First off I love both games and think that H3 was a very very great sequel to H2. It really lost nothing and gained a lot. I have never noticed H3 having a "darker" color palette unless your underground which totally makes sense. H2 did have a bit brighter and cartoony graphics as you said but I really don't think this is better or worse as some liked it some preferred the more mature graphics of H3 both were good to me though.

Heroes 3 is the only one with a Random Map Generator though sorry to say you recall incorrectly. Even Heroes 4 never got this working properly for some odd reason. And yes there are a TON of fan made maps for Heroes 3, most especially made for PvP, that can be downloaded.

Also Heroes 3 also has available several random map generator "seeds" which while making the map different still allows it to follow certain guidelines as ounce in a while the normal random map gen would stick you in dead ends with no real way to the opponent.

The only real thing H2 has over H3 is the music and perhaps a bit of the story. Otherwise H3 wins as it improved on most everything that H2 had.

However with this sale there is no reason really not to get both. Just make sure to play H2 first if you do as you will miss some of the newer features if you don't most likely.

Here is my perspective as someone who is pretty much "Anything but fantasy and J-RPGs": I have only played HoMM2 and 3. I never played any other Might & Magic game and I do not have any interest in the setting/story. I enjoyed 2 and 3 rather casually going up against the AI in the campaigns, scenarios and random maps.

I first encountered HoMM2 as a demo way back in 1997-1998. It won me over completely and it even kept non-gamers among friends and family glued to the PC when the game was on. I was too young to understand the mechanics at the time but it was certainly possible to just enjoy the charming and attractive graphics, sound effects and soundtrack. It's a feel good game through and through. Underneath the surface is a rather simple game but it is just so damn pleasant to look at and play you can easily waste hours on a big map without feeling like you actually wasted your time.

I never advanced beyond the HoMM2 demo back in the days but I always cherished the pleasant memories of the game. I also never looked into any other HoMM or MM title though I did see good reviews in gaming magazines.

Then came GOG and HoMM2 was the first game I bought. Everything I remembered was the same. Nostalgia didn't impair my judgment, the game is exactly as enjoyable and entertaining as ever. I spent many nights with the laptop in bed while my wife was asleep.

Seeing the good praise for HoMM3 here on GOG I recently invested in the game. I had been cautious about buying it before because I had never played it and the graphics is of that dull 90's simple 3d-meshes without actual textures. When I did buy it I immediately started off with the first campaign and immediately got uncomfortable with the angels as battlefield units. Winged angels with swords and robes? Seriously? Actually, a lot of units in the game put me off at first because they were so different from HoMM2's simple but immensely charming and harmless fantasy setting that didn't take itself too seriously.

I eventually warmed up to HoMM3's presentation and art direction and soon discovered that the game is basically HoMM2 times ten. Everything feels deeper, more demanding of my attention and intelligence, like there is more of a game beneath the surface this time. It's a much better game, if you know what I mean. There is more to it than there is with HoMM2. There is more of everything in every possible way. More factions, more spells, more abilities, more terrain variation, larger armies.

I can see myself playing both games in the casual manner I'm enjoying them now for decades to come. I don't care about the other games, nor do I care about the Might & Magic games. They are both timeless classics that will never lose their pull. Every single second of playing HoMM2 is enjoyable, even if it never hits any emotional highs. It's a game you can move forward at your own pace and it is all smiles and sunshine while doing so. HoMM3 is the game you go to when you want a pure and fully realised game to challange you and let you enjoy the sweet satisfaction of dominating the map with cleverly organised armies and specialised heroes. Less charming but more of a game. Both games will draw you in and entertain you in their own ways. I recommend both very highly to anyone looking for turn-based strategy.

I frankly do not get the hatred for the later games by most of the fans who fervently cling to their belief that HoMM3 was the absolute best of the best. It was a great game, but that doesn't mean that the others are bad in comparison.

I personally grew up with the series, and I still consider HoMM5 worthy of rivaling HoMM3's quality in a later age despite having fond memories of the earlier games. The bugs that plagued it at launch have been patched long ago and should no longer be weighted in any argument. The gameplay was also improved upon and deeper.

