Those will take quite a time to complete, especially Trails and especially if you are completionist :) Though keep in mind that those have unskippable cutscenes, and if you don't mind such cutscenes, you could also try Agarest games.
I tried to play various ways, but decided that changing too much about original game doesn't make it feel like original game.
Indeed it does. I think all MM games have wonderful music (except maybe 1 and 2 - I don't think they even had any music). I loved World of Xeen when I first played it without music, but when I tried it with music I started loving it even more. MM6 intro was also epic for its time. I think I remember into speech by heart.

All this talk of Elder Scrolls in a Might & Magic thread makes me think that maybe the ultimate M&M game would basically be Morrowind but with a 4-6 person team.

To me, the series are very different. The Might and Magic games clearly grew out of the "dungeon crawler" mold, all about exploration and fighting and not so much about characters. A Might and Magic party is little more than a set of statistics, really. They don't converse, or have any personality, all that matters are their stats and skills and how those help with combat and exploration.

The Elder Scrolls series instead lets players define their character as a person a little more. Players can be virtuous or evil, they can steal from people or be charitable, they can choose if/when to help others, etc. Of course, the Elder Scrolls games (especially the later entries) also have little consequences for one's actions, so it's not nearly as character driven as a series like The Witcher, and the writing isn't necessarily the best. But I've always felt that their main draw was a big world that the player can inhabit and do whatever they please. Thieves can join the thieves guild, mages the mages guild, etc., or ignore that and wander around, whatever you want to do. Any given player character is unlikely to see and do everything in the game (except, perhaps, in Skyrim), but players can make new characters and do different things. And of course the strong support for mods also fits with the "whatever you want" philosophy.

In Might and Magic, there isn't really anything to do except explore and fight. Players will eventually explore everywhere, gaining power and loot and conquering every dungeon, solving every puzzle. Sometimes there are optional challenge dungeons, but those are usually just for a challenge, not for different character builds or roleplaying.

Basically, I play the two series for different reasons and I'm not sure they'd combine very well.

A separate post to get back on topic: many people in this thread have pointed out that exploration, combat, and character development with better skills, spells and loot are the main draws for the MIght and Magic series, and if the OP isn't enjoying that process in MM6, then maybe the series isn't for them. There's some merit to that, but what I was trying to express earlier is that I'm not sure MM6 is the best example of why the series is great. I (and some others in this thread) prefer the earlier games like the Xeen games, which I felt had more interesting exploration and not quite so much combat. Sure, the main focus is similar, but even as a fan of the earlier games I felt the hordes of monsters in MM6 were a little much and got boring sometimes.

Assuming the OP got the game from GOG, games 1-5 should be included as well, so I'd recommend trying out 3-5 first before giving up on the series. The first two games are actually really good too, but they're very old and can be hard to get into these days for some players.

I'd also like to point out that MM6 does get more interesting when your party gets more powerful. Early on, there's a lot of melee fighting, retreating to heal, etc., but when you get better equipment and especially spells, then fighting off the hordes can be more fun. And I did enjoy the different locations and dungeons in the game, which have their own personality (much better variety than, say, the Elder Scrolls series, which was also mentioned in this thread), even if they're not quite as strong as those in the earlier games in my opinion.

So in summary: Yes, it is all exploration, combat, loot and character development, but handled in different ways throughout the series, and even in MM6 it improves as you get farther. But if you're looking for more than that, then you should look at a different series.

here is another good thing. Every 6 months or so the areas respawn enemies. That means you can return 40 levels after they gave you trouble, and completely wipe them out with ease. VERY satisfying.

That, sadly, is not the case for MM3-5.

In my opinion, M&M7 is the easiest to get into. Free movement in the 3D environment as well as the choice between turn-based and real-time combat offer a better sense of control. The dungeons are also a much tighter experience – I seem to be among few who appreciate smaller dungeons. The story is also much more personal – the first third is about the acquisition and refurbishment of your own castle, the second third sees you mediating between your warring neighbours to achieve peace, and only in the final third do you address some bigger threat. Also, Arcomage, which could as well be a stand-alone game, it's so good!

Having said that, World of Xeen is for me the high point of the series. As posters above have commented, it's full of vibrant colours and exploration is much more satisfying (later games feel empty). The interface takes some getting used to, and the game is sometimes too goofy for its own good, but the maps are full of wonder, with great loot to be found.

fnatikk50, in mm6, if you head back to town after killing the last monster in your last-for-now dungeon on current map, but reach the training hall 5 in-game minutes after it closes for the night, then your party wastes a day. If that means they graduate on a Sunday when transport to the next map doesn't run, that is two days wasted. Take the transport first thing Saturday, thinking to train in the next place instead, and the new place will have different teachers and instructors so your characters can't become experts or masters at what you maybe most want.

That's one of the things mm6 is about - not something you get in every rpg game.

One little detail you may have missed, because neither manual nor npcs explain it (that I've found yet), is that the horseshoes lying around at the side of stables are not lucky, but good for something else.

Talking about npcs explaining things, I make it there are 77 generic occupations, including child, each with 7 different remarks for players to collect (quite apart from map-related remarks). 51 of the 77 offer skills if hired. Some of the occupation-generic chatter is gameplay advice, some is background story-setting (tying in with Heroes of Might & Magic II, and III), some is hints for quests (that party may not be given for a while) and some is just for our amusement.