Articles
THE TOP
10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME
Article
by Agustín Cordes and Michal
Necasek
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.