People are repeating that same old mantra all over the internet: "Ubisoft is a big, soulless company, so the game must automatically be crap." Yet if it wasn't for Ubisoft we most likely wouldn't have a continuation of the HoMM franchise right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Y447mzPV0 For example; this song still gives me goosebumps, and the switch from 2d townscreens to 3d isn't blasphemy, it's called progression and makes the game feel more alive. I doubt anyone would find this "crap" if they were a bit more tolerant towards anything outside of the holy 3rd installment.

I mostly agree with this. UbiSoft did a good job with HoMM V and Dark Messiah.

Ubisoft did nothing except they have purchased the rights to Might and Magic and HoMM trade marks. Then Ubisoft started to glue these labels on casual games by third party developers.

Etherlords-like game from Nival Interactive received a 'HoMM V' title this way. Slasher by Arkane Studios on Valve's engine got Dark Messiah. These games have nothing to do with 'Might and Magic' universe.

My 2 cent...

H1 and H2 have their nostalgic value and they are easier to learn rule-wise (means not easier to "win" necessariliy) - H1 got me hooked on the series! Beside the well-drawn, but dated graphics the biggest problem is that balance isn't always their biggest strength (prime example: Ghost's special) - they just lacked the foundation the later sequels had here to build on...you guess it? H1 and H2

H3 is probably the most developed and round part of the series and shouldn't be missed. 9 Towns, decent AI, tons of good maps to found on the net...and the WoG modification taking it to 3.5., if you still desire more depth.

H4 is just a matter of taste. Plenty of fresh ideas (fighting heroes, multiple hero parties, creatures without heroes, wandering monsters, exclusive high level creatures, small battlefield, non-random skill development), many of them are exclusive to that installation of the series. So its hit or miss - if you like them (or at least to try them), go for it. If that doesn't sound "right", leave it alone.
Sadly H4 suffers from rather weak AI, some balancing problems, the little content the both expansions added to the free game and the fact that its "WoG" mod called Equilibris never matured as much as WoG.

H5 built more on the foundations of H3. IMO, it battles with H3 for the throne. It has 8 towns (2nd highest number in the city), a sometimes more comfortable interface, refines ideas from both H3 and H4 to the better (new necromany model, two upgrade choices - but with the ability to retrain), a sometimes more comfortable interface...very nice graphics. The biggest + for me personally is the fact that the AI for it is still in the process of being improved vastly!

H6 sadly ranks at the bottom for me. Depth like the various ressources was sacrifed, DRM found its way in the series, balancing issues (skill development comparable to H4, but worse) and bad AI. Some nice ideas for creatures and abilities can't make up for this, IMO.

I earn the 2, 3 and 4.
I discovered them in this order: 2, 4 , 3

At first I was disappointed by the 3rd and 4th, because they're so different from the 2nd.
But I later understood that each game is a different game, they all feel different, and this is not necessarily a bad thing, just choose your preferred one based on your experience and taste.

I started with H2, and as others have said, it's the most charming of the series: the music, sound effects and pixel art graphics give a warm atmosphere to the game. My favorite, mostly due to nostalgia. The game is just fun without fuss: simple and efficient.

Compared to H2 I find H3 a bit bland on the graphics, especially the map, but the game is richer. Especially when playing with a friend, it's nice to finally be able to exchange resources with other players.

H4 has tons of cool refreshing ideas. Heroes are now units on the battlefield, you can mix them, units can move by themselves on the map without heroes, caravans allow fast movement of units between castles etc.... They change the gameplay of H2 and H3 sometimes profoundly, but at the same time bring a lot of new possibilities. For instance some say that heroes who can die is a bad thing. I say it just becomes a new and cool tactical possibility on the battlefield. It's different. The graphics feel more realistic than before, you like it or you don't.

In short:
All the HoMM games are different, so try them.
For a very first try, I would recommend the 3, because it's not too dated, and has everything that made the series famous.
If you're more old-school, go for H2
If you're more modern graphics, H4 and above.

