Each of the first four Ultima games surpassed the previous one by leaps and bounds. Ultima 1 was OK by 1981 standards; Ultima 2 added a great deal of complexity to the game world; Ultima 3 eased up on the game world and made it more consistent, while adding a full-fledged party system; Ultima 4 took the best elements of 3, refined them, expanded everything, and made one of the most profound games of the 20th century. (Purists would argue Ultima 5 is better still, since it took the systems of Ultima 4 and added all manner of details everywhere, tweaking them to a degree of detail and perfection that it shows intimations more of NetHack than a modern mainstream RPG. I can see their point of view. I prefer Ultima 4, for exactly the same reasons.) What you get in this package is, essentially, the build-up to the all-time classic that is Ultima 4. For my money, Ultima 1 and 2 are unplayable. I played games like Telengard back in the day, so I can see their appeal at the time. But for modern players I cannot see any appeal whatsoever. Ultima 3 is interesting primarily for the way that it foreshadows the more perfected combat system and more refined world of Ultima 4. It is at least playable. It doesn't have the nonsensical sci-fi elements of Ultima 1 and 2: it's absolutely straight-faced high fantasy. If you like anything about Ultima 1 or Ultima 2, it'll be the blend of high fantasy and sci-fi, and Arcanum does it better. Gameplay is frankly terrible. Ultima 3 has enormously better gameplay, but everything that's good about it, Ultima 4 does better. I can still see the appeal of this collection, especially Ultima 3, but the appeal still mainly relies on nostalgia, and awareness of the subsequent highs of Ultima 4 and 5.
