Difference between revisions of "Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra"

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[[Image:Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - USA.jpg|thumb|256x256px|US box art.]]
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{{Video Game
 +
| Title            = Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
 +
| SortTitle        = Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra
 +
| Image           = Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - USA.jpg
 +
| ImageDescription = MS-DOS - USA - 1st edition.
 +
| Developer        = {{VideoGameDeveloper|New World Computing}}
 +
| Publisher        = {{VideoGamePublisher|New World Computing}}
 +
| PublishedYear    = 1991
 +
| PublishedMonth  = ??
 +
| PublishedDay    = ??
 +
| Platforms        = {{Platform|Amiga}}, {{Platform|DOS}}, {{Platform|FM Towns}}, {{Platform|Macintosh Classic}}, {{Platform|PC-9800}}, {{Platform|Sega CD}}, {{Platform|SNES}}, {{Platform|TurboGrafx-CD}}
 +
| Genres          = {{VideoGameGenre|Dungeon crawler|Dungeon crawler}}, {{VideoGameGenre|Exploration video game|Exploration}}, {{VideoGameGenre|Role-playing video game|Role-playing game}}
 +
| Themes          = {{MediaTheme|Adventure}}, {{MediaTheme|Fantasy}}, {{MediaTheme|Science Fiction}}
 +
| Series          = ''[[Might and Magic (universe)|Might and Magic]]''
 +
| Distributions    = {{VideoGameDistribution|Commercial}}
 +
}}
  
'''''Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra''''', known in Japan as '''''マイトアンドマジック3 [Maito ando Majikku 3]''''' is a turn-based 3D fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by [[New World Computing]] for [[MS-DOS]] in 1991, and then for several other platforms. It is the first game to use the [[Might and Magic III Engine]] which was also used for the next two games in the series.
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'''''Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra''''' is a [[fantasy]] [[role-playing video game]] developed and published by [[New World Computing]] for [[MS-DOS]] in 1991, and then for several other platforms. It is the third game in the [[Might and Magic (universe)|series]], and the first game to use the [[Might and Magic III Engine]] which was also used for the next two games in the series.
  
My brother borrowed this game from a friend shortly after it was released and I played it on my family's 386SX Packard Bell. I was really blown away by this game. It looked far more impressive than any game I had seen before. I was even more impressed when I played it with my [[Sound Blaster]], which not only added music, but speech.
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==Personal==
 +
{{VideoGameStatus
 +
| Own      = Yes. MS-DOS port in a ''Might & Magic'' collection.
 +
| CantOwn  =
 +
| Won      =
 +
| CantWin  =
 +
| Finished =
 +
}}
  
As a child, I didn't get very far into to game because I was too creeped out by the Screamer monsters to venture far past Baywatch. Instead, I tried recording the stats of every item I got in the game. I had a stack of papers and never realized that I only needed to record each individual prefix and suffix! After discovering that Fountain Head had a place where you could work odd jobs for a week to earn gold, and that the bank earned you interest over time, I spent hours making my characters work over an over again. I ended up with millions in the bank, but all my characters ended up dying of old age!
+
My brother borrowed this game from a friend shortly after it was released and I played it on my family's 386SX Packard Bell. I was really blown away by this game. It looked far more impressive than any game I had seen before. I was even more impressed when I played it with my [[Sound Blaster]], which not only added music, but a small amount of digital audio, including speech.
  
==Status==
+
As a child, I didn't get very far into to game because I was too creeped out by the Screamer monsters to venture very far past Baywatch. Instead, I tried recording the stats of every item I got in the game. I had a stack of papers and never realized that I only needed to record each individual prefix and suffix! After discovering that Fountain Head had a place where you could work odd jobs for a week to earn gold, and that the bank earned you interest over time, I spent hours making my characters work over an over again. I ended up with millions in the bank, but all my characters ended up dying of old age! I tried a couple other times to beat the game, but I keep getting bored with it. I think I've finished about 1/3 of it.
I own the game for MS-DOS in a Might & Magic collection. I have not beaten it.
 
  
 
==Reviews==
 
==Reviews==
 +
{{Video Game Review|5|6|8|4|6|MS-DOS}}
 +
 +
{{Spoilers}}
 +
 
===Good===
 
===Good===
* The graphics are state of the art for a game from 1991.
+
* The graphics and animations are unbelievably good for a game from 1991. The pixel art is fantastic, and the designers incorporated a lot of photographs seamlessly into the game. Truly state of the art.
* The combat system is simple enough to not be an obstacle, but complex enough to handle different tactics.
+
* The combat system is simple enough to not be an obstacle, but complex enough to handle different tactics. I like how attacks give a general idea of damage by changing the size of the blood splatter without resorting to numbers.
 
* The prefix/suffix system for items was a great way of creating nearly countless variations of items.
 
* The prefix/suffix system for items was a great way of creating nearly countless variations of items.
 +
* Although the UI nicely allows mouse control for everything, it still has full keyboard shortcuts to make things much faster.
 +
* The mugshots are drawn very well, and how they change to indicate status ailments was a great idea.
  
 
===Bad===
 
===Bad===
 
* The music and sound is pretty bland.
 
