Heroes Of Might & Magic is one of those game series I saw people play when I was younger and never had a chance to play until more recently. I bought the games on GOG and I've really enjoyed my time with Heroes Of Might & Magic III (the one I remember watching the most as a kid) and I was wondering, which do you consider the best game in the series?

Also which game is the worst in the series?

I'm really curious as once I've finished enjoying my time with Might & Magic III, knowing other people's favourites would give me a good idea as to which game to play next. Thank you :)

I'm afraid that you've started your trip at the pinnacle of the series, IMHO. :) The first and the second game - they are good, too, and some people even prefer them to the third one. YMMV.

And what about the rest? The rest is silence...
:P

I've not played 4, 6 and 7, but of the rest HoMM 3 is the best of the basic games (and thus the HoMM game with the best user made content), but HoMM 2 has the best campaigns.

Worst is the Heroes Chronicles, especially Conquest of the Underworld, Master of the Elements and Clash of Dragons. They are so easy that it's an insult, and the writing of the Heroes Chronicles is both far too verbose and barely above fan fiction level.

HoMM 1 was made obsolete by HoMM 2, but it did have some nice artwork.

The HoMM2 was the first game I played from the series and I was enamored by it's beauty and it's splendor.
It was possibly the first PC game I ever played. It's hard to tell for that was so long ago...
There fore it feels like it's been with me forever since the beginning, so it is plain, there could be no other choice for me.

I enjoyed HoMM2, but I think HoMM3 made numerous useful improvements to make the game less tedious. For example, in H3, the game remembers what each random spell shrine taught and will remind you if asked, so you do not need to send a hero to visit again, or keep an out-of-game list of where the good shrines are. Likewise for other bonuses. Once you explored it, your saved game remembers it for you. The hero-specific specializations provide a bit more variety. If I recall correctly, in H2, the heroes of a given class start out equivalent (so no one Knight is more useful than any other Knight, nor one Sorceress more useful than any other Sorceress, etc.). HoMM3 provides a much nicer battlefield interface. The Wait button exists, and can be used by both sides. Spells that refuse to target a creature can be recognized by how the creature does not receive an outline when you hover over it. The combat history can be reviewed during the combat, whereas in H2 you only had the most recent events and you needed to read them before they rolled out.

Heroes 4 made a fundamental change where the heroes can actually fight (and be killed) on the battlefield, along with the other creatures. I'm in the rare camp of people who really liked that style, it steers the game genre more towards an RPG while still retaining the same level of strategy elements. It's very unusual to find people that prefer Heroes 4 though. I'd recommend giving it a try and seeing how you like it.

It was also the last Heroes game made by New World Computing / 3DO. After that they were bought by Ubisoft.

For me personally, Homm V is the best in the series and 2 and 3 are very close runner ups.

I haven't played the series past IV, so I can't comment on any of them, but in my opinion it's a very close tie between II and III. HoMM III has much greater strategic (such as the ability to have units Wait), spell (there are lots more spells in III) and unit diversity, as well as greater hero customization, but I personally liked the art direction, campaigns and sounds ("BLAHH!") of HoMM II better.

HoMM I has its charms, but it feels very janky and unpolished when compared to later games, and HoMM IV I felt put FAR too much emphasis on the heroes (at high enough levels, heroes can wipe out enemy armies all by themselves, which I felt detracted from the heart of the series' mechanic, which was all about recruiting armies).

HoMM 2 is definitively the best, but HoMM 3 is a really worthy sequel that has many new good ideas, improvements and a few things that doesn't work as well. HoMM 3 also has a different art and musical direction. This along with the different balance between factions, units and spells makes both games feel quite different from each other, even though the gameplay is very similar.

I really recommend both games for people that like turn-based strategy games.

HoMM 1 is a game that I like a lot, but I would only recommend it for people that like HoMM 2 and want to try a different take on it. The strategic map in HoMM 1 looks quite similar to that of its sequel since it uses many f the same assets. HoMM 1 is more challenging, more streamlined and is not as visually impressive as HoMM2.

