Again, thank you all for these responding to my inquiry.
I notice that the Exile/Avernum ges more attention than Geneforge, and to my surprise, Exile is not just an old archive, but has retained a playing style that is preferred by many over the newer Avernum remake. That really surprises me, as the screenshots look like Avernum would be more enjoyable.
I would be curious if anyone has compared the quality of gamplay or immersiveness bewteen the Exile/Avernum series to Ultima 7. I mention this because I have received recommendations to play Ultima 7.