Properly, Might and Magic VIII, "Day of the Destroyer", a fantasy RPG. While New World Computing has been radically coolifying the game engine over the life cycle of the MM line, their storylines have sadly become less involving. Personally, I feel the fantasy/strategy sister product, Heroes of Might & Magic (HMM3) overtook the interest level of the RPG line.
Major changes over MM7: You get to roll one character, you round out a party by asking NPC's to join you in the course of your travels. Some quests require you to take on a particular NPC as a party member; if your party is "full", you have to dismiss someone. The potion system gained a degree of complexity as well. Several character races have been introduced as classes, a simplification over previous versions. (Personally, I like it better when any race can be any class, or at least have some class mobility.)