Which MM title would you recommend for someone who is totally new to the series and the genre? Preferably one thats easy on the eyes as well.

MM3.

I just noticed there were two different series, HoMM and M&M. What is te difference?

MM are RPG games while HoMM are strategy games

Id' say Might and Magic 6.

It has good graphics, maybe even better than the newer ones. Fun and addicting gameplay, and some challenge(but a good kind).

Movement and fighting are things you'd find familiar if you're use to todays games. If you like it, you can go back and play 3 through 5 which control a little differently, or continue with 7 which plays a lot like 6.

Six. It's probably the least polarizing Might and Magic game; the games before 6 are very different than the games after six. It is of quite high quality and is probably the most exemplary of the series.

You're going to hear something different from each person you ask. In terms of the original series (the RPGs), the series has changed several times over the years. You can split it up in to three "stages":

MM1 and MM2 -- These are very old games, and have a very old-school design. They are still fun, but probably not the best place to start as their age means they can be frustrating to deal with.

MM3-5 -- These are still old-school and fully turn-based, but they are much more accessible than the first two games. These are a good place to start if you don't mind a more old-school experience. For many players (including me) these are the best games in the series.

MM6-8 -- These are fully 3D, and played in real-time with the option to pause combat and play through it in turn-based fashion. This makes them very different from the earlier games. I've only played number 6, and I enjoyed it but I felt it was a little too much of a monster slog. Others report that MM7 and MM8 improved on MM6. These are the most modern, so if you aren't a fan of old-school RPG design, MM6 is a good place to start.

If you are instead interested in the Heroes of Might and Magic games, I'm pretty sure the consensus is that the second game is best. But I haven't really played those games much so you should ask others for better advice.

Might and magic VI has the greatest amount of gameplay of the 3D games, and I find it the most immersive. It also is better looking; although the next three, I mean two, games had improvements to the graphics engine, the art in The Mandate of Heaven is far superior, the monsters are all clearly distinguishable from one another, and the ones that have different colors look like they might naturally be different colors from each other. The quests are more epic, the gameplay is less linear than its successors, and you have the greatest degree of freedom throughout the Might and Magic series. The plot is clearly told, you can speak to any NPC, there are more conversation topics available, and there are no NPC's walking around whose purpose is to be objects; you can talk to all NPC's, and they also respond to you differently at different times. Overall a much larger game.

With the exception of the first two games (which I personally find a little too antiquated for my tastes), and Might and Magic IX (which is unanimously considered the worst in the series) you're pretty good starting with whichever one you want. VI is probably a good place to start though, as most people consider it the best one. I like M&M VII more, but I will concede that VI is the better game, if that makes sense.

They said they were new to the series and genre. Might and Magic 6-8 are much better for new players, espcially if they are use to newer games. You don't want to start with 8 though, as many of the elements that makes Might and Magic great is taken away in this one. Still a good game, but many of the great stuff that makes the series fun is taken away.

Yeah, you can't go wrong with any of them at the end of the day, but being new to the series and genre(of rpg's?), I think choosing the most user friendly and most rewarding is the only way to go. And don't forget the music! Personal taste and all, but Might and Magic 6 does have the best music of them all :D.

Welcome to Might and Magic! Might and Magic is a fantasy RPG with Sci-Fi elements. Almost all of the games take place on entirely different planets, so it's pretty easy to start with any one you want.

1-5 have pretty much the same engine (2D, move in cardinal directions, turn-based combat). 6-8 have pretty much the same engine (3D, larger worlds, a mix of turn-based w/ real-time combat, 1st person party view).

Like others said, Might and Magic 6 is a good place to start. If you get 6, it comes with 1-5 as well!

I'd could also recommend 8. 7 is tightly tied to 6 whereas 8 is much more loosely tied.

The only ones I ever successfully beat was 2 (took just about 15 years of on-and-off playing to beat it -- I know that world like the back of my hand) and 8 (maybe 2 months of playing). The others I'd either quit for whatever reason or I'd get stuck. They didn't have walk-throughs back in the day. :D

For the Heroes of Might and Magic games, I'd ecommend Heroes of Might and Magic 2 or 3. 2 is a lot simpler in terms of # of creatures. 3 has a lot more. Even if you tried 2, I'd recommend still getting to 3. I wouldn't recommend 4, but 1-3 and 5 are all very good games.

As many others i would recommend M&M VI The Mandate of Heaven.
The game looks better then both 7 and 8 in my opinion (there's just something wrong with the ships in 7+8), and the game feels more open and less linear.

Starting with the older games (if you're used to today's kind games) might not be the best entry to these games.

Roderick: I'm the one you want!

(Also, the music in 6, probably the best in any game, ever.)

If you're a video game music fan, check out stuff by Marty O'Donnel (Halo), Jeremy Soule (Morrowind and lots of others), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), and Michiru Yamane (Castlevania). Paul Romero's right up there with them, in that top echelon of video game composers, if you ask me.

It's also nice to know how there a story line across the HoMM and MM games.
It starts with HoMM2 and then continues in MM6, follows in HoMM3 and finally MM7.

True, but it gets a little complicated after MM6. If I understand correctly, the order of release is something like this:
- MM6
- HoMM3: Restoration of Erathia
- MM7
- HoMM3: Armageddon's Blade
- HoMM3: The Shadow of Death

However, if you want to play the games in the historical chronology of the fiction you would play them in this order:
- HoMM3: The Shadow of Death
- MM6
- HoMM3: Restoration of Erathia
- MM7
- HoMM3: Armageddon's Blade

However, some people don't recommend playing SoD first - if you're new to the HoMM games it's one of the more difficult campaigns.