Should I Play First Time Exult?

[Guilherme]

Simple question, should I play the first time Ultima VII with Exult?

How is the current state of this port? Too many bugs? Can I get the Vanilla feeling?

[Knight Captain]

If you like really good vanilla with candy sprinkles on top, yes.

The engine fixes or works around original bugs and is quite faithful to it otherwise.

[Donfrow]

I only ever played Serpent Isle back when it was new so I'm not sure of bugs that would be Exult BG vs Dosbox BG.

My preference is Exult, especially for Black Gate. I'm a huge fan of the Serpent Isle user interface and having that in Black Gate really makes it a better game in my opinion. Overall the quality of life improvements more than make up for it not being "original".

I would say not only do you get candy sprinkles with your vanilla but also chocolate syrup.

[Gotcha!]

Having played both vanilla and Exult to near-infinity, I'd say: Use Exult.
Much more options. The health bars alone are already worth it.