Greetings,

I played many of the Might and Magic series back in the day. Absolutely loved them. I love the turn based party type of RPG. I loved Xeen story lines, mandate of heaven, etc. I can't remember if I played the last couple of games.

Recently I developed a serious medical condition so I am retiring early and have some extra time on my hands. I'd love to revisit the MM series or find similar games.

I'd greatly appreciate it if you could give me a little advice. I'm not a tech guy but I am not completely inept with computers. I'll be using windows based computers.

My questions are:

Which of the MM series play well on today's PC's? Is there some I should avoid because they don't play well on today's computers?

Any advice for running MM?

Are there any similar games to MM that you'd recommend? Single player, turn based, RPG, fantasy-similar to AD&D

Thank You in advance

1-5 should run fine under DOSBox (packaged with the GOG versions), and are the only games in the series that I have played (haven't played 1 though).

Dragon Wars is pretty similar to these games (complete with first person overworld), and you might consider other classic series like Ultima, Wizardry, and Bard' Tale.

You could also try out SSI's releases. There's the Gold Box games, which are actually licensed AD&D products, but then there's other games like Wizard's Crown and Demon's Winter that might be worth checking out.

I could mention Nox Archaist, a recent (late 2020-early 2021, IIRC) Apple 2 game that has a lot in common with the likes of Ultima 5, but is its own thing in many ways (like having encounter difficulty be area-based).

DOSbox handles the first five. The next three games run well with the Grayface patch installed. MM9 gives some people a lot of trouble getting it to run, but who knows, you might get lucky.

The dos games are compatible with 'Where Are We?' - a utility that can map for you and also let you compare item stats without constantly going back to the manuals.

As others have mentioned how well the Might and Magic games run, I'll just mention a few recommendations. Though none of these are exactly like Might and Magic, they all have some similarities.

Legend of Grimrock 2
The Quest
Legends of Amberland
Lands of Lore
Aeons of Sand - The Trail (Steam only)

As already mentioned if you're familiar with 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons...
Eye of the Beholder series
Ravenloft - Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet
Menzoberranzan


...and not very similar to Might and Magic, but Betrayal at Krondor is considered a classic for some very good reasons...

Thank You

What is the Grayface patch and where can I find it? Thank you

Just to clarify, DOSBox is a program that is included with the GOG version? Thank you

I loved the Raymond Feist books so I'll definitely check out Betrayal at Krondor

https://grayface.github.io/mm

It's also possible to turn on Mouse Look with these patches to get a more modern control scheme if you want. Not required though. It's a bit dated graphic wise these days, but still an amazing game. Especially if you're familiar with the books!
Also worth checking out the stickied post in that fourm about getting the best quality sound/music. Though the CD music isn't bad, just doesn't loop.

On that note: Regarding Might and Magic 6 to 8, some computers won't endlessly loop the music unless you convert the music files to .wav format. You also may have to edit the mm#.ini file and set MusicLoopsCount=0.

Yes.

You can also download it separately if, for example, you happen to have a physical copy of a DOS game around that you want to play on a modern system. (Might, of course, need to get an optical drive or a USB floppy drive, in this case.)

I can recommend Swords and Sorcery: Underworld as a game that plays almost exactly like Might and Magic 1 & 2. It's been upgraded to a Definitive Edition since I played. There was a sequel in development too, but that may have fizzled out.

My comments on some of the aforementioned games that I have completed:

Betrayal at Krondor:
Pros:
Almost a perfect game. Huge world in 3d, the best storyline ever, fantastic tactical combat system.
Cons: Which characters you get, and their starting classes, are 100% fixed, which somewhat limits replayability.
All storyline quests are fixed by chapters.
The only thing you will change with 2nd playthrough is how soon/how late you accomplish sidequests.

Ultima Underworld 1 & 2
Pros : Huge, incricate dungeon in 3D, great storyline, revolutionary engine (came out BEFORE Wolfenstein 3D and around two years before Doom!), perfect automap system
Cons: Only one character. Enemies in UU1 are way too easy. Most misc skills are completely useless, ranged weapons are useless, so there is really one optimal way to play: melee combat with magic support. So that means Druid in UU1, and Druid or Paladin in UU2.

Lands of Lore 1: (haven't played 2 or 3)
Pros: Great dungeon puzzle design, Perfect automap. Great music by Frank Klepacki. Interesting storyline. Interesting fighting/magic interface
Cons:
You can only pick your main character (basically a choice between a Knight, Paladin, Mage, and Rogue).
The other two characters are fixed by storyline, and the final third character sucks at both combat and magic.
Some of the enemies are incredibly annoying to fight, they make you drop all of your weapons every strike,
destroy your armor, etc

Eyes of the Beholder series:
Pros: Good dungeon puzzles. Great replayability, since you can create your own characters.
Cons: No automap whatsoever. Barebones story. Almost no music.

And if you wanna try overhead view perspective of your characters instead of first-person:
Dark Sun : Shattered Lands (1993), Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (1998 & 2000)

In BG1 and BG2 I like to create 5 of my own characters by starting my game in multiplayer mode, but I play it as single player.