Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor

Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor continues the previous installment, throwing players into the kingdom of Erathia and the newly discovered region of Harmondale, where they assemble a party of up to four adventurers and travel across a vast fantasy world full of towns, caves, and dungeons. The game lets players choose whether their party leans toward Order or Chaos, which affects available skills, allies, and even the story's ending, encouraging repeat playthroughs with a differently built party.

Combat takes place in either real-time or turn-based mode depending on the player's choice, combining the speed of action with the tactical depth of a classic dungeon crawler, and players can switch between the two approaches at any time depending on the situation. Characters choose from a range of classes and schools of magic, gather equipment, and gradually build their own castle, which sets the game apart from other period CRPGs by emphasizing estate management and the gradual growth of a home base that provides further benefits and income. The world is divided into several vast regions, between which the player travels by land and by water, and each offers its own set of quests, factions, and secrets to uncover. The graphics use a fully 3D environment with free camera movement, which in 1999 was still not entirely a given for a series that grew out of purely turn-based predecessors, while the game retains the dense concentration of content and quests typical of the entire Might and Magic series.

Might and Magic VII is often cited by fans of the series as one of its high points, because it combines content richness, freedom of choice, and accessibility better than most earlier and later installments, offering dozens of hours of content even for players who want to complete absolutely every side quest. Today the game is especially valued by players interested in classic western RPGs with an open world and a wealth of content, though its visuals and controls clearly show their age and require some patience with period interface conventions.

Why play it: For fans of classic western RPGs with an open world and a wealth of content, who have patience with a period interface and want dozens of hours of side quests.