Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, commonly abbreviated to Might and Magic VI or simply MM6, is a role-playing video game developed by New World Computing and published by 3DO in 1998. It is the sixth installment in the Might and Magic series, the sequel to Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen and the first of the Might and Magic titles to take place on the same planet as Heroes of Might and Magic. It continues the storyline of Heroes of Might and Magic II, and takes place at the same time as Heroes of Might and Magic III in the series chronology. The game was compared favorably to its peers, role-playing video games such as The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Critics praised it for its non-linear, user-friendly premise, an interactive, detailed game world and a polished, bug-free initial release. A Limited Edition version of the game was also released, including a cloth map of Enroth, a strategy guide and the first five games of the series on CD-ROM. It was followed by three sequels, with Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor directly continuing the story arc.
Gameplay
In Might and Magic VI, the player takes control of four adventurers, each starting with low attributes, guiding them to be mighty heroes to save the fictional land of Enroth. Unlike the previous titles, The Mandate of Heaven moved away from grid-based maps and granted players fully explorable maps to roam over, including scalable mountains. Battles can be conducted either in real time or in a turn-based mode, allowing players to take time determining what enemies to attack or what spells to cast, although turn-based mode severely limits the player's movement. As in the rest of the series, all action is shown through the eyes of the party, in first person view, but the new engine allows full 360 degree turning as well as looking up and down. For gameplay and storyline reasons, along with the fact that it is based on a new platform, Might and Magic VI includes no character transfer system between its prequels or sequels, unlike earlier instalments.
Apart from the main quest line, there are a number of side and promotion quests available to take on, but although they are not abundant, most are detailed in their setup and planning. Because the game operates under a calendar schedule with a day and night system, the time of year affects the availability of several scheduled events, such as the Solstices and the presence of the Circus of the Sun.
Character creation and improvement
Uniquely for the series, Might and Magic VI is the first and only Might and Magic title to offer players no choice regarding race: all playable characters are human. Also, unlike previous versions of the Might and Magic series, the party size is limited to four characters (with two slots for NPCs), compared to the six character party sizes in previous games. Players then choose one of six class that are available in the game for use: Knight, Druid, Paladin, Cleric, Sorcerer and Archer. The class chosen for a character determines what skills they can use in the game including which two are preset for them (e.g. Archers begin with Bow from the start), and how their two primary stats (Health and Magic Points) are set up. Players can modify a character further in creation by selecting two more skills to complement their class, along with improving their ability score by adding or subtracting points from one of seven statistics, all of which are carried over from the previous instalments: Might, Intellect, Personality, Endurance, Accuracy, Speed and Luck. Characters age as game time passes (as well as through detrimental spells and potions), and so begin at roughly twenty years old, receiving statistic penalties upon going beyond fifty years of age.