Since I happened to play this game before playing Ultima VII and VI, I think that most of the hate it attracted was due to how it compares with the other two (well, actually three, since VII is split into two games) masterpieces: first of all, it is a different kind of game, and even when factoring that into the equation, it lacks a lot of depth and polish compared to the other two titles. According to the information leaked afterwards, the blame for its lack of success as launch rests squarely on the shoulders on the developer, as I believe it could have been a smash hit if the devs had more time to refine the content and adjust the difficulty of the game better. Still, I found the game as it was engaging enough to play through it when it was released (and in the spirit of full disclosure, I played it before patches, so the couple of sections of the game which require a lot of platforming were as fun as eating nails). Considering that the patches take care of the most glaring problems in the gameplay, I can recommend it to those who are able to play it without expecting it to be the same kind of game as Ultima VII
The game is from the same developer that later became famous with "Heavy Rain", and it shares much of the ambition of the latter title of being an "interactive movie". As a result, the two games have a lot in common: gameplay based largely on QTE's, the ability to play as different characters, and a certain "cinematic" way of presenting the story. Unfortunately, the game fails on both counts, of being "interactive" and being a "movie". The beginning of the game is actually very promising, with a mystery that unravels slowly under the player's eyes. After this brilliant start, the player slowly (or not so slowly) realizes that the story evolves on a strictly linear path: even if depending on the player's choice a given "scene" may play out in a couple different ways, the plot effectively branches only in the very last scene. As a consequence of this, the game does not offer much interaction (at least meaningful interaction) between the player and the story. Given the structure of the game and its linearity, the fact that it tells a bad story ends up being a pretty fatal flaw. As mentioned above, the game starts well as a murder story with supernatural elements; then a number of plot twists occur in the second half which manage to utterly and completely destroy the suspension of disbelief of the player/viewer. Plot twists by themselves are nothing outrageous, but when they are hammered into a plot without any concern for the pacing or the internal consistency of the story being told they can completely ruin a player's immersion. In the end, a very ambitious game, one of the first (if not THE first) of its kind, but fatally flawed. Summary: 1st half 4 stars (if you are ok with a linear "Heavy Rain" in mid 2000s graphics), 2nd half 0 stars
