the weapons shop. The cheap starting equipment is plenty in terms of dealing with your initial quest in the town of Vertigo. Other Might and Magic games could have an unforgiving starting location, where simply escaping the first town is quite the challenge, but the game takes it much easier on you when starting Clouds. I can speak from experience when I say it's a great game to start with if you've never gotten into these classic style Might and Magic games. Mentioned prior, my first experience was with Might and Magic II, but it was playing Clouds, getting deep into it, and winning it, that is what cemented my love for the classic games, and caused me to want to dive further with the previous entries.
^We've done it now! The trees have had it!

It was said in some reviews of the period that Clouds was of an easier variety of role playing games. I feel those reviewers were guilty of spending far too much time in a personal bubble of what they liked (and were likely also playing the game in its easier mode), having little experience with other gaming genres, including JRPGs. A western CRPG, by their basic nature, are among more difficult styles of games, and claiming one is easy (especially one with difficulty settings) is doing a grave disservice to the majority of people who will get slaughtered time and again from this game. It is through having experience, knowing what you're supposed to do, this is what allows a difficult game of a certain type to become easy for you personally.

While certainly easier than other Might and Magic titles, and recommended to new comers for that very reason, there will still be no shortage of times your party will completely die. For that matter, there's little chance an experienced CRPG gamer is going to get through this one unscathed. Know that while easier in certain respects, it's still a load of fun, and plenty of challenge will arise. There were plenty of times I died, and I've beat Clouds multiple times in the past. Know what you're getting into, less you get frustrated when you find that other's perceived difficulty does not match up with reality. Keep on with it, you can get through it, and I think you're going to enjoy your time spent here.
^Zombies, beggars, big boobs, oh my!

The creator of Might and Magic, John Van Caneghem, a huge fan of RPGs himself, wanted to take what he personally felt were the best features of the RPGs he liked, and combine them into his games. I've always seen some Wizardry, some Bard's Tale, and even some Ultima in them all. Combat in Clouds is of a type seen in many other RPGs prior, featuring a first person view inside of a 2D world, where you deal with enemies via turn based combat. It was actually bucking the trend of new RPGs in 1992, where most had real time combat, and others even had 3D engines. Interesting to note how when the series finally did go 3D in 1997, it still stuck to its guns when it came to turn based combat. ^My glossy paper map included with Clouds of Xeen

The turn based combat itself, while I could never put it up there with the likes of the Gold Box games (which are far more tactical), is still quite enjoyable owing to the fact that the Might and Magic games, unlike quite a few RPGs, require the use of both your might and your magic. Often times in RPGs, even in some that reviewers would consider more difficult than Clouds, you get one or two buff fighters, and at some point the fact that there's a magic system at all is a mere insurance policy. Keep hitting "A" to attack in many of those games and you'll be all set. Talk about "hack-n-slash", a title often disparagingly given to the Might and Magic games, though I feel others in the genera are far more deserving of that term. ^Some 4th wall breaking, a bit of mainline story, spell description, a riddle

Spell casting in Clouds, from both the sorcerer's and the cleric's library of spells will be essential tools to you from the beginning, and until the end of the game. There are a ton of spells, quite a few of which were brought over from previous games, though they often show new graphical effects here. You'll find some favorites, some you might deem useless, and sometimes you might be right about that, and sometimes you might be wrong, the so called useless spells simply needing a proper understanding of when to use them.

Additions to this game include a few spells which cast multiple others at the same time. Day of Protection, for example, will cast bless and multiple other protective spells, though at a hefty requirement of spell points, which continues to increase as your character advances in levels. It's a balancing act, do you want to cast those multiple spells at once but wipe out a third of your spell points? Or do you want to cast them individually, or perhaps not at all in order to save those points for more offensive or healing spells?
^Putting out this fire causes a group of monsters to stop respawning

Most areas of the game, excluding perhaps the greater outdoor area, feature a boss battle of some sort. There are more of these types of battles than previous and even many of the later games in a way. Specifically there are more named bosses here, but it's worth noting that while later 3D games may have had less named bosses, there were often more variations of the same type of monster, which is essentially what these bosses actually are. There's the "Dwarf King" or the "Head Witch", variations of the regular dwarfs or witches, with more hit points, resistances, and spells. When you first encounter these bosses, don't be surprised if they slaughter you. You'll be needing your knight and/or paladin, as well as your spell casters with these encounters.
^Snow, a tree that actually likes us, and a message in a bottle

Despite three enemies being the maximum you can fight at any given time, and often times just one, there were various different times I needed to strategize in some way in order to best deal with those I was facing. If a boss is attacking with their friends and are having their way with me, perhaps I'll maneuver on one side of a wall and then teleport so I'll only be facing the boss. Many wells dot the landscape, offering temporary boosts to statistics, plant a Lloyd's Beacon spell at select ones and come back to them before a difficult fight. Inflicted a ton of damage but you're almost dead? Cast time distortion, heal up, and continue the fight. Ignore all of my suggestions and find something you think is even better, the ways this game manages to bring out strategy in a rather simple combat engine, is excellent. ^Puzzles often take the form of riddles in the Might and Magic games

One of my fondest personal memories with Clouds, and gaming in general, is when I first came across the riddle shown above. In order to progress in a certain area you need to correctly guess a name and you're given several clues to help you figure it out. Well, when I first came across it I was perhaps 12 years old, and despite scribbling down some guesses I couldn't manage it on my own at the time. So I enlisted the help of my father, who not only solved it for me, enjoying the process himself, but he also told me how he solved it so I could do so in the future.

