THE TOP 10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME – Welcome to Just Adventure + – Articles — Part 10
Articles
THE TOP 10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME
Article by Agustín Cordes and Michal Necasek
October 3, 2003
8. Ultima VII – Origin, 1992-1993
This venerable series has achieved an almost holy status among RPG fans as the most engrossing and long-living ever, spanning over a whopping twenty years. Many of the chapters look absolutely nothing like each other and their graphics styles are radically different, yet playing them reveals something in common: experiencing vast and detailed game worlds like no other game has ever achieved. It is the freedom to explore this game world what makes an Ultima game such an engrossing experience. In this aspect, Ultima VII stands out as the best one, hands down. At the time of its release, it had the best graphics ever seen in a RPG. Save for a few rare specimens, RPGs with gorgeous graphics were known to have little interactivity and become repetitive after a while. Ultima VII was one of the exceptions: over 30 different cities and towns and none of them looking the same. After leaving Trinsic, the town where the game started, one had the choice to follow any path in any direction, forgetting about the main plot and solving sub-quests or just enjoying the lively virtual world. The most fun thing to do was without a doubt breaking into people’s houses and manipulating the countless objects which could be found there.
On an interesting note, Ultima VII was divided into two chapters: Black Gate and Serpent Isle. While Black Gate had definitely the largest game world and more freedom to explore it, Serpent Isle had better characters, graphics and a storyline with an intriguing philosophical bend.