HoMM 5 is also quite good but the atmosphere in this game is much worse because the music is not as good as on the preceding games and the graphics style is really atrocious. Being an early 3D game doesn't help it's visuals either and the choice of 3D rather than 2D hampers the gameplay somewhat. The core game mechanics are good though.

I haven't played the games after HoMM 5, but from all I've read and seen they are probably best avoided.

HoMM 4 is a game I should try out some more. I liked what I've played of it, but the movement point system was somewhat confusing. Short story is that the developer tried something new and more radical with this game but unfortunately their parent company went bankrupt so they never got the time to polish it the way they did with their previous games. Still it seems like a very playable and interesting game.

A similar game series that I really would recommend is Age of Wonders. The best game in the series is the first one. It has a fantastic atmosphere and really compelling gameplay. Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (which is an upgraded version of AoW 2) is a great games as well. Age of Wonders 3 looked very promising from what little I've played of it. I need to play that more. But the graphics were much better in the previous games. AoW 3 is far from ugly though.
A negative aspect of the AoW series compared to HoMM is that since the game has a little more complexity, each turn takes a little more time than in HoMM. AoW1 is the "worst" at this, but it also has the most epic battles.

I agree. I really liked the art, music and atmosphere in HoMM3 as well but HoMM2 is unsurpassed. I think this is the reason that I've always found myself growing bored of HoMM3 easier than HoMM2. If you look at it on a surface level there is more of everything in HoMM3 so it should have more longevity, but it doesn't work that way for me at least.

I think the weakest part of the game is the strategic map graphics and as you say the music. While both of these are done very well and I never would have found any bad things to say about them if I never had played HoMM2, they are in no way as compelling and beautiful as in that game. The map graphics in HoMM2 just grabs you in the moment you see them, giving you a strong desire to go on adventure. The map graphics in HoMM3 are quite pretty, but they become bland much faster. The soundtrack in HoMM3 is great, it is very well done. The inspiration from Debussy and late romantic composers works well and fits with the game. But compared to the soundtrack in HoMM2 there is no competition.

The soundtrack to HoMM2 is the greatest collection of songs in videogame history. Diablo, Street Fighter 2, Actraiser, Final Fantasy 4, they have nothing on this game. And the tracks fit so well. The glorious optimistic piece in Knight's Castle (original) promises you that your soldiers will willingly fight to the last man for those green fields and mountains in the distance. The evil and very powerful track in the Warlock's Castle (expansion) gets you really exited for conquering the world with black dragons and nefarious magic. The beautiful "celtic opera" track of the Sorceress Castle makes you really believe that belong to some sort of celtic\rivendell\magical hippie faction whose precious lands must be protected against the other warlords around you. The grass theme is perhaps the most beautiful theme of all here and starting on the welcoming grassland is the perfect way to start a map, before you proceed to distant lands where danger lurks and more ominous music plays. The natural sounds added to the ambient soundtracks as well was a genius touch. Not very original, but very effective.

If you compare other aesthetic parts of HoMM2 to HoMM3, HoMM2 still comes out on top, but the result is more even. I prefer the designs of the city graphics in HoMM2, but the cites in HoMM3 are really impressive and I could absolutely understand it if someone thinks the HoMM3 cities look better. Great new creative cities. I like the unit graphics in HoMM2 the best, but I really like that they went for not only a very different style but also a reinterpretation of many units in the sequel. The hero portraits in homm2 is a lot better, but many of the portraits in HoMM3 are quite good as well. They are a lot more uneven though and unlike in HoMM2 there usually isn't anything interesting going on in the background. The battle background graphics are better in HoMM3, that's one visual area where it managed to surpass HoMM2.

While the sounds in these games are not as important as the graphics and music, they do still contribute a lot to making it all come alive, both on the strategic and tactical maps. While the sounds work very well and are used in a similar way in HoMM3 as in HoMM2, they are much more memorable and iconic in the second game. Who can forget the "BLAH!" of the Legosi vampires? The satisfying sound that comes when the golems tumble over. The menacing metallic footsteps when the giants and titans are charging. And the strange sounds that come from the place where you recruit Medusas. I read a comment once where someone said that specific sound made them want to kill themselves. I'm sure that they were exaggerating, but it is an eerie sound.