Beyond those multiple riddles, Clouds features more traditional dungeon crawling puzzles than previous Might and Magic entries, ala Eye of the Beholder. The entire game is not built upon those, like other games are, and I'm quite happy for that. It's not that other games feature difficult puzzles, but they can at times feel like they're getting in the way of progress, especially when not pampered with story. It's why despite an Eye of the Beholder generally not being looked at as "hack-n-slash" by many, where as Might and Magic games are, I would firmly put that title to an Eye of the Beholder, which is nearly devoid of actual story, and if you're able to solve the puzzles, you might find most of your time is spent hacking and slashing the opponents you face. ^Mainline story

While combat continues to be a nice chunk of your overall time spent with the game, as any good RPG I've ever known has done, there's no shortage of exploring in a large and non-linear world, made so much nicer by the inclusion of a fantastic auto mapping feature. Detailed notes are kept automatically by the game, so you're not torn away to a piece of a paper. And the thing I most love about many of the Might and Magic series, and my favorite overall role playing games, there's tons of text to further a story.

Now largely in Clouds, the story that is here is that of a smaller type. There are simply tons of "side quests" in nearly every area and town you come across. Your first quest involves talking to the mayor of Vertigo about the town's pest problem, where you found evidence of the exterminator the town hired to get rid of the problem, is actually furthering it. Once that problem is solved, you'll be told of a the local dwarf population that is having issues with a rival clan. One town is is having its population turned into snakes, a man is wanting an everlasting lava stone to deal with his problems with winter, and dozens of others. ^Closer we get to Lord Xeen's final hour

In terms of the far reaching mainline story, I'd actually call it the weakest point of the game, and possibly the weakest in the entire series. While many CRPGs take their sweet time in introducing you to an overarching story, there's barely even a hint of it from Clouds until well past the middle of the game, and what story you eventually get feels incredibly disconnected from the rest of the Might and Magic games. There's no Sheltem here, no Corak, no mention of the ancients, and the franchise which is well known for its eventual introduction of science fiction elements into the games, features exactly one enemy that could be described as fitting inside of sci-fi.

The introduction cinematic, featuring voice acting, sets up the basic plot of a brand new antagonist holding the king's adviser hostage inside of a magical tower. Your goal is to find and free him, then take down the antagonist who calls himself Lord Xeen. The manual is actually far better at introducing you to the beginning of the game's story, featuring quite a few well written pages. But throughout the game, you really don't learn all that much about the most important characters of the land, and you'll never find out what motivates this Lord Xeen character prior to destroying him, or even after. ^End game

But I tend not to look at Clouds in terms of a weak mainline story, but rather those little stories of the everyday people, which is great in this game. When looked at combined with the Darkside of Xeen, which is heavily mainline story based, the overall picture of both games becomes clearer. The graphics stand amongst the best looking 2D RPGs ever made. The music is okay, but nothing special in either its Sound Blaster or MT-32 form. This would again change with its upcoming sequel.

Noteworthy is how, despite having an MT-32, I actually prefer Sound Blaster support for this game, as it's a rare breed to support the OPL3 chipset for Sound Blaster, which is quite good sounding FM music compared to OPL2. The music did sound a bit better on the MT-32, but support for it lacked quality sound effects and thus is better overall via the Sound Blaster. The economy of this game is amongst the best of any role playing game ever made, as are most of the Might and Magic games. You'll gain money, you'll spend it on items in shops, spells, and training. Up until the end of the game you'll still be tight on money because it's constantly getting used, a wonderful edition to the world.

New for a Might and Magic game, Clouds features a climactic end boss battle with the antagonist, Lord Xeen. He will destroy you unless you possess the Xeen Slayer Sword, which can be found in the rubble of a castle the storyline mentions in the manual. You buy the castle, fix it up, and retrieve the sword, after which the final battle will be relatively uneventful. A bit of a let down when looking at Clouds as a stand alone game, but fairs much better when thought of in terms of the game combined with Darkside.

^Final score

Once the game is completed, well, you're not done yet... There's a complete full game to play via Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen, plus an extended quest past that combining the two worlds. A truly historical game when combined with its sequel. As a stand alone game originally, reviews of the time period were separated into either thinking the game was simply wonderful, or thinking that while quite competent, that it didn't quite live up to the other RPGs that were out at the time. There were no negative reviews that I could find. Compute Magazine would name it the number one role playing game of the year for 1993, and any of the more mixed reviews which thought it didn't quite live up to other games of the time would eventually look at Clouds in an entirely new light, thinking it wonderful when combined with Darkside.

I think it's a fantastic game to conquer, having done so myself several times. If you're new to CRPGs or Might and Magic games, I think this wouldn't be a bad place to start. If you're a seasoned veteran, of course you must play this historical game. I hope you'll check out my video review where I go much deeper on those memories of my dad, have an argument with noted reviewer Scorpia, read from the game's manual, as well as several reviews when the game was  new. Readers who enjoyed this review may also be interested in the reviews I made for Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, Eye of the Beholder, Champions of Krynn, or perhaps King's Bounty, the precursor to the Heroes of Might and Magic games.

*My video review for Might and Magic Clouds of Xeen
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