魔法门：决战星云世界 Might and Magic: World of Xeen p.156

我一直觉得自己设计的游戏系统很赞，这是我游戏的最大优势，也是它们能流行至今的原因。此外，自由生成的游戏世界也引人入胜……《魔法门 1》由我独自制作，所以我对它有特殊的情结。但尽管如此，我仍得承认，《决战星云世界》是我的最爱。论游戏系统与宇宙观，这一部是系列最佳，为原作画上圆满的句点。

I have always felt the game systems I created were very robust, probably the biggest strength of the games and still hold up today. Plus the free-form nature of the game worlds is very appealing. [...] Although I have a special fondness for Might and Magic I since I did the entire game myself, I would still have to say World of Xeen was my favourite and the pinnacle of the game systems, universe and conclusion to the original story.

Jon Van Caneghem,
《魔法门》系列创始人

Jon Van Caneghem,
Might and Magic's creator

《星云之谜》与《黑暗魔君大反扑》的地图都很大，各有 24 处自带小地图的探索地点，面积均为 16×16 格。除此之外，游戏还有 10 个城镇、城堡，及很多地下城供玩家探索。角色往往要先学会特殊的法术或特别的技能，才能在某些特殊区域通行无碍。

异域风光是游戏一大亮点。附赠的精美实体地图展现游戏世界的各大美景：一望无际的沙漠，气势磅礴的熔岩湖，郁郁葱葱的密林，荒芜肃杀的冻原……此外，在某些特殊区域，玩家甚至可以云间漫步，或于悬空步道徜徉。这款游戏给人的印象堪比史诗版“剑与魔法^[1] ”，包罗万象，妙趣横生。这款游戏的魅力不在于“星云世界”是否与前作的“现实世界”存在多少主题或是逻辑上的一致性，而在于这段精彩绝伦的冒险本身。

游戏解密趣味性极强，玩家往往需要用到许多游戏外的知识才能揭开谜底，对于不懂英语的玩家而言，这些谜题会让人望而却步。

The land in each game is large, with 24 map locations, each of which are 16x16 squares. On top of all this explorable area, there are ten towns, castles, and dozens of dungeons to explore. Progressing across the map often requires your characters to cast certain spells or to learn special skills mentioned previously.

There are plenty of exotic places to visit. The gorgeous physical maps included with the games show a wide variety of biomes: huge deserts, lava lakes, dense forests and frozen expanses. In addition, there are fantastical places where you can levitate over clouds and walk along roads in the sky. The game feels like a heroic sword-and-sorcery story, with different elements thrown together in a hodge-podge of fun. The important part is the adventure, not necessarily any thematic or logical consistent with the “real world”.

The puzzles are particularly interesting, as they tend to rely on knowledge outside the game and can be daunting to non-English speakers.

1995 年，粉丝们为《魔法门 5》开发一款剧情 mod，名为《席恩之剑（Swords of Xeen）》，游戏开发商 New World Computing 还出资赞助，并将其作为官方额外内容向玩家发布。

In 1995 a group of fans created a mod of Might and Magic V named Swords of Xeen. New World Computing then endorsed and released the mod as an official bonus scenario.

例如，玩家需要根据线索，完成地下城的填字游戏。谜题数量之多，使得这款小游戏的挑战性，比单纯消灭怪物，夺取宝藏要高得多。当然，如今玩家可以参考攻略，游刃有余地通过难关。

如前文所述，本作有过场动画，这也是系列剧情的一部分。经典的奇幻叙事手法与日趋浓厚的科幻氛围是魔法门系列的又一特点。随着玩家不断接近游戏结局，整体脉络愈发清晰，一场跨越了系列前作的宏大对决在这一作华丽落幕。

总之，《决战星云世界》包罗万象。如果仔细品味，玩家会发现更多“彩蛋^[2] ”。本作体例之大、历史地位之高，堪称 RPG 游戏的标杆。

For example, one dungeon has you solving a crossword puzzle using clues. The sheer number of puzzles makes the game challenging more than just hacking up monsters and taking loot. Of course, those playing the game now can just look up a handy FAQ to get past the tricky parts.

As mentioned before, the game also had cutscenes as part of a larger story. The story continues with standard fantasy tropes that blend with slowly revealed sci-fi elements – another hallmark of the Might and Magic series. As the player approaches the end of the game, the true plot becomes revealed: the events of the game are the conclusion of a grand fight that spanned all the prior games in the series.

In all, World of Xeen is a game that includes practically everything. If you look hard, you can probably even find a kitchen sink somewhere. But, because of its immense scope and place in history, the game stands as a landmark RPG for good reason.

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¹ 译者注：剑与魔法是奇幻小说的次文类，“剑是主角，魔法是配角”故事着重于叙述勇武的英雄对抗具有超自然力量的邪恶势力。术士、邪灵、怪物等是其常见的敌人。此文类的起源，在欧美文学中最早可追溯至荷马的史诗《奥德赛》，近代则有大仲马的《三剑客》。
² 译者注：原文为“如果玩家眼尖，会在游戏的某个角落发现一个‘盥洗池’”。此处是作者化用“everything but/including the kitchen sink”的俗语表达。Kitchen sink 指微末之物，该表达意为“几乎无所不包”。这一用法最早出现于 1918 年的《雪城先驱报》，后来在二战中颇为流行，形容炮火猛烈，“除了盥洗池扔不了外，我们将手头拥有的一切扔向敌方阵地”（everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at the enemy）。原文的 practically everything，与 kitchen sink 前后呼应，指这款游戏包罗万象。