I have the M&M 6-pack.

Are they essential to go in order?
Is there a particularly good one to start with?

What's the relationship between M&M, HOMM, M&M Heroes, Dark Messiah, etc.?

Thanks for info and help!

Cheers!

Storywise Might & Magic 3-5 belong together as they share a common enemy and MM3 starts a story that finishes in MM5. Also MM3 draws a little from MM2 but not much. MM6 is set on a new world and starts a new story.
If you are put off by the graphics of MM2 I would suggest skipping MM1&2.
Start with MM3, then MM4 (or World of Xeen) and 5, then 6.

HoMM 1-4 uses the same universe as MM6-9 (as all are created by New World Computing and 3DO) (there are also some cross references to the history of the world), HoMM5 introduces a new universe created by Ubisoft, as does HoMM6 (renamed MM Heroes by Ubisoft to emphasize the MM franchise). Dark Messiah does not have much in common with other MM titles except the name.

Actually the story starts in 1, and all MM1 to 5 share a common enemy and a story. In fact MM3 intro starts with the villain saying "...twice now you've defeated my minions..."

MM3 draws from MM2 just as much as MM4-5 draws from MM3. i.e. it draws little aside from the common arch villain, and some references.

MM3 uses the same engine as MM4 and 5 and is one that aged pretty well. So it all depends on whether you're more into story or gameplay. If you're into story, try starting from 1 (my recommendation). If not, then you might skip 1 and 2 (both of which have dated gameplay engine and graphics)


As for HoMM, then MM6, MM7, HoMM3 and its 2 expansions share a lot of story. You won't be able to get many references in HoMM3 Armageddon's Blade if you haven't played MM6 and MM7 first.

Might and Magic I all the way to V shares the same enemy, but different heroes and world, so beyond the whole "you've defeated me twice or thrice", you will have no real continuity issues playing them in which ever order you want, the manual also recap the previous games plot. Might and Magic III, IV and V share the same engine, but in IV and V the engine has been has been tweaked a bit, to make the experience a bit better, namely, by clicking in the top right square on the GUI, you can turn on the auto mini map feature which makes not getting lost and knowing where you are at any one time infinitely easier than in Might and Magic III, where you had to press the M key over and over again whenever you wanted to see the map.

That being said, I cannot vouch for Might and Magic I and II as I have never played them, but Might and Magic III is actually much harder than Might and Magic IV and V. The third game has plenty of puzzle dungeons and riddles that will have you scratch your head and that are necessary to complete if you want to progress in the game whereas in the fourth and fifth games, those dungeons tend to be optional ones. I also recall that at one point, while playing the third game, I had to use a walkthrough because I managed to get cursed so much that it magically aged all my character, except one, to 123 years old, and so whenever the day ended, all my characters, except one, died from old age, and the clue to the fountain of youth were so obtuse, I had to use a walkthrough to find it, and I also had to defeat a whole bunch of hard monsters to get to it.

In Might and Magic IV and V, I never had these kind of problems. The dungeon order, and the whole "should I be doing that right now?" is much easier to figure out in Might and Magic IV and V than in the third game, so, if you want a nice starting point to get into the old school Might and Magic games, the fourth game is the one to go. Not only that, but when the fourth game (called Clouds of Xeen) and the fifth game (called Darkside of Xeen) are installed in the same folder, they fusion in a game called Worlds of Xeen, which is basically Might and Magic IV but, you can use special gates to travel back and forth to the world of Might and Magic V while keeping your characters, spells and equipment (although you won't be able to do much there until you kill the big bad of Might and Magic IV because the monsters in the fifth game are strong enough to rival the monsters at the end of the fourth game). When both games are combined, there are also several end game dungeons that become accessible and that allows you to unlock a special, third ending.

All in all, because of the improved engine, easier experience and the countless hours of content, the combined fourth and fifth games tend to be the favorite old school Might and Magic game for many players, and is a very good jump point into the old school Might and Magic games.

The events of Might and Magic I to V aren't mentioned until the seventh and eighth games in the series. After Might and Magic V, the continuity follows up with Heroes of Might and Magic I and II, then Might and Magic VI, that features a brand new engine that would be tweaked and improved in Might and Magic VII and VIII, and as such, Might and Magic VI is another great starting point to get into the Might and Magic series, especially if you are interested in playing Might and Magic VII and VIII.

You do not need to be familiar with the plot of Heroes of Might and Magic II to enjoy Might and Magic VI but it helps greatly, and starting with Heroes of Might and Magic II, New World Computing began to intertwine the plots of Might and Magic games and the plots of Heroes of Might and Magic games, where the plot is continued in the other series, so if you want to understand all the references, you will have to get into the Heroes of Might and Magic series at one point or another, but thankfully, the second and third Heroes of Might and Magic games are two masterpieces of PC gaming that anyone should play once in their lifetime so, hopefully you will enjoy playing those, if you haven't done so already since the second and third games made Heroes of Might and Magic much, much more popular than the Might and Magic series.

Heroes of Might and Magic II is an excellent entry point into the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and also the grander Might and Magic universe. The first game features a token plot, where a certain Lord Ironfist is sent to investigate a strange portal that leaves him trapped into a brand new world, in this new world, he discovers three factions waging war for the control of the land, he forms his own army and triumphs over the other three factions. Decades pass and the plot of Heroes of Might and Magic II begins. That's all you need to know, plot wise to get into the second game.

Although everyone agrees that Heroes of Might and Magic III is the series' meat and potatoes when it comes to depth of gameplay, the second game features most of the rules and features of the third game, but in smaller quantity, as such, I found it easier to get into the series and learn the game rules and basic strategies because there were less content for me to assimilate.