In HoMM2 everything comes together so well into a great mix of sword & sorcery and traditional fairy tales. The game does give you a sense of high adventure like almost no other game, the closest perhaps would be Simon the Sorcerer and some of the Zelda games. I agree with what you said about the kreegans. When HoMM3 was new it annoyed me to no end that the black dragons
and titans were no longer the strongest units, but instead some annoying archangels had taken their place. And to add insult to the injury they were also now the fastest unit until "Armageddons Blade"! I could have been ok with the angels if they were less powerful and they had kept them out of the Knight's Castle and instead let you recruit them in some map location. But I never liked the addition of the devils and demons. They felt out of place for me. Sure they were better than Naga Tanks and Ogres with Rocket launchers, but they didn't really belong there.

In HoMM1 there was no evil or good factions, just different sides vying for power. In HoMM2 there was good and evil sides but this was mostly due to Roland being "good, kindly, and honorable" while Archibald was "not so good". In that respect it felt closer to real history than to the good and evil of Lord of the Rings or the Bible. Introducing angels and devils just messed it up. Some would perhaps say that a satanic and biblical element fits very well into the series since it is a "medieval fantasy" game and people were very superstitious about those things in medieval times. But this is Heroes of Might & Magic, not Darklands. I say keep the demons in Diablo and the goblins in Heroes of Might and Magic. Also "Bring back Archibald!" He could make Enroth great again! I'm sure Ubisoft never will do any such thing however.

Can't say I agree with you, -Mithridates-, even though you present your case well.

I've been playing HoMM 1-3 and AoW1 to SM for decades, and in the end for me HoMM 3 and SM comes out on top because they just have superior game play and much better map editors, while the audiovisuals are of minor importance to me.

If you only play the campaigns I agree HoMM 2 and AoW 1 are the best, but when you start playing user-made maps, the best of which are masterpieces far superior to the SP maps skipping with the games, you notice the difference. You can make very intricate maps for HoMM 3, while HoMM 2 is rather limited. Same with the AoW games, except SM missed the ability to make campaigns.

I agree about Archibald, though. I was so disappointed when he turned soft in MM7.

If you liked III, V is the next best thing.

HoMM3 and AoW SM are damn good games, so you haven't made a bad choice! And you are spot on about the editors. The editor is definitely the weakest part of HoMM2 when compared to HoMM3. While I think it was state of the art or breaking new ground along with the Warcraft 2 editor when the game was new, the HoMM3 editor was a massive improvement. When playing around with the HoMM2 editor you really miss the great features of it's successor.

But for me the more limited abilities of the editor does not lessen the game much, since I've been very happy with the maps which came with the games. In HoMM2 I have mostly played the maps that came with the game and I think those are really good and very replayable. I have also played the campaign a couple of times, some maps of a friend and a few maps from the internet. Though I haven't explored what is out there too much, my impression is that there are quite a few good maps out there. Maybe I'm also a bit conservative when it comes to the HoMM series. I tend to prefer the open-ended gameplay of the classic maps where you take all castles to the more specific ones where you need to do certain things to win or progress. Maybe I should try out more maps of that type.

In AoW1 I actually haven't tried the campaign yet but I do have great expectations for it! I have played the maps that came with the game a ton and like those a lot, but what I have played the most is user created maps. Especially extra large maps. The AoW1 editor also looks quite limited but for my purposes as a player it was more than good enough. I used to prefer the maps that were open-ended and light on story.

AoW: Shadow Magic is a game that I have played many hours, but nothing compared to the three other games here. The maps that came with the game (along with the ones from AoW2) that I have played were ok. The random map generator maps looks bland and the campaign does not interest me much. I agree that the meat of the game is the user made maps. Age of Wonders 2 Heaven still works like a charm. I feel like taking on some of the huge user made maps soon along with the nice (but short) soundtrack that came with the game, some Kirill Pokrovsky, Warlord Battlecry and Mortiis - Stargate music.

