Ultima™ Underworld 1+2

My favorites RPGs ever. Nowadays, we had the chance to get other jewels, The Witcher 1&2, Gothic 2 and more BUT these 2 Ultima Underworld are pure genius. Especially when you think about their release date. Being able to handle gravity, physics, true 3d objects when the other top 3d games of that period was Wolfenstein3d... I let you think about the level of immersion that Underworld could provide. Its stories, feeling friendship with gobelins, swim and hope to not drown, so priceless. When I'll finish my bucket of RPG, I'll be back to them, that's for sure!

The game play is good, graphics have been preserved, lots of great nostalgia; however, the audio/music port is awful, I hope there's an update to fix the sound.

There is a very short barrier of entry to enjoy these games (movement controls are unique but well designed, combat is a dice roll system so you wont always connect your hits), there are vast things to enjoy about these games. I played almost to the end of Ultima Underworld 1, but I couldn't complete the final boss because I didn't get all of the Talismen. If u wanna see the end credits, you need to get all the talismen. But no matter because I sunk like 30 hours into that game and enjoye every second of it. All the fun interactions with fantasy races, great vibes, awesome feeling of progression. Such fun and well written dialogue! The Stygian Abyss is a joy to explore, an entire world in it of itself. Full of communities and tons of wonderful intentional design, memorable alcoves and areas that I can recall a year after playing, and fun emergent interactions. I've started playing UU 2 and am enjoying it much the same. Its more UU afterall! Although I think i prefer the sprite work in UU 1. Its awesome to see how they expanded the game, there are a lot more kinds of interactions you can have. The game is seriously ahead of its time. Extremely polished. I think I enjoy the combat in these games better than I enjoy Morrowind's combat. Once I'm done sinking enough time into UU 2, hopefully beating it tho, I'm gonna move on to System Shock 1 & 2. Long Live the Immersive Sim!

I wasn't prepared for how engrossing this game is. 30+ years on and it is still more than capable of evoking a keen sense of mystery and wonder that kept me coming back. It will take a bit to get into for someone who is more used to modern control schemes, but don't consider it archaic: there are benefits to the way this game plays. Managing items and casting spells can be done while moving through the environment, which can alleviate potential frustrations with backtracking. Aside from that, the mouse-centric movement is still novel and fun, even if the execution is a tad finicky. Combat, navigation, and platforming are all more than possible to get good at, and it's satisfying to deftly navigate the depths, so I'd say a stellar job was done considering the pioneering nature of this game. I really appreciated the way the writing tied different floors, factions, and items together in a way that felt believable. Coupled with the thoughtful placement of key (and inconsequential) items, the Stygian Abyss feels more like a real place than I expected. A heavy dose of secrets and hard-to-find clues (some of which are required to finish the game) give the impression that the game world is more far-reaching and mysterious than it probably is. Thorough exploration and use of the map's note feature (and a handy notepad) are all you really need to get through the game, but the manual and hint book are invaluable if you're stuck. Just go into it with an open mind and a willingness to learn and play around, and you'll have just as great a time as I did. This is my first time playing this game and, as someone who is not overly familiar with traditional dungeon crawlers, this has quickly become one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had in years. I can't imagine what this was like in 1993 - but if it's anything like what it feels like to play now, I can see why this game was so influential. A true masterpiece.

I have very romantic feelings towards this game, since it was the first RPG which could portray the environment in true 3D. Before that I played Eye of the Beholder etc. UW was truly immersive. But besides the atmospheric aspect it also is a great RPG in its own respect. Rune magic, lots of things to discover, factions, consequences of own decisions, etc. I liked also UW1 more than UW2. Why? UW1 feels more consistent in it's setting, more simple yet complex enough. It is also not burdened by the Ultima universe. Also I like the more abstract comic like sprites in UW1 more than the trying to be more realistic ones in UW2. It simply matches better with the graphic capabilities of the engine which in my opinion still holds up well nowadays.