Those who have spoken with me about gaming in recent months know that I've taken an interest in the classic Ultima series from Origin Systems, and raped by EA. Well, I've picked up a couple of the games in various forms, and I'm going to take a crack at them. So far, I've picked up Ultima III: Exodus on the NES (CIB no less), Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, and Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Serpent Isle on the PC. The only one I've been able to make any headway in is Ultima VII, and I think that is due to a mixture of things. One is that I am horrible at old RPG's. Another is that I suck at Western RPG's period. The most personal one is that I just can't figure out how to heal my characters in Ultima III on the NES. I'll figure it out eventually, but for now, Ultima VII.
The idea is to make a chronicle of my efforts in Britannia, taking down the Guardian and The Fellowship, and eventually heading off to Serpent Isle to bring back the serpents of balance. Yes, I know too much about the plots already, thanks to the fantastic Spoony Experiment retrospective, but I'm not counting that into my experience of the games. I feel like the game has to tell the story too, rather than what little I know from watching Spoony's videos.
So, I've made my first run at the game, which starts with a murder investigation. What is easily one of the most graphic images I've seen in a classic video game opens the story. So far, I've drawn a connection to The Fellowship, a creepy cult that has replaced the Virtues of the Avatar as Britannia's religion, and the dead blacksmiths issues with the local branch's leader. In my investigation, I recruited the blacksmith's son, Spark, who doesn't really have anything left in his home town. I assume I need to hire a boat to the mainland, seeing as the game starts on an island.
Obviously, I haven't gotten very far. So instead, it's time to look at a few other things. My purchase of the game was from GOG.Com. I was looking at the SNES version, but I gathered from a few reviews that such a review would be a horrible decision. Well, I've not completely discounted that move, given that it's not in front of me to make that move, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, GOG's version of the game is a very sweet purchase. Gamers who buy Ultima VII from GOG will be gifted with the original game, the Forge of Virtue, which sends the player on a quest to regain status in three virtues as well as destroy the remains of Exodus from Ultima III, Serpent Isle, which plays as Part II to the game, and The Silver Seed, the expansion to Serpent Isle. The Silver Seed is supposedly the first example (as far as I can tell...) of EA cutting the budgets necessary for Origin Systems to finish their work on these games. Such budget cuts would be the primary reason for such colossal messes as Ultima's VIII and IX, which were the primary reason for the series disappearing.
On that note, I would love to see Lord British reclaim his franchise from EA and make a new entry in the series. With the success of such giants as The Elder Scrolls in the past decade, the time is right for the Avatar to return to the RPG landscape. The Elder Scrolls couldn't have even happened without the ground work provided by Origin Systems and the Wizardry series, which has also completely faded from view (though I've never played it). Or maybe I would just like to see more Wing Commander games.
That, however, is a discussion I'll save for another day.
Check back, as I indulge in a giant role playing quest that has nothing to do with Final Fantasy.
No comments:
Post a Comment