It's pretty disingenuous to focus that much on the combat mechanics in old MM games - they had tons of combat (excessive amounts really, sometimes), but I feel like all that drudgery existed to support exploring weird places, there was always something in out-of-the-way places that rewarded you for looking hard, even if it was just a comical reference or a short line of text. The scenery itself was interesting and for the most part, nicely varied. Even if you dislike the combat mechanics there's a great variety of enemies and artifacts that felt meaningful, also a great variety of spells that allowed for creative use if you aren't a huge fag and look up optimized ways to play in some walkthrough.
I'm sure I'm very nostalgic about the whole series, since it was literally the first RPG I've ever played - MM1 - but there are many who feel the same way, and many posts agreeing with what I just said.
In any case, I actually enjoyed MM7 more than 6 at the time it came out (I finished 7 before 6 actually), but coming back to the games after so many years it's pretty clear to me that MM6 has more of that unbridled adventuring aspect that feels so cool, right from the get-go. MM7 is still a good game, but as others have said before, I agree that the Dungeons were weaker and the world felt a lot smaller. The training/trainer aspect was better in 7 than in 6 from a perspective of complexity, but to my mind, simplicity isn't bad, especially in a game with such a huge scope as MM.
The most important thing, I feel, when you go into these games for the first game is not expecting to take them so seriously, like you would a Wizardry. They're goofy, uncompromising fun that makes you feel very powerful after a tough start - the power curve is always fucked up, but those initial levels are a joy to me even today.
