Ultima What is the best Ultima game?

[v1rus]

Inspired by the Wizardry thread, lets do the same for Ultima.

 

[Darth Roxor]

8 obviously there's no contest

 

[Zarniwoop]

No Kingcomrade option?

Oh, I see it

Ultima IX: Ascension

 

[v1rus]

No Kingcomrade option?

Oh, I see it

Ultima IX: Ascension

added it. tradition is tradition.

 

[octavius]

I already voted.

 

[Atrachasis]

For me, it's a choice between V and VI. Worldbuilding and writing steadily improved from IV onward. Ultima VI had the world that I associate with the brand - with interesting nooks and crannies everywhere, relatable, diverse and well-written NPCs, and great environmental reactivity, really fleshed out for the first time. Combat probably peaked somewhere around V and took a nosedive after VI, and is the principal reason why I cannot ever consider VII the high point of the series. So I'll go with VI as the optimum and ṕretend that this choice is based on objective deliberations and has nothing to do at all with it being the first Ultima I ever played back in my ATARI ST days and my being totally imprinted on it.

 

[v1rus]

I already voted.

goddammit

 

[Late Bloomer]

I'll go with Ultima Exodus. It was my first experience with Ultima. Certainly not my last. But something about the time period i was playing. I can still remember my room way back when, the cozy feels as I was playing. It might not be the best of the series but its my favorite.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Inspired by the Wizardry thread, lets do the same for Ultima.

Hum, let me think ... Which one is the shortest?

 

[Old Hans]

I've only played Ultima 6 so I nominate ultima 6 as the best Ultima ever made.

oh wait I also beat ultima 8 and ultima underworld. so those are also the best Ultima games ever made

 

[Butter]

Underworld is the best, but it's not a real Ultima game.

 

[potatojohn]

I only played 8 because the others had unplayable UIs and puke-inducing perspective, so that's what I have to vote for.

 

[Drunken Irishman]

The great Ultima's range from 5 to 7, including Underworlds and the Worlds series. Sure, I should include Ultima 4, but to be honest... I'm not a huge fan of the virtues. It seems to me that Richard Garriot is the kind of person that has only read 2 or 3 books in his life. Sure, some of his ideas can be insightful. But most of it really comes off as attempts at deep ponderings from a person who just finished reading his first book.

My choice of the best Ultima tends to change with mood.

Not long ago, I made a TL/DR post about Ultima 5.

Ultima - In 2021, Ultima V is still the greatest open-world RPG! |

What I appreciate about Ultima series is it's experimentation with interesting design choices. Not all of it works... but some of it is innovative, genius and full of potential.

For example, Underworld games are basically proto immersive sims.

Even Ultima 8 had some interesting ideas.

And still no one has yet to create the subgenre that Ultima 7 is the grandfather of.

This time I voted for Serpent Isle, because I like it more than Black Gate. It's cool, it's edgy and it takes more advantage of Ultima 7 click and drag interactivity.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Best Ultima game:

Best game included in the poll:

 

[RPK]

Ultimate VI was the first RPG I ever played, so gotta go with that one.

 

[ShaggyMoose]

Ultima IX has a vote...

 

[Tweed]

Wow, no love for VII this time around. For me V is the pinnacle. It's more of a game than Ultima IV which turns into a massive scavenger hunt. While VI is colorful and has more strategic combat, but has a really lame scenario. V looks really comfy both topside and in dungeons, has an interesting spin on what happens when you take virtue too far, and its scavenger hunt isn't anywhere near as bad as IV or VI's. I mean VI forces you to find all the runes again and that stupid treasure map. V let's you play with LB's toys to help you in combat.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Black Gate

 

[Ladonna]

V of course.

 

[anvi]

You guys are pretty old.

 

[anvi]

Ultima 1 screenshot (warning graphic violence):

_O/
|
/\

O-\-<

 

[Tavernking]

I wasn't able to finish any of them

 

[Alan]

Only played through Ultima IV and Underworld. Don't know why, because I really cannot stand uncomfortable gameplay anymore. Plus, I feel that most crpg lack motivation for the player to advance the plot, which I now see as the capital sin of flawed design

I was interested in playing Black Gate due to legendary status, but seeing how it has fallen in favor of Ultima V, I suspect that neither of them is really a winner.

PC games are mostly bad. Computer game designers never had a clue how to make an appealing videogame. They develop the most complicated thing, full of simulation, interactivity and moral principles; and that does nothing for me. I don't know what they are trying to prove

I wish these games felt more like a folk tale, and less like computer program

 

[ShaggyMoose]

I am kind of intrigued what you would consider a "good RPG" based on the above?

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

VII. A rather modern RPG in my opinion. It's not much about levelling and combat (let's be honest: combat is utter crap in this game) but about story telling and world building. And that's where it really excells. I do understand the reservations some have towards it as an RPG as sometimes it more resembles an adventure than an RPG but I really love this game to death. Just so much to discover and do and so many interesting, small stories, an unparalleled living world, unique characters, high interactivity. In my opinion it's the one game where Origin indeed managed to fulfill their motto "We create worlds". I found SI to be even more fascinating from a purely story related standpoint, very tight and focussed, but thus leaving out much of the freedom and adventure feeling of VII. Ultima Underworld 1 (not 2, that was a terribly unfocussed mess imho) is on the same level of perfection in its way to build a world where every detail is meaningful.