I've been a long time RPGer and I've lamented for many years not playing any of the Might & Magic titles. You see, for some reason, back in the nineties, I took an extreme disliking to this style of first person play. The blocky, uniform walls. The incremental movement. Etc. I can't recall the game. I do know it was a very early title in this style. But it left a bad taste in my mouth. From then on, any game that looked like this, I avoided. Man, was I a fool.
After several days of wondering whether I should 'waste' $10 on this series, I decided to just do it. I haven't been living under a rock for the last 15 years, so these games do look old to me. I know I've played and enjoyed games far older than these, but nostalgia wears off quickly.
Might & Magic (and any of these early titles) requires that the player slip into the game. It doesn't hand you atmosphere from the moment you turn it on like the graphical wonders that are today's games. If you buy these games, read up on character creation. Imagine each of your characters before you make them. Take the time to roll a good party. I've started 3 with a knight, a ranger, a ninja, an archer, a cleric and a sorcerer. Take it slow. The scenery might look all the same, but this game hides a lot behind its dated graphics.
I'm well on my way with part 3. I've made it to Baywatch and cleared out the main square of the town. I know some serious evil lurks behind closed doors. I'm headed to the Temple now and the sun is just rising. My ninja, knight and sorcerer are dragging the unconscious bodies of their friends back there for healing and revival. We had strolled through an innocuous looking door only to find ourselves facing a dozen or more undead creatures. The cleric cast one turn undead spell after another until finally, overcome by zombies, she passed out. They turned on my ranger who stayed conscious just long enough to see a great, green ghoul stroll up over the fallen bodies. That's when my sorcerer new it was time to reach for the big guns. She'd just barely learned the lightning bolt spell. Had yet to use it. The ranger went down and then my archer. The crack of lightning was everywhere. Seconds from defeat, with no healers available, my knight drove his great axe into the ghoul's shoulder. It fell backwards over a pile of bodies. The three remaining members stood there for a while, dazed and doubtful that they'd managed victory.
That's how it appeared to me.
I would have to say, one of the best parts of this game is how the system is so well used. There are games with more skills and spells and stats, but in a crpg, unfortuantely, most of them go unused. In this game, the skills and stats complement each other. There are just enough to fill up the character's abilities without so many as to require level-grinding.