* The music and sound is pretty bland.
 
* The dungeon traps are pretty obnoxious. Even though they're clearly visible, they're often unavoidable and only serve to slowly weaken your party.
 
* The dungeon traps are pretty obnoxious. Even though they're clearly visible, they're often unavoidable and only serve to slowly weaken your party.
 +
* Several of the enemies are drawn as puns or jokes, and they ruin the game's feel. A melting candle? Seriously?
 +
* In-game map sections are pretty small, and enemies are not rendered until you enter the section which often causes unrealistic ambushes.
 +
* The overworld game map is extremely artificial and blocky.
 +
* Although you don't -have- to rely on the temple blessings and well power-ups, not using them requires a lot more grinding, so you'd be crazy not to. Unfortunately, this creates annoying busy work every day.
 +
* I don't think the sci-fi aspect was well integrated. This is always tricky to do, and I think the designers failed.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
Line 24: Line 56:
  
 
==Media==
 
==Media==
===Box Art===
+
===Cover Art===
 
I don't really like any of the boxes used for the game.
 
I don't really like any of the boxes used for the game.
  
Line 36: Line 68:
 
===Documentation===
 
===Documentation===
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Manual.pdf|English manual.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - USA - Manual.pdf|Manual - DOS - USA.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Cluebook.pdf|Clue book.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PC98 - Japan - Manual.pdf|Manual - PC98 - Japan.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PC98 - Japan - Manual.pdf|PC98 manual.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - SNES - USA - Manual.pdf|Manual - SNES - USA.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Manual.pdf|Super CD-ROM manual.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Manual.pdf|Manual - Super CD-ROM - Japan.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - MCD - Japan - Manual.pdf|Sega Mega CD manual.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - MCD - Japan - Manual.pdf|Manual - Mega CD - Japan.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - Map.jpg|Map.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Cluebook.pdf|Clue book - English.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - Map - German.png|Map in German.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - USA - Map.jpg|Map - USA.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PC98 - Japan - Map.jpg|PC-98 Map.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Germany - Map.png|Map - Germany.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Map - Front.jpg|Super CD-ROM map - front.
+
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PC98 - Japan - Map.jpg|Map - PC-98 - Japan.
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Map - Back.jpg|Super CD-ROM map - back.
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Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Map - Front.jpg|Map - Super CD-ROM - Front.
 +
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - PCCD - Japan - Map - Back.jpg|Map - Super CD-ROM - Back.
 +
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - AMI - USA - Reference Card.pdf|Reference card - Amiga - USA.
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 +
 +
===Maps===
 +
<gallery>
 +
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Map.png|Map.
 +
</gallery>
 +
 +
===Screenshots===
 +
<gallery>
 +
Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - Screenshot - Title.png|Title.
 +
</gallery>
 +
 +
===Videos===
 +
{{YouTube|YCtDpEApofs|Longplay - DOS.}}
 +
 +
==Play Online==
 +
{{PlayOnline|https://classicreload.com/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra.html|MS-DOS}}, {{PlayOnline|https://www.retrogames.cc/snes-games/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra-usa.html|SNES}}, {{PlayOnline|https://www.retrogames.cc/turbografxcd-games/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra.html|TurboGrafx-CD}}
 +
 +
==Representation==
 +
{{Representation
 +
| Media                      = Video games
 +
| StrongFemaleCharacterStatus = Pass
 +
| StrongFemaleCharacterNotes  = There are several playable female portraits to use.
 +
| BechdelTestStatus          = Pass
 +
| BechdelTestNotes            = When playing as a female party members, the test is passed by speaking to the other female NPCs.
 +
| StrongPOCCharacterStatus    = Pass
 +
| StrongPOCCharacterNotes    = There are several playable persons of color portraits to use.
 +
| QueerCharacterStatus        = Fail
 +
| QueerCharacterNotes        = There are no queer characters.
 +
}}
 +
 +
==Titles==
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
! Language !! Native !! Transliteration !! Translation
 +
|-
 +
| English || Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra || ||
 +
|-
 +
| Japanese || マイトアンドマジック3 || Maito ando Majikku 3 || Might and Magic 3
 +
|}
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra mobygames.com/game/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra] - MobyGames.
+
{{Link|MobyGames|http://www.mobygames.com/game/might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra}}
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_III:_Isles_of_Terra en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_III:_Isles_of_Terra] - Wikipedia.
+
{{Link|Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_III:_Isles_of_Terra}}
 +
{{Link|SegaRetro|https://segaretro.org/Might_and_Magic_III:_Isles_of_Terra}}
 +
{{Link|StrategyWiki|https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_III:_Isles_of_Terra}}
 +
{{Link|GameFAQs|https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/564551-might-and-magic-iii-isles-of-terra}}
 +
{{Link|TVTropes|https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MightAndMagic}}
 +
{{Link|TCRF|https://tcrf.net/Might_and_Magic_III_(DOS)}}
 +
 
 
* [http://jeffludwig.com/mm3/index.php jeffludwig.com/mm3/index.php] - MM3 modding.
 