All in all:
The combined Might and Magic IV & V,
Heroes of Might and Magic II,
Might and Magic VI,
Heroes of Might and Magic III,
Might and Magic VII

These five games are all masterpieces in their own way, and I can guarantee you that you will have fun playing these, no matter what order you decide to play them, you may miss some references here and there, but you will none the less have a lot of fun. But, in my opinion:

- The combined Might and Magic IV & V is the best entry point to get into the older Might and Magic games, and it is also the meat and potatoes of the older Might and Magic games,
- Heroes of Might and Magic II is the best entry point to get into the Heroes series and the continuity of the later Might and Magic games and the later Heroes games,
- Might and Magic VI is the best entry point to get into the later Might and Magic games, although you will miss some references if you ignore the Heroes series,
- Heroes of Might and Magic III is the meat and potatoes of the Heroes series,
- Might and Magic VII is the meat and potatoes of the later Might and Magic games.

Start with World of Xeen (4+5 combined). That is the easiest and most user friendly of the old (1-5) games.
If you like it, continue with 3 which is the same engine, but a harder game.
If you think 3-5 are too easy, and you want combat with more tactics, then play 2, o if you are so hard core that you can play without an automap, play 1.

Then try the Heroes of Might and Magic games. HoMM 1 is mostly redundant, so I'd start with HoMM 2.
There is lots of NPCs from the old Might&Magic games that are reused as heroes in the HoMM names, but it's mostly just recycling of names and portraits; they are not the same people, so don't except some great overall story arch and continuity between the games series.

I say start with MM1 and when you get bored with it, move on. (edit: and watch the ending on YouTube :D)

MM2 has a really niffty time travel mechanic that I've never seen in a game before. I think it's crazy to skip it. But it is very dated.

Read the manuals' introduction before you start the games. The game themselves are more about having fun and exploring the world and exploiting it. Gameplay trumps story in Might and Magic. Most of the story elements in M&M's early games occur in the manual, the very beginning and very ends of the games.

More story elements are presented in the gameplay the higher you go in the game number.

Dark Messiah, btw, happens in the world of M&M5, but so far outside of the timeline that it doesn't really matter much. Nonetheless, Dark Messiah is a spectacular game not to be missed.

If you're put off by the graphics of MM3-5, then start with 6 and play through 8 (or 9 -- I haven't tried 9 yet). Those are really good games, too, but quite different from MM1-2 and 3-5.

I second this. Start with the first, if you feel it's too dated, move to the next one. I played the first and really enjoyed it.

(By the way, there is one extremely funny reference in MM6, which you'll get if you played MM3, 4 and 5 first. At least I thought it's funny)

Thank you, everyone! Collectively, this is exactly the answer I was looking for. I am going to take Petrus Octavius' approach. It suits my own tendencies.

Cheers!

Enjoy the game. If you're starting with 4 and 5 I'll give you one final bit of advice.

4 and 5 are combined into 1 world and you can move freely between the two. However, I'd strongly advice to completely finish Clouds of Xeen (4) before moving to Darkside (5).

The reason behind this is that Darkside was meant for higher level characters. In the first town in Darkside you can find tons of easy XP and if you get them first and level up you'll find Clouds of Xeen way too easy.

So finish Clouds first, then move to Darkside. You'll find the first town in Darkside slightly easy this way, but the difficulty pretty soon goes up.

For a bigger challenge, consider finishing Clouds, then creating a new level 1 party to play Darkside with it. Note that it still would be fairly easy. As was mentioned above, 4 and 5 are the easiest of the lot.

Another tip: Casting spells requires two resources: Spell Point and Gems. Spell Points are supplied in unlimited quantity whenever you sleep. Gems however are only acquirable in dungeons and treasure chests. There are enough gems to complete the game, but if you start casting big spells like Incinerate on weak monsters, you'll soon find yourself without gems, and unable to beat the tougher encounters or the monsters that are immune to physical attack because you squandered all your gems on weak monsters your fighter could have dealt with, or healing your party when resting or casting a couple First Aid spells would have easily done the job, like I did one time as kid.

If you store your superfluous gems early and often in the bank, the gems stored in your bank account will earn interest, allowing you to generate additional gems other than from dungeons and treasure chest. Do it long enough and eventually you'll have an infinite source of gems where your interests exceed the gems you spend while adventuring.

Do not let that interfere with the full potential of your spell casters, simply judge the difficulty of each threat and react accordingly. No use in using the sorcerer to blast the monsters away if your fighters can deal with them easily, or if the monsters do not pose a threat to the survival of your characters. Same goes for healing, if there are no monsters around, use weaker healing spells or rest rather than the big ones that cost gems. During tough battles, bosses and monster that are immune to physical damage, don't shy away from the big spells.

It's very cool to see someone new trying out the series! My older brothers used to play HoMM 2-4 all the time, but I had never played/seen any of the Might and Magic games before. I remember seeing that hidden trailer for MM 6 in HoMM 2 when you click on the doorway on the title screen and wondering what the game was like. I never fully played any MM games till I got the six pack here, and I have loved them ever since.
So how is it going? Do you mind to report back and tell us how your progress is going?

Wait a minute...

There was a hidden trailer for Might & Magic VI when you mouse-clicked on the doorway on the title screen of Heroes of Might & Magic???????


I 've always thought there was something suspicious about that light flickering through the crack of that door!

:)

Yeah, isn't that awesome? It says "Summer '97"... looks like they were a little bit late. Very interesting pictures too, what is King Henry the VIII doing in there? I would love to hear the story behind that one.

Does anyone have a link to an official trailer of MM7? I think I saw one very long ago but can't find anything now.