TL;DR- While a slightly more balanced game than Might and Magic 6, it's also a downgrade in more ways than not.

Having recently finished part 6 of the Might and Magic series, I found myself craving more of the same. And in many ways, this does feel like more of 6, albeit with a lot of tweaks here and there. Some of these tweaks improve the game, and some do not. Whether or not you enjoy the game is going to come down to how much you like part 6, and how you feel about these changes. (Check my review of 6 if you want more info on that game.) For me, more of these changes missed the mark than hit, resulting in a textbook example of one step forward, two steps back.

Many of the tweaks from 6 are for the better. The once weak healing receives a massive numbers buff. So do potions, with reagents now having power levels and the newly introduced alchemy skill keeping brewing relevant past the early game. Overpowered bows have been massively nerfed by not allowing most classes to get Master rank or higher, making archery less dominating for the first half of the game. Melee combat is buffed, to the point where the Knight no longer feels like a wasted slot. Newly returning from the older entries and missing in 6 are the Rogue and Monk classes, as well as alternate race choices. Alignments also return, cleverly incorporated into a very important choice halfway through the game. Magic is also less overpowered, with spells becoming tiered and only becoming castable if party members have the appropriate levels of training. Town Portal now allows you to pick your target the moment you get it. Towns themselves are generally less labyrinthine, and there are no moments of ultimate BS equal to 6's Castle Darkmoor in the much tamer dungeons.

But many of the changes are for the worse. For some reason the devs decided one low-tier archery class wasn't good enough, and as a result there is now an Archer and a Ranger class. The skill levels necessary for training are now uniform across the board, with Master available at 7 for all skills, and an additional Grandmaster level available at 10. This Grandmaster level is gated off for the first in-game year, sealing away several abilities and spells for about half the game, including the extremely useful Lloyd's Beacon spell. And without Lloyd's Beacon, there are 3 commonly visited areas which are only accessible by hoofing it or by visiting the appropriate stables or ship on the appropriate day. This gets old very fast. Wandering NPCs no longer have flavor text or any useful dialogue, making them pointless aside from those who can be hired. Sound effects are often changed for no reason. (What the hell is that new Enchant Item sound??) The music doesn't hit as hard, although a few tracks stand out. The world feels smaller, with fewer dungeons, less secrets, and much less complexity. And perhaps worst of all, they scrapped the expressive and uncanny, just-off photo-realistic faces of 6! In their place are low-poly abominations with none of the charm.

One change which isn't entirely good or bad is capping skill training depending on class. For example, only promoted Sorcerers can learn Grandmaster Elemental magic, and only promoted Archers can learn Grandmaster Bow. While this does make classes more unique and balanced, it's also a huge hassle. This is especially true if you don't consult the game manual's skill chart before playing to see which classes can hit Grandmaster with various skills. Class-gating a skill like Learning is just silly, resulting in party levels all over the place. And gating Merchant Grandmaster to the Cleric class, and Alchemist to Sorcerer, means the two classes with the heaviest skill point investment are now forced to invest in even more skills. One step forward, two steps back.

That's not to say the game doesn't have its highlights. Players start on a tutorial island, flattening out the learning curve for newcomers. Acquiring a headquarters early on is an interesting change, and brings some political intrigue, even if it ends up a bit underused. There are cities above and below the earth which really shine. The animated clips which play when a player first enters certain buildings or dungeon are top notch, and more entertaining than ever. A seemingly innocuous choice at the beginning of the game bears some interesting fruit at a point in the game where the player probably forgot that choice even existed. The game definitely has its moments.

But Might and Magic 7 never has an Abandoned Temple moment. One of the first dungeons a player encounters in part 6, the Abandoned Temple is dark, sprawling, and filled with deadly, status-afflicting monsters. It's a wake-up call to the player. You're going to have to drink from fountains, buff, heal, explore, level, and acquire a ranged arsenal. In short, you're going to need a plan if you want to survive. Might and Magic 7, with its abundant buff pedestals, significantly less complex dungeons, and far less threatening enemies, does not ask this. The most difficult part of the game is figuring out where a switch is hidden in a dungeon or which house a skill trainer is in. (Do the harpies even cast Curse anymore?) It is true that halfway through 7 there is a sharp rise in the difficulty, but this is only temporary. Overall, the changes in art direction, sound design, dungeon complexity, questing, and world-building, as well as the gating off of so much content in an open world game, made the game far less enjoyable. While not a terrible game, Might and Magic 7 fails to break out of the shadow of its superior older brother.