Ultima VII: Serpent Isle

For those who can't get along with the open-endness and the high difficulty level of earlier Ultimas, "Serpent Isle" can serve as the best introduction of the series. It is much more user-friendly and generally much easier than all previous Ultimas, both exploring- and combat-wise.—Oleg Roschin

Though it used the same engine and bore the same number, Serpent Isle is in many ways a game different from Ultima VII. As Oleg Roschin points out in his excellent abovequoted review, it began moving the Ultima series from the open-endedness of the previous games towards something more story-driven, closer akin to a console RPG.

Links

• A cosmic balancing act
• Ron Windeyer has info about Ultima VII (including Serpent Isle) and VIII, especially how to run them under Windows.
• Kenn's Map Page has maps for Serpent Isle and many other games.
• Exult