Ultima™ 1+2+3

Honestly, I only bought this pack for Ultima III. That being said, Ultima I and II are really great windows into PC gaming's past, and worth checking out in their own right. Ultima III is truly where this series begins to shine, however. There's so much to experiment with, explore and just have fun with. You are allowed, and rather encouraged, to make a ton of characters and experiment with race and class combinations. The dungeons and battling are all exciting and atmospheric, and the manuals add to the already extensive atmosphere. Truly, an experience every PC gamer should attempt!

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.