In HoMM3 I have mostly played the maps that came with the game and maps created by the random map generator. One of these days I'm going to play through the campaigns of HoMM3 and then play through Might and Magic 7. Not because I expect the campaign to be that good, but because I like Caneghem's little universe. The custom maps are mostly ok to good, but there are a few that are very good. But the quality of the maps can't be compared to that of HoMM2. The random map generator maps are very fun, at least for a while but they do look very similar. Maps created by a person rather than a random generator do feel much more rewarding and purposeful. It is much easier to make yourself believe that these are real places while the RNG maps soon becomes visible for what it is, a random mishmash following some simple rules. (I do think randomly generated content in some other games is great though.)

I can't remember having played any HoMM3 maps from the internet, though I probably have. There sure are a lot of maps to choose from! Do you have any good maps that you would recommend? I like classic open-ended
maps a lot but it would also be interesting to try some more intricate creations. I like both challenging and less challenging maps.

We are different there. To me the esthetics of a game: graphics, music, sound and flavor text are almost as important as the pure game mechanics. (Good stories are a bonus, but I usually don't play games because of their stories.)
But it does vary from genre\setting to genre\setting. In 2D shoot em' ups the basic gameplay is usually fun enough in itself and it is often the music and graphics that pulls me toward a game and make me keep on playing. In turn-based strategy games with a historical setting I don't really need that much graphics to imagine that history is unfolding before me. A few red pixels can be enough to make a roman legion. History itself is so rich and powerful that mere hints of it can work wonders. Still good graphics and sound design definitely helps for immersion. (And bad graphical and sound design gets in the way.)

For turn-based strategy games with a fantasy setting I require a little more to get involved. Sure there are a lot of tropes that can be summoned, but those tropes can just as easily make the game bland and uninspiring so usually I need something more than that. The HoMM and AoW series with all their richness, variation, background story, animations, sounds and wonderful music really do a lot to pull you into their world.

For point & click adventure games I would say that what makes me play and like the games is 40% esthetics 30% story + dialogue and 30% game mechanics.

For any of these genres it is not so much that I need good graphics, good music or good sound design. A game can have minimal, non-existant or even bad graphics and still be a great game.The same applies to sound and music. It is just that when these aspects are good it makes the games even better.

Oh no, he did? That's too bad. I've only played MM6 and a little of MM7. I really liked MM7 though. Like with HoMM3 to HoMM2 it seemed like an improvement of MM6 in some respects. Still I doubt that it would be able to match MM6 for atmosphere. But I love how it looks like a first person journey through the HoMM3 world. MM3 and MM4+5 felt like fun games as well, though the interface it a bit clunky and outdated.

That's actually a bit of a downside to the more advanced editor of HoMM3; instead of making open, non-linear maps, the introduction of Quest Guards and such shifted the focus towards more linear maps. The upside is that it's easier for the map maker to fine tune the difficulty of the map, but OTOH it makes things less tense and more safe and predictable.
I guess that's why so many still play random maps when there are so many great user-made ones. The problem with AoW1 (for me at least) is that the AI is so weak, so the only maps that work for me are maps where you face overwhelming odds (like Last Stand Before Destruction) or quest type maps (like Paladin's Quest). Of more open maps I can heartily recommend the following:
The Pride Trilogy: Titanic Pride, Angelic Pride and Devilish Pride
Fall and Rise of the Sharai
Reavers of the North
Malagorn the Savior

Of more linear, elaborate maps I recommend:
Lord of War
Grandmaster
The Lone Knight
To Kill for Power

Elaborate maps heavy on story telling:
Goldheart
Sander's Folly

And when you have become a HoMM3 grand master and can win any map starting with just one Peasant, it's time to try the most elaborate and difficult of the maps I've played so far:
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty

There are lots of brilliant HoMM 3 maps, though. These are just some of the very best ones I've played. I must admit I usually turn music off. It needs to be exceptionally good for me to listen to repeatedly (like the Castle them in HoMM V). Nice graphics is usually a plus, as long as it doesn't slow things down, or there is too much clutter. I'm good at filling in the blanks, but I get annoyed if having to blank out the filler. I'm more concerned about the artistic merit of the graphics than the technical; I can't stand anime, for example.
Sound I usually keep low too when playing TBS games and most CRPGs, but I put on headphones when playing FPS games and Thief.