I think the game was just simply too advanced for me at that time, and the non-linear progression was quite contradictory in contrast to the other RPG's that I was used to at the time, such as Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, and, one of my all-time favorites, Phantasy Star (one and two). I must admit though, that it was a bit before my time (I was quite the young lad back then) so I rented it numerous times, and I believe that I eventually bought it, but never seemed to make any headway. Seriously though, Ultima:Exodus (as it was called on the NES I don't believe it carried the III moniker) was my first introduction to the Ultima series. Oh wait, dangitall, I'm late by a good week. I then created a vector layer to draw on top of the map, so I can note the locations of towns and their names. One word on the mapping: the game isn't conducive to graph paper, so I imported the cloth map as a raster image into a geographic information system (GIS) program called MapInfo Professional. I haven't gotten a ship yet, and I can see towns and dungeons off shore, so I need to find a frigate next. Other clues-and I'm not sure how they relate yet-tell me to seek a place called Ambrosia, seek the Shrines of Truth, journey through a whirlpool (I have a feeling these are all related), seek the jester in the Castle of Fire, and to find 'marks' and 'cards.' There are apparently four of the latter, and I need to use the command to stick them into panels somewhere. From those that have something original to say, I've learned that Exodus lies beyond the silver snake, and I'll need to find exotic arms to defeat him, as only they will protect me from great evil. As with Ultima II, each person gives you exactly one line of dialog and most of them offer stock responds (although not as dumb or annoying as in Ultima II). In the early stages of the game, I've been exploring and mapping Sosaria-which isn't all that large-visiting towns, and getting clues from the locals.

Ultima iii exodus pics