[twillight]

1: the common agreement is, get 1 from everything, sex and race don't come to play, for the first 3 places put the melee fighters.
I don't like the sound of this game because the way of healing is by resting, and that has a random encounter chance, what practicaly means your party is executed.
Also, casting using gems sounds stupid.



2: I heared a lot of pre-plannig is demanded, because thereare things only men or women can hit... Sounds too much fuss.
Has a random time travel element (random is always bad), gem-casting... Not attractive by modern standards.


3: there appear skills, and sounds like resting is mostly fixed? Still heared start with the pre-made party like all the previous installments, because the game at the beginning is harsh, and because all the random numbers it is hard to create characters manualy.
Still uses the stupid gem-casting system.


4/5 (World of Xeen): this finaly looks like how they all should.
The race-advantages seem obvious, and judging the class descriptions there is a normal and an advanced version for all slots. Like Barbarian is an advananced but more restricted (aka. specialized) version of knight, rangers are modified druids, etc. Though I wouldn't pick ninja, because the only way to max out on thievery is using a Robber. Obviously for the same reason keep sorcerer/cleric in any party if you don't go for challenges.


6: there are ... not that many differences between the classes. Also, you gain a heckaton of spell points, and the spells are rock hard, so schoose paladin over knight.
Cleric and sorcerer in any group are obvious choice, and with metaknowledge and pre-planning you'll get light AND dark magic for them. Better for the most part make each specialize in one realm of those two though (make a chart of skill point which should invest in which).
Because of skill point limitations and strenght of the light/dark spells druid infinitely sucks, while Archer is an ok support character.
the mostcommon Challenge Party Build is knight/knight/knight/knight, because of the lack of spells entirely. Some tend to do a "let 3 character die" run, but I find that stupid beyond measure.
Advantage ofthe game is, it is hugh, and feels epic.



8: ye, as this one is way easier to make the case than 7. The problem is twofold, aside the generaly poor design (what is mostly because rushed production). One: you start with 1 character, and have to pick the rest later, some of which are available very far in the game (especialy troll. you just get trolled by that). Two: you start in a heavily attacked area with constant, infinitely respawning, not weakling enemies, while firestormis even hailing on you. That sounds like you need a character with though skin and musclues RIGHT NOW. So start with troll, or you're most probably dead before taking three steps.

Also, the dragon while not a starter race (there are no classes anymore for some reason) is friggin overpowered with its no-mana AoE-attack and stuff.

The game is not entirely a waste, but is very straightforward, not fitting in the open world design of the series.



7: this has the most variations when it comes to party building.
The game itself is fun, but has SOME flaws. There is the problem of gaining Town Portal as bare minimum is very far in the story, because of a difficulty peak, what feels unusual after MM6. Then there is the Invisibility spell, what is while necessary, and narratively connected, just feels cheap. Then there is the first maybe third of the game where you'll face a ton of timed events, what just gets in the way constantly.
The preset party is probably the strongest, partly because spells are changed since MM6, so not that useful, and apaldins don't gain that much HP either. So a combination of cleric with knight is awesome, because the spell Shared Life is very overpower.
Sorcerer is again a powerhouse when it is not unconsious, and thief is like a glass cannon. Shields are no longer the best choice either, so dualwield for it and knight is advisable. Stealing is stupid though, not just because there's no indication of the chances, and always being a chance to get caught, but for the fact that MM7 shops don't have good stuff to sell unlike some MM6 shops. Also, that dragon is very much defeatable at the start,and you can loot it through your nose, and believe me, players do.
There is also the problem of advancing your skills, because the teachers are many times are behind difficulty peaks. So while certain classes seem viable alternatives on paper, like monks with their unarmed combat, they are a though choice to make because of that.
Archer pretty much don't have an advantage inany field, and Ranger is only there if you realy sruggle in the early phases.
And druid is just bad with all its lame promotionquests, bad weapon choice (youwant to give dagger to the thief, not the druid), lack of dark/light magic... Still ONCE picking it along the dark path is fun, for the dragon familiar. It does nothing (appears as an extra hireling if I recall correctly), but it's cool.