How is RoA series compared to the M&M series?
After playing Drakensang 2 and getting familiar with the Dark Eye setting/rules, I'm intrigued by the Realms of Arkania series... but I'm afraid I may not like it.
I bought the Might and Magic series here on GOG, those games were enjoyable for a while but then I gave up because:
- combat is too simple (I'm not saying easy): the only tactical depth is given by spells, but most of the times it's click click click until the bad guy dies.
- with the exception of M&M 6, I felt like my party was just going around without a real purpouse. The games seem more "world based" than "story based"
Know that I grew up with the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate and co.), so my definition of "RPG" may be different from the "old school, hardcore rpg" views.
I thank you in advance for your help, guys!

Combat is not a strongpoint in the Realms games, or at least in the first and second because i haven't played the third yet.
Whilst there is a huge amount of option as to what you can do, from different modes of attack, spells and ranged attacks you will find that it is mostly a case of moving your melee units adjacent to the enemy and using your ranged fighters (far more deadly than the fighters in the first game) to back them up and maybe throwing a spell out there too if it is a tough fight or you are dealing with enemy spellcasters.
The poor interface of the first game along with the truly awful hit-rate of your fighters also makes combat more of a chore than it has to be, thankfully this was improved in the sequels. In the second game, which i am still playing, the strength and number of enemies has increased so more thought is required for some of the battles and there is a handy 'computer fight' option that you can fire up at any time.
Realms 1 comes with a hintbook which i would not have finished the game without, so getting lost is not a problem. Realms 2 is much more focused, but you will need to make notes and explore the towns fully if you want to get by without using the hintbook.
There are a large number of videos on YouTube that show the combat and gameplay of all three games, so if you are thinking of a purchase they are definitely worth checking out.
Hope this helps.

Unlike in the MM or IE games combat plays only a side role in the RoA games.
It's not mainly about clearing areas from monsters, more about travelling, visiting towns and developing your characters. You can speed up the combat part a lot by developing characters with high attack power or using the computer combat option.
RoA1 has a long main quest which lasts from the beginning until the end so your travelling has a purpose until the end, while travelling you'll encounter some side quests or hidden dungeons.