To start, for all the bugs its open-world nature causes, it's still an open-world game, and this was still rare in the era. So let's try to figure out why people remember the game so fondly. But if not for the perceived need to purchase spells, the economy would have literally no purpose. To Maher's list, I would add a linear quest line that doesn't anticipate the slightest deviation even though it's nominally an open-world game, and the utter uselessness of magic, such that I never cast a single offensive spell except in experimentation. He (correctly) notes that any joy in character development or inventory acquisition is mostly offset by the fact that combat is so easy (or perhaps more to the point, random) that none of it feels particularly rewarding. Maher goes on to mention a multitude of game design choices that should have sent Ultima VII directly to the bargain bin: the infuriating inventory management system, the absolute chaos that accompanies combat, the tendency of characters to get hit with friendly fire, and the need to hand-feed the characters. Nowhere else has the word "ineffable" been so aptly used. However, it falters in elements specific to RPGs, including character development and combat, and a somewhat inflexible narrative makes it difficult to fully appreciate the open-world design. The game otherwise features most of the elements that people like about Ultima, including an engaging plot that moves the player across the map, finding clues in documents and NPC conversations in towns, castles, and dungeons. It pioneered the open-world, sandbox environment, and it popularized the idea of the "unobtrusive interface," in which the entire screen is the game window, and interfaces for character sheets, inventory, and other game elements pop up as needed, pausing the action behind them. Ultima VII is a seminal entry in not only the Ultima series but games in general. The Avatar is thrust into this mess in the context of a serial murder investigation that takes him from one crime scene to another. Lord British's rule has become apathetic: the Britannian Tax Council oppresses the populace the caste system is stronger than ever something is disrupting the use of magic and driving magic-users insane and a philosophical/religious organization with sinister undertones is converting the people away from the traditional virtues of the Avatar. He's been gone 200 years by the Britannian calendar, and while some things are the same (Lord British still rules most of the old companions are still around), the world has advanced in technology to roughly Victorian-era levels. The Avatar returns to Britannia in this seventh entry.
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