The Magic World 2: A New Era for Might and Magic-Style RPGs

by Fernando Diaz / Articles, Editorials / 08 Jan 2025

It’s not often, when we think about what makes classic PC RPGs great, that we focus on raw stats or massive dungeons. It’s really about the journey – that satisfying arc from a ragtag group of nobodies, to a band of legendary heroes through hard work and smart choices. Might and Magic VI, VII, and VIII just nailed it, with epic adventures and that palpable reward in watching your party evolve, that one particular feeling of simply conquering a world through grit and tactical prowess. That combination of exploration, character development, and an actual sense of progression wowed in those games.

Now, The Magic World 2: Curse of the Ancients by Flame-Dragons—a studio of Dmitriy Belonovskiy—is out to consciously pursue that blend. It is not trying to be some carbon copy but a modern interpretation of that classic formula.

The Magic World 2 immediately establishes its credentials with a huge open world, interconnected by some remarkably detailed dungeons, and a party system that clearly draws its inspiration from the Might and Magic series. Graphically, this is undeniably impressive with the Unreal Engine, setting up a visually good-looking base for what seems to be an interesting world. While the first demo did show that the controls were a bit clunky—which is a common issue when trying to recreate classic gameplay—the dev has acknowledged this problem. Crucially, they are now working towards a smoother, more flexible control system, taking inspiration from Might and Magic: Merge, a mod that many players are familiar with.

What really impresses, though, is just how fluid The Magic World 2 seems. Similar to Might and Magic VI, VII & VIII, one can now switch between real-time or turn-based combat on the fly, allowing a little more player choice in how to handle each combat situation. It also tries to borrow a page from the flexible party system of Might and Magic 8, whereby players can hire or dismiss party members at will and even go solo if they prefer, allowing for a more organic process of shaping your party over time. This is seriously promising freedom when it comes to shaping both your party and your adventure in a way not many modern RPGs can boast.

Might and Magic, especially those from New World Computing, weren’t just mindless grinding but rose to each and every challenge with strategy, watching your party develop and evolve with each quest completed, feeling that real sense of conquest over a virtual world. The Magic World 2 seems to be going in the same direction, & though the demo is a little rough around the edges, it clearly offers a lot of potential.

The full release is planned to happen in 2025, but you can try out the demo now: [Link to Steam Page]. Jump in and see for yourself if it can recapture that same feeling of glory and the epic adventure we’ve all grown to love from that classic genre.

And if you are thirsting for even more games cut from that same cloth, then we have found 9 other upcoming titles looking to invoke that same M&M magic. Check out our video below for more:

Fernando Diaz

Fernando is doing what he always did, sharing his honest opinions about games whenever he can. The difference is now he is writing and not talking about it.
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