As much as people are going to hate this, I really liked HOMM 5 - I don't know if it's because I only played it 15 years after playing the first game, but I found the difficulty a lot more reasonable, and while the story is a bit trite, it's not horrific.

I think the artwork (important) and story (not so important) of that game is abominable so I'm coming your way with planks, hammer and nails. I will confess that the game mechanics themselves are not so bad but that still won't save you.

I think that 2 is by far the best of the series, and exceptionally well balanced. It also definitely has the best soundtrack.

There is one more point to remember - AI in HOMMV is broken, it has problems with stategic map calculations, that's why while in previous heroes you can have maps with 7 enemies here you won't see above 3 and still their turns will take much more time than in 1-4 regardless of your hardware.

Heroes 3 is tied with Heroes 2 for the "best of..." title, but it is far from perfect. It has a random map generator which adds a LOT to the game. Heroes III also had a brilliant feature that was never touched on again in subsequent games: the inclusion of both a 'Might' AND a 'Magic' hero classes for each faction (and more or less well done factions thematically. No "Orc centaurs" and crap like that).
Heroes 2 has better graphics and music and some of the units for some factions make more sense than some in H3 (troll boulder-throwers instead of cyclopses, Mummies as a necro unit instead of 'Dread Knights' etc.) but it also lacks a 'Wait' command in combat (which H3 added). Heroes III has better campaigns and a lot more of them, better items/artifacts (inc. 'combined artifacts') and a more robust magic system. However the balance of H3's better magic system is wonky and the result is that less than half of the spells are of much use, with 3 or 4 spells in particular dominating the game, often determining the outcomes of scenarios.

Heroes 4 is not a terrible game but the AI, bugs and balance issues still make it a mixed bag at best. Heroes 5 had a lot of good things (i.e. expanded skills systems) but the bad things ultimately outweigh those, such as the 3D graphics seeming bland, losing the 'Might' and 'Magic' hero classes that were such a good idea for H3, some bizarre, unappealing unit choices for some factions and just generally not running well on most systems lacking high end graphics capabilities.

My personal recommendation is to go with Heroes 2 first if you can handle 2D graphics and lack of the 'Wait' command in combat, then move on to Heroes 3, then try H5: Tribes of the East (by far the best version of H5), then Heroes 4. If you play Heroes 3 then the HD mod is a must and if you play Heroes 2 then keep an eye on the "Fheroes2" (free Heroes 2 engine) mod which adds a LOT to the game but is still pretty buggy and unfinished as of right now.


EDIT: Oh and if you play Heroes III AVOID the Wake of Gods fan-made expansion like the plague! It is absolutely terrible 'duct tape and chicken wire' attempt to add every stupid idea any teenager might have spouted on the internet with some truly MST 3000 bad scenarios/campaigns.

There are a few ideas in WOG that aren't horrible (the commander is basically a fighting hero unit; razing conquered towns and then having the possibility of rebuilding them to your liking also makes sense); but most of it is just dumb. The horribly hacky ways in which it's done is also reason enough not to try it.

VCMI, the free replacement engine, has more promise; but it's not really in a playable state yet.

You're wrong. Wait option in battle was first implemented in Heroes II. Look for details. And watch [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=igXnZX5xN_c]this official HoMM II demo video. I'm sure that you will discover that Wait button is present in this video.
Heroes II is obviously the best game in the HoMM universe.

Wow good to know it was actually there but it still does not make H2 better than H3. H2 has to many balance issues still that have not been addressed

I still think H2's graphics were a bit nicer and the music better. However in almost every other facet H3 was the better game. I still play both games although I play H3 at least twice as much. I even play H4 for a change of pace although sadly it is not really a good challenge vs AI.

BTW - Since the Wait feature was there but NOT actually implemented I would have to say that it really didn't exist for 99% of ppl. I mean I am not going to bother downloading a hex editor just to enable it especially since it does not work with the Gog/Dos version but only the Windows one.