User Summary from the Ultima I entry:
Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness is the first game in the Ultima series (second if you count Akalabeth) created by Richard Garriott (a.k.a. Lord British). Originally written in BASIC and published in 1980, it is one of the earliest commercially available CRPGs. The game was reprogrammed in assembly and rereleased in 1986 with a greatly improved running speed, better graphics and a few minor content changes.
The game uses a top down, third-person view using icons for the main character, monsters, cities, towns, dungeon entrances and other places of interest in the overworld. The game switches to a simple 3-D, one-point perspective view during dungeon and tower exploration.
The main character, a hero from another world, is brought to the land of Sosaria to defeat the evil wizard Mondain who is devastating the land with hordes of creatures from the standard fantasy roster. Setting a precedent for most CRPGs to follow, the hero improves his skills and equipment until he is powerful enough to complete the final quest and defeat Mondain.
User Summary from the Ultima II entry:
Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchatress is the second game in the Ultima series by Lord British, aka. Richard Garriot. The game uses similar mechanics to Ultima I, a top down icon based landscape for above ground with a 3D line drawing engine for dungeons and towers. Including time travel and travel to the planets of the solar system, it is the most unique in tone of all the Ultima series. Including the first of the cloth maps that would become a staple of the Ultima series.
Ultima II finds time being corrupted by Mondain's apprentice Minax. As revenge on the Hero from another world for defeating her master Mondain, Minax has travelled back in time and changed Earth's history, hoping to wipe out the hero. Lord British has rescued the hero so he can avert this disaster and defeat Minax. To do this he will have to travel through time and space, searching for the one way to defeat the Evil Enchantress.
User Summary from the Ultima III entry:
Ultima III: Exodus is the third game in the Ultima series by Lord British, aka. Richard Garriot, and is the final story in the Ages of Darkness Trilogy. Using similar game mechanics as the previous two games;a top down icon based view of above ground and a simple line drawn 3D engine for dungeons, it introduces new game features, the most important being able to play with a party of heroes, and the introduction of Moongates. The game also does away with the Sci-fi features of the first two games and remains in a completely fantasy based setting.
Sosaria is being plaqued once again by hordes of evil creatures roaming the lands. A new island has risen from the depths in a conflagration of fire, the only entrance of which is defended by the Great Earth Serpent. The only clues are fragments of manuscript hinting at an unholy alliance between Mondain and his apprentice Minax, and a single word inscribed in blood on the deck of a derelict ship: Exodus. Once againi the Hero from Another World must travel to Sosaria to defeat this shadowy menace.