(This is Part Two of a three-part opening salvo for 2014's May Madness Melange. If you're looking for Part One, try here. If you found this page looking for online groceries or naked people, I don't know what to tell you. Blame Google?)

Like before, we'll be following this list of criteria to compare Master of Magic to a more recent game that, in some capacity, purports to be inspired by it. For a more in-depth explanation of each entry and how it pertains to Master of Magic, check Part One.

1. Spells, and lots of 'em.
2. A set-piece tactical combat system with strategy n' shit.
3. Ruins and dungeons to explore.
4. Hero and army customization.
5. An extensive city building system, that allows for various different types of city layout depending on its location and resources.
6. An array of races and magic disciplines to invest in.
7. That wonderful feeling of late-game invincibility, usually the result of breaking the game in some way by gaining too much power.
8. I didn't find it boring.

Onto the second game!

Disciples II: Dark Prophecy/Rise of the Elves

Despite a somewhat convoluted release history, Disciples II: Rise of the Elves is simply the original Disciples II: Dark Prophecy with the enhancements of an added faction and their own chain of campaign missions. There's also one called Disciples II: Gallean's Return that has features the core game and has a completely different set of extra missions that I also happen to own. I'll stick with Rise of the Elves for the time being, otherwise I'm going to confuse myself.

Disciples II is very much a cross between Master of Magic and its closest conceptual rival Heroes of Might and Magic, and elements of both series can be seen in Disciples. The look of the overworld map, the way city development occurs, the way resources are gathered and the way heroes are hired and leveled are very reminiscent of HoMM, while the strategic combat and use of global spells recalls more of Master of Magic. Disciples II is the oldest game in this trilogy, by over a decade, and its age is quite apparent in terms of graphical capabilities. However, the core gameplay hasn't aged too badly at all. There's a more recent third game that might've made for a fairer comparison, but I don't own that one.

I unfortunately didn't get much further in this game than the tutorial mission, which doesn't last particularly long but gave me a pretty good impression of the game regardless. What can I say? I get easily distracted, especially when it's Vinny trying to kill Dracula over and over for almost three hours. I won't claim that it wasn't time well spent distracted from what I was meant to be doing. Still, treat this one as an "early impressions" blog. Or at least more so than usual.

The Master of Master of Magic?

1. There's a smattering of spells, based on alignment. Spells must be researched by constructing the right building back at the home stronghold and then expending mana resources on first learning the spell and then for every casting thereafter. As such, spells are a limited resource (unless you've captured a lot of mana-producing nodes) and therefore of an infrequent sight on the battlefield. The selection's very limited too, though given the slightly more low-scale nature of the game - we're talking parties of six not groups of hundreds - a wide range of magical support not quite as necessary for Disciples as it is for Master of Magic.
2. Disciples II does indeed have a quite tactical combat system, though it's limited early on. Battles play out like in a traditional turn-based JRPG: each character has a turn, and can perform a single action. There are rows to consider, with the back row ideal for archers and magic-users, and it's up to the player to configure the right team for each of their parties. Each party is also led by a leader character, who is stronger but also more expensive to hire and more crucial to keep alive. Units will level up after a while, but can't actually become stronger until certain training facilities are built in the capital, such as a church to train stronger healers. Many of the classes have branches, and buying a training structure often locks you to that specific development path. To take the cleric example again, there's a variant that performs stronger one-target heals and a variant that performs weaker heals that target everyone. Other than that, the turn-based combat is actually fairly basic, though not to the extent that HoMM or Civilization (or even Warlock, from the previous blog) are.
3. All ruins and dungeons lead to a single fight with a reward based on the fight's difficulty, just like Master of Magic. There's a fair number scattered around, and it's always a given that the fight (for which you get no scouting report/unit preview) will be tougher than normal. I got no issues with how Disciples handles its fights and dungeon-exploring, though I obviously prefer the larger scale battles of Master of Magic. So biased.
4. The heroes in this game progress like the units do, earning stronger abilities upon leveling up. They also hit harder and have various world map aspects that are important as well, like the relatively weak archangels who are excellent scouts who are able to fly around and plant "rods" that automatically acquire any production nodes they are placed next to but not really geared for fighting large groups of enemies. For those unfamiliar with Master of Magic, there was a certain summoned creature that moved quickly through the air and could be melded to sites of magical power for additional mana income that operated in a similar fashion. The ranger hero has excellent movement, though is a weak archer unit that must be placed at the back. The pegasus knight hero is damaging, can fly, but has a limited speed due to their armor (one would assume). There's a bunch of hero types and other factions have their own hero variants as well.
5. City building is limited to simply spending money on new structures that allow for unit promotions and other benefits, such as spell research and improved healing for units stationed at allied cities. This side of things leans far closer to Heroes of Might and Magic's incremental troop production structures than MoM's denser city building elements.
6. Rise of the Elves has five "factions" that comprise of: a group of crusading humans with angelic beings on their side; undead led (or controlled, I guess) by a devious demigoddess; hard-boiled dwarves; the demon-led forces of darkness which includes evil humans; and the new addition of the elves. As with HoMM, each faction has their own units, their own heroes, their own spells and their own aesthetic sensibility. There's certainly variance to spare.
7. The late-game invincibility doesn't really apply here, as each stage is built around a specific mission target rather than a Civilization style slow victory by either conquering your opponents through force or maxing out research and securing a technology win (which in Master of Magic's case is the instant-win Spell of Mastery). If you're strong enough to accomplish the mission, you'll probably want to do that than to waste any more time gathering power and resources and seeking out artifacts. Time is of the essence, usually.
8. Disciples II is all right. I don't see myself growing as tired of it as quickly as I would with any given HoMM, because the combat's a little more involved than "mad stackz"™ and the various promotion paths do create some interesting dilemmas that might either pay off dividends or spell the scenario's doom. It's nowhere near as dense or as interesting as Master of Magic, but it's a decent game in its own right and perfect for fans of Heroes of Might and Magic who are perhaps seeking something a little deeper. Of course, I say this as someone who prioritizes fun stuff like plundering dungeons over out-strategizing fellow warlords.

Additional Info

Really, then, I think I might be stretching it a little comparing Disciples II to Master of Magic. While the developers probably had Simtex's nonpareil in its periphery, it's focused more on presenting a game to challenge the throne of Heroes of Might and Magic, ensuring it has a little more depth with its combat and a slightly more interesting fantasy universe to play around in. Were I to compare Disciples II to the Heroes of Might and Magic games I've played previously (the last was III, I believe), I might rule in favor of Disciples II and its tactical, if rudimentary, turn-based JRPG-style combat. Comparing it to Master of Magic is a tad closer to the apples and oranges idiom.

Overall, Disciples II is a fine game for strategy-types and especially those who prefer the Heroes of Might and Magic series and the more overtly competitive resource-gathering strategy games to city-sims like Master of Magic (those monsters!). However, though I intend to play a bit more of the story and check out the other factions, I can't see Disciples II keeping my attention for too long. I should state here before I move onto the third game in this trio of strategy sims that I am absolutely thankful to @arbitrarywater for generously gifting me a copy of this game. Sorry it took like two years before I decided to do anything with it, but... hey, better late than never, right?

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