Editorial Ultima VII Retrospective

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Ultima VII: The Black Gate

<p>RPS <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/14/gaming-made-me-ultima-vii/" target="_blank">put up a retrospective</a> of&nbsp;Ultima VII: The Black Gate.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Britannia wasn&rsquo;t very large compared to more recent game worlds or the ludicrousness of Daggerfall but it did have variety and it felt like a place full of life. In a way that made me more eager to protect it but it also made me far more willing to become part of that life. I had to force myself to deliver the promise I held as the Avatar because I&rsquo;d rather have been one of the ordinary folks. Hunting and drinking, dining and dancing. Ultima is all about the Virtues and one of the greatest virtues of this most excellent entry in the series was its ability to make being a hero so hard. Not because of high-powered enemies and ridiculous grind, but because it offered a world full of distractions instead of arrows pointing to the bad guys.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>What other RPG could I write this much about without talking about stats, levelling, equipment and combat? I haven&rsquo;t even talked about plot except in the vaguest terms. But I have talked about stories, and while they may not involve death knights and ancient artifacts, they&rsquo;re the ones I remember best.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>More than anything, Ultima VII was the game that first made me realise I preferred worlds that moved around me rather than worlds that I simply moved through. The way that worlds come alive for me can be in the history-changing sweep of a grand strategy game or something as simple as the addition of day-night cycles. It can be an attempt to simulate an ecosystem or something as simple as enemies actually dropping the equipment I can see they were carrying seconds before they crumpled to the ground. It all adds to the sense of existing in a world, which adds to my enjoyment of creating narrative in that world. And Ultima VII was one of the places that form of creativity first sparked for me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/105713-ultima-vii-retrospective.html">Gamebanshee</a></p>

 

[gromit]

I just read this, and there's definitely a bit more nuance to the "world that moved around me" bit. I'm not sure I'd call it an Ultima retrospective, even if they do... it just uses the game as an outstanding example.

For me, it's something that can make me suffer through (moderately) crap writing, art, mechanics, and (of course) coding. It's the ultimate distinction between a rough gem and a polished turd, and touches upon the "are games art" question so you might want to leave now if you hate that discussion (and also fuck off.)

In bold, the cause of nearly every well-made bad game in existence, every "good on paper" checklist-spawned flop, regardless of genre, but also thankfully every rough gem I've fallen in love with:

Stand in the middle of a junction in Liberty City and it’s possible to feel a connection with the place. Pedestrians, cars, overheard conversations, the dropped coffee and stumble of a jostled passerby. Turn to an empty street though, glance to the side, then back again. Often enough, rows of vehicles will have appeared, like flowers from a magician’s sleeve, a trick that garishly announces, ‘this is illusion’, demanding your attention because the player is not always a protagonist. Often, the player is the audience.