Ultima™ 7 The Complete Edition

I had the misfortune of not being raised on PC games during the 90s. The Spoony Experiment's review of the entire Ultima series kind of sparked my interest in this series, and after hearing that Ultima VII was (arguably) the best in the series, I decided to pick it up just today. I can't believe what I missed out on. I'm only in the beginning, and this game - in all of its DOS glory - already trumps some of the games we have today. (Skyrim being the exception.) It's a shame the series went downhill after this until UO (Which I've never played) was released, but I'm glad I bought Ultima VII. I'm not disappointed.

There are games that boast freedom, exploration, interactivity and a great story in an open-world, sandbox environment... And then there is Ultima VII, a game that delivers on all of these things in spectacular fashion. I have been playing RPGs for way over 25 years, and I have yet to play an RPG that comes close to Ulitma VII. Even modern gems like Skyrim seem to struggle to bring together story, gameplay, and seamless freedom when compared to this game. And that really is the word here: "seamless." Oh, Skyrim is beautiful, but U7 was made in 1992 without big resources or budget and still sets the bar for what an open-world RPG "can be" and "should be." Seamless. And it's still so playable! I could go on forever, but instead, I encourage you to pick up this game and get lost - as I did - in this game and all the marvels around every corner within.

I've been playing PC Games since 1983, and this is my 2nd favorite game of all time. *For the record my 1st is Elder Scrolls: Arena, the prequel to Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim* It has one of the most beautiful worlds imaginable to explore, with 100's of objects to interact with. Also has one of the most interesting stories and some of the most memorable NPC's you'll ever see as well. *They also have daily schedules, such as eat in the morning, work on the farm during the day, go to the bar at night, etc* This game was leagues above anything at the time, and almost everything since. Do yourself a huge favor if you haven't played it, and download it immediately!

I remember as a kid I absolutely hated the direction they were taking the series. The guardian plot was being shoved down our throats and had no logical ending. Who was he, what was he, why was he doing the things he was doing to absolutely dismantle and destroy the world I've fallen in love with. Ultima 7 he is a thought... literally. He keeps his cultists from drinking, he's formed a church which is, actually, efficient in what they do and not always corrupt … just like any church. The games should be played Ultima 7, Ultima Underworld 2, Ultima 7 part 2 in that order. Characters from one show up in the other, and the plotlines roll seamlessly with one another. The black rock serpent, for example, that helps you even go to serpent isle is given to you by one of the goblins living in the sewers under Lord British's castle in Ultima Underworld 2. That and the primary characters in Ultima Underworld 2 were taken from Ultima 7; Finnigan, Patterson, Mariah, Nystul, Geoffrey, Julia, Iolo, Dupre, Lady Tory, Nana, Nel, Nelson, Syriah and of course Lord British himself. Now here's where things start falling down for me; the ending of Ultima 7 Part 2 was such a rush job that without a walkthrough I would not know what to do. Get the buckets of water from various temples, make sure you pack the Philanderer's Friend when you go up against Vasculio, the Dispel Field spell scroll... ONE ONLY in the game... is absolutely vital to the game so if you burn it being stupid be prepared to back track because you need it to get the Horn of the Gwani. Then there's NPC's that happily tell you what their town is about while they're wandering the blood-filled wasteland that their town has become. It was sloppy, in the gaming world it was like completing the Mona Lisa with a happy face in crayon because your patron was EA games.

One of the great great classics of cRPGs. Serpent Isle in particular featured a lot of weird gamebreaking bugs, so save often. Combat isn't the main thrust of this game and it quickly becomes no more than a slight speedbump, but the story, the party dynamics, and the world are fantastic. This was the game that made me love RPGs as a kid and the main game still holds up well. It is 3 decades old though so a lot of QOL techniques that are basic in modern games are not there, if that's the sort of thing you can't stomach - then don't buy this game.