@peterkorisanszky2950

2 weeks ago

I came up playing Ultima 7 in the early 90's when I was like 9-10. RPG's were tied for my favorite genre, and Ultima 7 was the defining game of that genre for me. This stayed true for me until maybe Baldur's Gate. In 2005 I decided to go back and play all those old games I missed because they just weren't available. Games which were important historical context for the ones I loved, but games I didn't expect much from. I played Catacombs Abyss, Wasteland 2, Wizardry 1-5. Stuff like that. I did them all blind with no walkthroughs. I figured that people didn't have that stuff back then, and I'd judge these games based on how they held up playing them as close to intended as possible. Once again, I didn't expect much. A lot of these games held up better than I thought they would, or kind of matched my expectations. When I played Ultima 1 and 2, it was right in line with what I thought I was getting into. Ultima 3 was the first Ultima game I enjoyed. Then I played Ultima 4, and my mind was blown. I couldn't believe what I was experiencing. This wasn't just the best of these old dated games, this was a game that was actually better than the game I was trying to give context to. Ultima 4's graphics, dialogue, and combat are dated. But the gameplay loop of exploration, clue hunting, note taking, and experimentation was so rewarding I was delighted the entire time. This old crappy game I played just to see the DNA of the good stuff that came later has ended up being one of my favorite games of all time. Ultima 7 presents better, and has more doodads to mess around with. But it is in every other way either a sidegrade, or a downgrade on the gameplay Ultima 4 has to offer. Ultima 4 gives you a big checklist of objectives, and sends you out to follow a couple dozen small breadcrumb trails at your own leisure, with a few others to stumble across along the way. You get a steady drip of satisfaction as you find the things you're looking for, and find your objective getting closer and closer, the checklist smaller and smaller. If you get frustrated with one trail, you have the freedom to go do others for a while to ease the friction. The result of all this is so satisfying that it's hard to think of a more modern comparison. I don't think I really recaptured the feeling of playing Ultima 4 in 2005 again until Elden Ring in 2022. I don't think Ultima 4 is the best RPG ever. But I do think it's the best Ultima game. A lot of love clearly went into it. I'm glad they had the courage to see their vision through. It demonstrated the truth of games as art at a time where that wasn't clear. I can honestly say it was an honour to play a game they must have sacrificed so much to create. It wasn't a spiritual experience or anything, but I have the humility to admit their valorous effort resulted in a game which did justice to the medium. If you have enough compassion to overlook what is dated about it, I think you'll find some wisdom in it too.

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