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General discussion (archive)Ultima Collection: should I buy?(24 posts)solved(24 posts)solved
(24 posts)solved
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Posted November 19, 2014
Hi Gogitizens!

So I am considering buying the Ultima collection, but would like people's opinions. The problem is that my one and only experience with Ultima was the SNES Ultima: Black Gate which I found to be really awful. It seemed some dungeons were buggy, and I wasn't too happy with the graphics or game play. Seemed to me to be a slow play-through that really got on my nerves. Then again, maybe I just wasn't into cRPG back then... Assuming this game was a good representation of cRPGs from that era.

Is the Ultima series strictly for die-hard RPG fans who have been forged in the green fires of Kaldratho and a +4 in Dexterity? I read that the SNES port of this was bad, if so, then it's a shame my introduction to this line has been tarnished.

What would be your opinion of recommending this series to someone who isn't an RPG fanboi?

--------

Thanks to everyone who gave their input! It was all very helpful. TL;DR - I bought the Ultima Series!

Here's my responses to a few people
Post edited November 20, 2014 by chadjenofsky
This question / problem has been solved by InfraSupermanimage
Posted November 19, 2014
The really good ones have aged poorly, and the more recent ones weren't that good to begin with.

My advice for non-RPG fanatics is to start elsewhere. Might and Magic series (start with 3), for example.
Posted November 19, 2014
The DOS version of U7 was a nightmare for me to get running at release. I remember that it needed so much memory that it needed its own boot configuration. It needed a lot to run, so perhaps packing all that down onto a SNES machine caused a lot of issues.

Some of these games are huge and require a lot of dedication to complete in my opinion. I preferred the underworld games to regular Ultimas. But for $6, you really can't go wrong in my opinion.
Posted November 19, 2014
I'd actually recommend it, even if it was just for Ultima 7. It's still an excellent experience. The SNES port was really not representative of the original game, as it stripped out everything and turned it into a terrible Zelda-clone. The PC version is a huge, open ended RPG that puts a lot of emphasis on character interaction.

I have to admit that I've only played Ultima I, IV, VII, as well as the two "Worlds of Adventure" game extensively, but I find the series to be fairly forgiving in terms of difficulty. You don't really have to mess around with lots of stats or anything like that. They tend to be more games of exploration and interaction.

While "immersive" might seem like a weird term to use for these games (especially when looking at the graphics of the early ones), they do a really good job at pulling you into their worlds and stories. They're also pretty interesting from a "historical" standpoint since this series didn't just influence western RPGs to a large degree, they also inspired the JRPG genre (alongside Wizardry).

The Spoony One did a very good Ultima retrospective, which I recommend for information about the merits of the series. He actually went into the shortcomings of the SNES U7 in the first "Runes of Virtue" video.

Also, you should totally take a look at "Savage Empire" and "Martian Dreams", the "Worlds of Adventure" spin-offs of the main series, because they are pretty awesome.
Posted November 19, 2014
For some reason the collection doesn't include the UU1+2 like it usually does though.
Posted November 19, 2014
You should buy it and gift me ultima 8. =)
Posted November 19, 2014
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chadjenofsky: Hi Gogitizens!

So I am considering buying the Ultima collection, but would like people's opinions. The problem is that my one and only experience with Ultima was the SNES Ultima: Black Gate which I found to be really awful. It seemed some dungeons were buggy, and I wasn't too happy with the graphics or game play. Seemed to me to be a slow play-through that really got on my nerves. Then again, maybe I just wasn't into cRPG back then... Assuming this game was a good representation of cRPGs from that era.

Is the Ultima series strictly for die-hard RPG fans who have been forged in the green fires of Kaldratho and a +4 in Dexterity? I read that the SNES port of this was bad, if so, then it's a shame my introduction to this line has been tarnished.

What would be your opinion of recommending this series to someone who isn't an RPG fanboi?
Be warned about Ultima 4.

To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins at once oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.

Other than that I have not played the rest of the series, but I did like Utilma Underworld. Give that a try.
Post edited November 20, 2014 by Elmofongo
Posted November 20, 2014
I've heard pre-4 or 5 are pretty tough to get in to, but 6 and 7 are the good 'uns.
Posted November 20, 2014
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Elmofongo: Be warned about Ultima 4.
To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.
And.. didn't anyone create a patch\crack for that yet? :O
Posted November 20, 2014
Short answer: YES!
Long answer: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Posted November 20, 2014
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Elmofongo: Be warned about Ultima 4.
To progress in the game you have to talk to a beggar and give him 1000 gold conis exact, but you don't give him 1000 coins oh no, you have to type "Give" than press "1" and then press the ENTER key 1000 times exact to max out your compassion virtue in order to gain a partial avatar state, because giving the beggar 1000 coins at once still counts as 1 point.
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phaolo: And.. didn't anyone create a patch\crack for that yet? :O
Also why is there a sleeping barrier where you have to meet the Seer to finalize your virtues to become the Avatar:

http://wiki.ultimacodex.com/images/3/34/U4_Castle01.png

Everytime I have to see I am forced to go through this barrier and continually press the down key to force my sleeping party to move. WHY IS THERE A SLEEPING BARRIER THERE, IT SERVES NO PURPOSE GAMEPLAY WISE AND EVEN STORY/LOREWISE!

Also why does leveling up your strength, Dex, and intellegence with the Orbs you find in dungeons hurt you?

Goddamn I am remidned how bullshit Ultima 4 was and I still cannot beleive I have beaten it. I am worried about Ultima 5 being even more bullshit.
Posted November 20, 2014
4-7 are the best, and if you can I would start at 4, but it is old, and it is for more hardcore rpg fans who don't mind old apple ][ graphics, but if you want a more modern game, play 7, with the Exult mod for a better UI. I would still get them all, 6 bucks is a steal! PS: SNES port SUCKS SO HARD, IT'S NOTHING LIKE THE RPG. And 8-9 suck too.
Posted November 20, 2014
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Elmofongo: [..]
By the way, some time ago I watched Spoony's videos about Ultima games for some lols XD
Posted November 20, 2014
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Elmofongo: [..]
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phaolo: By the way, some time ago I watched Spoony's videos about Ultima games for some lols XD
Spoony did not kicked Ultima 4's bullshit enough that its quite misleading.
Posted November 20, 2014
http://www.u5lazarus.com/
Lazarus is a devoted remake of Ultima 5, using the Dungeon Siege engine. It's really well done.

http://u6project.com/wp/
Ultima 6 was remade using the same engine. I suspect many of the Lazarus folks were involved. I haven't tried it yet, but I expect that it, too, is really well done.
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General discussion (archive)Ultima Collection: should I buy?(24 posts)solved(24 posts)solved
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