Ultima™ 8 Gold Edition

I feel I'm lucky to have had Ultima VIII before I ever experienced any other games in the series. In fact, I was 6 years old when I first played this game and, I'm unashamed to say, has never stopped being a part of my life. Ultima VIII is the most compelling and unforgettable game I've ever played, to this day. I can understand people's gripes given how different it really is from the rest of the series and especially the series' crowning jewel, Ultima VII, but if you appreciate it as its own creation, it's a wonder. Even the major plot hole regarding the Avatar's "pilgrimage" to the birthplace of Moriens bothers me hardly at all. The game has a chilly aura and a way of leaving the player to his or own devices to figure out the game's objectives. I feel this approach to gamebuilding forgives the occasional arbitrary-seeming plot device. Play Ultima VIII and try not to think of it as an Ultima game, you'll be glad you did.

Oh yeah, it's missing the Lost Vale expansion. Now I can never have a complete experience with this game. Another example of EA's... *breath*. Ok, this game alone is good and I recommend it for your ultima playthrough. However, it might feel like somethings missing. That is because there was supposed to be an expansion pack, The Lost Vale, that would add finishing patches as well as complete the story. The pack was made but EA in their mind, whoops I misspelled it, GREED figured there was no money to be made and threw it out the window, no wait, if they did that someone would have found and released it. No, they deleted it forever. Now I can't get the experience Garriet wanted me to have. You know, I would've forgiven that, as long as IX was good. Wait, they ruined that too. I really wanted a good continuity but now I might have to just stick with VII as the ending. GOG in all their goodness did provide us with Lost Vale documents and Bob Whites plot to at least imagine the adventure. This game is still good, it's just incomplete, and will never be complete.

I first played this game 17 years ago and highly enjoyed it. Yes, it's no Ultima VII but it still oozes atmosphere and it retains the highly interactive world of the predecessor. On top of that, you get a very focussed game that encourages exploration and has plenty to enjoy and love. After Ultima VII, it seems Origin wanted to go back to a "tighter" game design - Ultima VII was pretty complex with all sorts of mechanics thrown together. It did make for a great and huge game, but it was also daunting for new comers to the genre and I believe Ultima VIII was taking a step back to become more accessible to those wanting a purer experience. I can honestly say that I understand why they did this - Ultima VII was very overwhelming for me back then and Ultima VIII encouraged me to persevere with it anyway. Had Ultima VIII come before Ultima VII, people would have loved it plenty ...

Without getting too much into how this isn't even a complete game (multiple unfinished quest lines, dialogue trees that don't come to an ending, unfinished dungeons, no monster variety, half arsed combat system, etc), I'd like to say that Ultima 8 was a scar on the series and didn't come anywhere near where 7 did. The platforming alone in the game makes it a pain in the neck to play, the best I was able to do was add a patch made by some fans that SORT of fixed the horrible jump mechanics, but even then still manages to fail from time to time. Should we get into the plot? Sure, let's go there. Mr. Lord British seemed to be on some interesting plants when he wrote this one, while the plot only makes a little more sense then Ultima 9's, that's not saying much. You're pretty much railroaded into making the Avatar into a giant jerk. It's really very sad. I honestly don't know how people can give this a solid anything stars. You need very thick, rose colored lenses to view this title in anything less then a horrible light. If you want a good Ultima game, go back to 7 / Serpent Isle. The series started to die with this title.

Yes, I bought this a number of years ago when I saw it in a store, after having not paid much attention to the gaming world for a while. I thought "another Ultima! Outstanding!" and looked at the box, which indeed promised a darker side, etc. as you can read in the official description here. I wondered why it was on sale for so little. Soon I found out. The platforming issues were fixed - which had made the original version unplayable - but don't be fooled, this is not a true, quality Ultima game. On the basis of plot, character interaction and everything else that the Ultima series was beloved for, this has no real relation to its predecessors. If you don't actually care about the Avatar's story or the moral "decisions" you are forced to make in this game, perhaps you could enjoy parts of it (although the platforming is still ridiculous). That begs the question of why someone would want to start with this game, however, when there are many, many better standalone RPGs. The story (such as it is) is essentially erased for Ultima IX in any case, so that makes it even less worth a play. I recommend you spend your hours (and money) elsewhere.