twillight: Well then, anyone picks up the mantle and make the game it should have been from MM9?
I'd pay (and I payed for the original disc of MM9 back then!) 25-32$ of a copy of that.
There is Might & Magic X. It is not available on gog.com. It goes back to its roots with the grid based movement of 1 through 5. I have heard good and bad about it, but it is definitely better than 9.
This is from Steam forum with the same question.
domlesombre has Might & Magic X - Legacy Nov 12, 2019 @ 12:14pm
i am sure you have finish them all now but heh, can't resist talking of one of my favorite line of games ;)
there is 4 era of might and magic imo:
mm1:first era: old school to the core, no color, no map, no save exept in town, hard fight, archaic in every way. Didn't finished it because transfering your car to mm2 (just to see the difference) erased my car in mm1, and i was mid, late game...
in conclusion: harsh but good
mm2 to mm5: case by case exploration, indoor dungeon and outdoor map with a 4x5 grid map
you have 6car, a class for each and no skill point to distribute
the story and the back story (what s behind the throne) are really great
mm2 on genesis emulation is not ok because, at high level, each fight consist of a strong monster followed but dozen, see hundreds of low lvl monsters that you can only kill 10 at a time (yop each fight was 25 rounds of killing 10 orcs by 10 orcs) never finished it also, but i ll try the gog version to see if it s the same
mm3: Choose a side, dont divide equally or you will not be able to finish the game (just a small advice) great improvment in quality versus 1 and 2
mm 4 and 5: one of the best game i have ever played, not the difficulty (also a certain dragon will give you problem) but for the story and the monsters, which are aften hilarious (even the bats are funny) and crazily colorfull
mm6 to mm9: third era: the 3d is here and the class are more free, each time you level you distribute skill points as you see fit the best to the present situation
mm6 is not the best game ever, but not far (still imo)
The story is not original but the world is so enjoyable to explore. Exploration is the key word here, outdoor and indoor, all the dungeons are different and have their own personnality. The progression is exemplary, your car are growing slowly but constantly and so the world. Ending with titans and dragons in every corner of the lasttest map. SMALL SPOILER: execept the last map which is totally empty, prelude of calm between the nightmare of the lastest zone and the hell of the last dungeon (superb "mise en scene")...ok ok, calming myself, breath breath.
mm6: fly+haste+anciant weapon=wipe out everything without any difficulty, personnal advice: usi it only if in big trouble ;)
mm 7 and 8 never have the opportunity to finish them but seems interesting
mm9: better graphics but story less interesting, not bad but not as good, bland
mm10: forth era: mix of the second and third era (case by case with skill points) with one drawback: it s a potion game, meaning as long as you have potion, you re invincible (advice: mod the game to double the price of the potions or drop half the one you have etc...)(the grand master are not equitably available (axe or sword, mid game, dagger, just before the last dungeon for exemple) but all in all a nice game, not as good as grimrock or mm 4 5 6 but not as bad as often describe
concerning the order mm 1 to 5 is the corak saga, so i would say start with the one and go to the 5th but but but, the 1 and 2 are quite special. (3 4 5 have more or less the same graphics)
On the other hand, mm6 introduce something which will be common and really interesting in the mm serie (i will not tell what), so mm6 could be a nice introduction.
mm9 and 10 have nothing really in common with the corak saga so play them when you want
i dont know for mm 7 and 8
hope it helps and/or hope you've enjoyed the serie :)