Game: Might and Magic - Clash of Heroes
Platform: PC/DS/360 Arcade/PS3/ Android/iOS
Year: 2009.
Developer: Capybara Games
Genre: Puzzle Game/RPG.
Spinoff games are always interesting. They allow series and franchises deeply rooted in a single genre to expand and explore new mechanics and settings, while also deepening their world. Many spinoffs try to work alongside the original games, either by covering stories and plot points not covered by the originals or by offering a different perspective to said events. It is also a great opportunity to expand the userbase: People who might not like, or just ignore the original games for whatever reason might become interested through the spinoff. Thus, every major franchise has plenty of spinoffs to go around, and the more popular, the more prolific they are. With that in mind, my experiences with the Might and Magic series in comparison to the M&M Clash of Heroes spinoff is somewhat clearer.
I’ll be honest here, I don’t like the Might and Magic games. I’ve just played the fifth instalment, but it’s been more than enough to put me off from the rest of the series. The gameplay is slow and dull, the designs are generic fantasy, and the story and setting didn’t grab me in the least. I played and gave up halfway through the game. Maybe judging the rest of the series through that experience is unfair, but there are too many games and very little time, so if a game wants to grab my attention, it better do it quick. This is especially funny when, years later, I saw the Might and Magic spinoff M&M Clash of Heroes, and out of sheer curiosity, I picked it up for my DS.
Might and Magic Clash of Heroes is a turn based puzzle strategy role-playing game originally developed by Capybara Games for the Nintendo DS, and later ported to mobile, PC and consoles. It tells a standalone story from the Might and Magic mythos: in the magical land of Ashan, five noble youngsters reunite to celebrate an important magical event, but then they are attacked by demons and scattered throughout the land, having to fight their way back to avoid some sort of impending disaster, as well as finding the mythical Blade of Binding, said to have the power to allow demons back to the land…
At its surface, the setting is quite generic, and it is, though I blame that on the original games this is based on. The art style, character design and dialogue are much more light-hearted, taking an animesque approach to it. Seeing as many people probably didn’t know a thing about the original games, it was a smart choice. It allows the game to differentiate itself from the rest of the puzzle games on the DS. And trust me, there were tons of those back in the DS days, the DS library was full of both great and horrible puzzle games.
Another thing that separates this game from other puzzle games is the gameplay. The screen is divided into two halves, your opponent’s and yours’. Each side is given a random share of units, and each side has to group them to form attack formations that will deplete the opponent’s life, until it drops to zero, or until it accomplishes certain goals. Once certain turns have passed, the offensive units charge through the opponent’s side of the screen, killing anything in their way or being blocked if they don’t have enough strength. The players can create either attack or defense formations by lining up formations of the same unit and colour either vertically or horizontally. In each turn, the players have a limited set of moves to move their units, and certain moves will grant them more moves. There are three types of units: Core units (three types per faction), Elite (two per faction) and Champion (two per faction). The Core units are your typical runts, they are the weakest and more numerous type of unit, but they’re needed to power up the other two classes. Elite have some neat special uses alongside higher power, and the Champions are massive engines of war that will make a lot of damage, but they need a lot of units to power up and will need many turns to launch the attack, so they will become instant targets for the opponent, either through walling or through spam attacks. Each faction has very different units, as well as different powers and special gear that will add a level of strategy and depth to the gameplay. There are five different factions in the game: the elves, the human empire, the undead, the wizards and the demons, each with their own powers and weaknesses. The more you play, the more tricks and strategies open up to the player, keeping the game fresh despite its repetitiveness. It can get quite grind-heavy on the story mode, but most of the time the gathering of resources needed for recruiting alone should be enough to keep the party at a high enough level. The gameplay in general is fun and, in certain difficulties rather challenging. It is always satisfying to break the enemy’s defences with a well-placed combo. It always keep a constant pace without being either too fast or too slow. The randomness of the unit arrivals can be annoying, though. There were certain boss fights where I just had to restart if the initial placement of the units wasn’t good enough, due to the scenarios having certain time limit. This, however, rarely happens, so it’s not that annoying as it might sound.
The story mode adds elements of RPGs, exploration and resource management. There are five stages on the games, and in each one you play a different faction. Every hero needs a series of resources to recruit special units, as well as the ones who volunteer to help you. You win resources by fighting random encounters and exploring the scenarios. There are three basic resources: Gold (basic money), Ore and Diamond (needed to get special units). There are some puzzles in the game, but they are so simple and easy that I’d struggle to call them puzzles, but they aren’t bad, just a bit of a time waster. In each scenario, you can get rewards by working as a bounty hunter, and those fights can range from very easy to quite challenging, keeping your skills sharp. There are plenty of boss fights, and they can be quite hard. I still don’t know how you could beat Ludmilla without using the Spider Cloak item. The final level has a problem, however. In that one, you play as every previous faction, and if you haven’t levelled them up beforehand, you can’t do it here, so you’re stuck with whatever level you and your units have. Outside of that, it’s a short but entertaining campaign mode.
There is a multiplayer mode, where two players can duke it out against each other, but really, there’s not that much outside of it. This was clearly a small budget title, like the myriad of those released for the DS. Ubisoft, however, must had seen the potential of this title, because they ported it to 7th gen consoles, PC and mobile. These versions got a graphical overhaul to improve their quality from the DS original, with HD versions for the consoles and PC. They also added a voice over narrator, which is nice.
I’m surprised Ubisoft never really capitalized on this gameplay, the foundations are there for a great puzzle game, even without the Might and Magic IP. With mobile gaming and the Nintendo Switch, this kind of puzzle games have a great market to thrive on. The gameplay is great and easy to learn, and the cute graphics make for some enjoyable, if somewhat shallow, campaign mode. Overall, a little gem for a series I’m not really into, really hard to not like if you're fan of puzzle games.
Score: 8/10
