Ultima™ 1+2+3

So of all the RPGs I've played, I think about 5 are any good....though most of those 5 I think are excellent (e.g Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force, Landstalker). I care enough to explore the roots of those early '90s, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games, though even Phantasy Stars I-III are a real chore to play. Ultima no doubt was a major source for the Japanese RPGs of the late '80s like Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy. I don't really have a problem with the looks of the first Ultima games. Ok, so Akalabeth was a bit too crude, but Ultima I think meets the minimum standards. The overworld has some rough scenery and a few colours and by Ultima II there's scrolling exploration of towns and castles, which is the kind of thing I'm used to in RPGs. The games lack story. In Ultimas II & III you can talk to guards, jesters, kings and other adventurers in towns and castles, but they say very little. Of course this changed in Ultima IV in 1985, which had a lot more dialogue, something that became common in RPGs. I might bother to play through them, except that it's so damn easy to die. It gets really hard to justify putting the effort in, especially today.

It's probably because the PC version didn't have music (I played on a C64)... which is too bad because it was half of the atmosphere and memory experience I was looking for. But, it is still a good game if you want a jaunt down memory lane.

The games are great with good stories...only problem with buying them now is that I cannot get the sound and music to work properly. Just a bunch of gibberish and loud noises. Anybody gotta fix for that?

My review can be summed up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RHhI_LO40 Its sad how few people have played the Ultima series or even understand how massive of an impact these games have had on modern games.

These games are still enjoyable today. Granted, they are old school when it comes to graphics, however, it's amazing what Lord British did with so little. Start your series with Akalabeth: World of Doom, which is nothing more than something he coded to pass time. Ultima I was a big step up from Akalabeth. Then Ultima II even more so, however, to me it just seemed to be a remake of Ultima I, with the name of the villain changed, but the circumstances and way of defeating the evil very much the same, if not identical. I didn't like the idea of Space travel and lasers mixed in with swords and armour. Ultima III to me was the real start of the series as space and time travel were left behind for knights and chivalry. Ultima II and III are very hard to win because the clues are vague, so if you really want to win without checking out a walkthrough, you'll have to do a lot of "talking" to NPC's, as well as a LOT of wandering, and meditating on things you discover even when you're not playing the game. You have to remember, such was fine for back in the day when there was no internet and no one to help you win the game. Plus game sequels and didn't come out till years later, so you wanted a game that would tide you over till the next release. Check out these trailers for Ultima 2 & 3. https://youtu.be/SODqh4SVsr4 https://youtu.be/7W8kAv3-T08 They just might wet your appetite enough to give them a try!