* [http://jeffludwig.com/mm3/index.php jeffludwig.com/mm3/index.php] - MM3 modding.
 +
* [https://lparchive.org/Might-Magic-III-Isles-of-Terra lparchive.org/Might-Magic-III-Isles-of-Terra] - Let's Play.
  
  
[[Category: Games]]
+
[[Category: Video Game Prime Order - Strategy, Adventure, Action]]
[[Category: Video Games]]
+
[[Category: Game Mechanic - Playable Female Character]]
[[Category: Amiga Games]]
+
[[Category: Game mechanic - Playable person of color]]
[[Category: DOS Games]]
+
[[Category: Video Games With Unknown Bechdel Test Status]]
[[Category: FM Towns Games]]
 
[[Category: Macintosh Games]]
 
[[Category: PC-98 Games]]
 
[[Category: Sega CD Games]]
 
[[Category: SNES Games]]
 
[[Category: TurboGrafx CD Games]]
 
[[Category: Role-Playing Game]]
 
[[Category: Fantasy]]
 
[[Category: Playable Female Character]]
 

Latest revision as of 16:34, 7 March 2024

Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra

Might and Magic III - Isles of Terra - DOS - USA.jpg

MS-DOS - USA - 1st edition.

Developer New World Computing
Publisher New World Computing
Published 1991-??-??
Platforms Amiga, DOS, FM Towns, Macintosh Classic, PC-9800, Sega CD, SNES, TurboGrafx-CD
Genres Dungeon crawler, Exploration, Role-playing game
Themes Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Series Might and Magic
Distribution Commercial

Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by New World Computing for MS-DOS in 1991, and then for several other platforms. It is the third game in the series, and the first game to use the Might and Magic III Engine which was also used for the next two games in the series.

Personal

Own?Yes. MS-DOS port in a Might & Magic collection.
Won?No.

My brother borrowed this game from a friend shortly after it was released and I played it on my family's 386SX Packard Bell. I was really blown away by this game. It looked far more impressive than any game I had seen before. I was even more impressed when I played it with my Sound Blaster, which not only added music, but a small amount of digital audio, including speech.

As a child, I didn't get very far into to game because I was too creeped out by the Screamer monsters to venture very far past Baywatch. Instead, I tried recording the stats of every item I got in the game. I had a stack of papers and never realized that I only needed to record each individual prefix and suffix! After discovering that Fountain Head had a place where you could work odd jobs for a week to earn gold, and that the bank earned you interest over time, I spent hours making my characters work over an over again. I ended up with millions in the bank, but all my characters ended up dying of old age! I tried a couple other times to beat the game, but I keep getting bored with it. I think I've finished about 1/3 of it.

Reviews

Video Game Review Icon - Enjoyment.png Video Game Review Icon - Control.png Video Game Review Icon - Appearance.png Video Game Review Icon - Sound.png Video Game Review Icon - Replayability.png
5 6 8 4 6

Best Version: MS-DOS

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • The graphics and animations are unbelievably good for a game from 1991. The pixel art is fantastic, and the designers incorporated a lot of photographs seamlessly into the game. Truly state of the art.
  • The combat system is simple enough to not be an obstacle, but complex enough to handle different tactics. I like how attacks give a general idea of damage by changing the size of the blood splatter without resorting to numbers.
  • The prefix/suffix system for items was a great way of creating nearly countless variations of items.
  • Although the UI nicely allows mouse control for everything, it still has full keyboard shortcuts to make things much faster.
  • The mugshots are drawn very well, and how they change to indicate status ailments was a great idea.

Bad

  • The music and sound is pretty bland.
  • The dungeon traps are pretty obnoxious. Even though they're clearly visible, they're often unavoidable and only serve to slowly weaken your party.
  • Several of the enemies are drawn as puns or jokes, and they ruin the game's feel. A melting candle? Seriously?
  • In-game map sections are pretty small, and enemies are not rendered until you enter the section which often causes unrealistic ambushes.
  • The overworld game map is extremely artificial and blocky.
  • Although you don't -have- to rely on the temple blessings and well power-ups, not using them requires a lot more grinding, so you'd be crazy not to. Unfortunately, this creates annoying busy work every day.
  • I don't think the sci-fi aspect was well integrated. This is always tricky to do, and I think the designers failed.

Ugly

  • The original release had a pretty bad game-breaking bug that made it nearly impossible to win.

Media

Cover Art

I don't really like any of the boxes used for the game.

Documentation

Maps

Screenshots

Videos

Longplay - DOS.

Play Online

MS-DOS, SNES, TurboGrafx-CD

Representation

Strong female character?PassThere are several playable female portraits to use.
Bechdel test?PassWhen playing as a female party members, the test is passed by speaking to the other female NPCs.
Strong person of color character?PassThere are several playable persons of color portraits to use.
Queer character?FailThere are no queer characters.

Titles

Language Native Transliteration Translation
English Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
Japanese マイトアンドマジック3 Maito ando Majikku 3 Might and Magic 3

Links

Link-MobyGames.png  Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-SegaRetro.png  Link-StrategyWiki.png  Link-GameFAQs.png  Link-TVTropes.png  Link-TCRF.png