Ultima Any games like Ultima 5

[Gangrelrumbler]

I'm playing through U5 and it blows my mind how good and satisfying the game is. Are there any games like that besides other Ultimas? By "like that" I mean RPGs that are more about exploration, gathering information and solving riddles than story or combat.

 

[octavius]

Well, there are some other Ultima games...
But U5 was the best of the original Ultimas. The Ultima 6 Project remake using the Dungeon Siege engine is even better IMO.
Also, The Magic Candle, although somewhat more combat intensive.

 

[Absalom]

Inb4 sandalwood box changes your opinion of 'gathering information and solving riddles'

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Inb4 sandalwood box changes your opinion of 'gathering information and solving riddles'

I was aware of the sandalwood box trick beforehand. But seriously it's not that bad. The game teaches you how to play a piano and makes sure that you know how to play it, so it would make you think it's useful for something. There are just a few pianos in the game, one of which is in British's private chambers and multiple people direct you to them. Bandai himsels, a guy in some keep who directs you to Bandai and a little stable girl in castle Britannia who also directs you to Bandai.

 

[Absalom]

I was aware of the sandalwood box trick beforehand. But seriously it's not that bad. The game teaches you how to play a piano and makes sure that you know how to play it, so it would make you think it's useful for something. There are just a few pianos in the game, one of which is in British's private chambers and multiple people direct you to them. Bandai himsels, a guy in some keep who directs you to Bandai and a little stable girl in castle Britannia who also directs you to Bandai.

Seriously wasn't that bad? Yeah it must be nice to play this after the internet became popular.

Also, LOL at that 'Well they taught me to play a piano so it has to be useful for SOMETHING' metagaming.

Bandai just told you about the magic carpet, which is a good enough item that most people would assume it was the only thing in LB's chambers.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I was aware of the sandalwood box trick beforehand. But seriously it's not that bad. The game teaches you how to play a piano and makes sure that you know how to play it, so it would make you think it's useful for something. There are just a few pianos in the game, one of which is in British's private chambers and multiple people direct you to them. Bandai himsels, a guy in some keep who directs you to Bandai and a little stable girl in castle Britannia who also directs you to Bandai.

Seriously wasn't that bad? Yeah it must be nice to play this after the internet became popular.

Also, LOL at that 'Well they taught me to play a piano so it has to be useful for SOMETHING' metagaming.

Bandai just told you about the magic carpet, which is a good enough item that most people would assume it was the only thing in LB's chambers.

Well he also tells you that Stones is Lord British favorite and gives you a code how to play it so it's not wrong to assume that players would play stones on every piano they encounter. I'm not saying that it's bad. Just not bad enough to make people dislike the whole game style. It's not half as bad as the famous rat in the desert trick for example.

 

[Infinitron]

I'm playing through U5 and it blows my mind how good and satisfying the game is. Are there any games like that besides other Ultimas? By "like that" I mean RPGs that are more about exploration, gathering information and solving riddles than story or combat.

All of the Ultimas from U4 to U7 are like that to some extent, but U5 nailed that 8-bit tiled open world RPG experience like few other games. It should have been in the Top 3 in that Best RPGs of the 1980s poll. Arguably the Top 1. But U4 has more hype.

Well, there are some other Ultima games...
But U5 was the best of the original Ultimas. The Ultima 6 Project remake using the Dungeon Siege engine is even better IMO.
Also, The Magic Candle, although somewhat more combat intensive.

Surely you meant Ultima V: Lazarus. Which is what Gangrelrumbler should play sometime if he really likes U5 that much, but he probably needs to take a break!

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Just Ultimas and one other game series? To be honest I've expected a bit more considering the fact that earlier Ultimas had a lot of clones. Guess I'm really out of luck. I've even tried some Nazgul game that was made specifically in order to copy Ultima 5 but after encountering an NPC that gave me a "kill the bandits" quest I gave up. Will definitely check that Magic Candle series though.

 

[Infinitron]

Just Ultimas and one other game series? To be honest I've expected a bit more considering the fact that earlier Ultimas had a lot of clones. Guess I'm really out of luck.

Hey, hey, don't jump to conclusions before more people have replied to your thread. There's probably more stuff out there that can scratch your itch.

 

[Luzur]

Well Phantasie series are kinda like Ultima, along with Questron, Demons Winter, Shard of Spring, Albion and Ambermoon.

All i can think of atm from memory.

 

[octavius]

Well, there are some other Ultima games...
But U5 was the best of the original Ultimas. The Ultima 6 Project remake using the Dungeon Siege engine is even better IMO.

Surely you meant Ultima V: Lazarus. Which is what Gangrelrumbler should play sometime if he really likes U5 that much, but he probably needs to take a break!

No, I meant U6P. U5 was good in its original form, but I found U6 unplayable and needed the remake, which was surprisingly good. Lazarus is on my play list, though.

 

[Morkar Left]

Like already mentioned Magic Candle / Bloodstone.
Amberstar/Ambermoon (but they rely on trash combat and information gathering is not really there). Fallout 1/2 are actually like that (minus riddles). Starflight and Planets Edge are actually heavy on exploration and information gathering (but have bad char progression, PE has none at all). Not quite the same style but maybe RoA 2 and the Quest for Glory ones.

 

[MisterStone]

Is there another game like U5? No, there is not. Later games were either inferior in every way, or were took a totally different design path, so they did not invite direct comparison. I waited and waited for something like U5, but it was the the last of that generation of game development, and the new generation was a massive jump away (if not definitively forward).

Seriously wasn't that bad? Yeah it must be nice to play this after the internet became popular.

Also, LOL at that 'Well they taught me to play a piano so it has to be useful for SOMETHING' metagaming.

Bandai just told you about the magic carpet, which is a good enough item that most people would assume it was the only thing in LB's chambers.

Trololol, I figured out the Stones puzzle when I was 12, playing the game by myself, no hint materials. Younger generationg blarg blarg, cellphones, blargblarg spoiled, mwarghargh, social media, blarghblargh, attention spans...

Actually, if you played this game out of the box, the manual or other game media had a written notation for how to play Stones. And back then this stuff was always significant. It might have even been considered copy protection. So that made the solution more obvious.

Also the explorer diary told you how to find LB, and I am sure on in-box media had hints scatteted about. It was just a different experience from today, where you have in-game documentation and hints, quest compasses etc.

 

[octavius]

Well Phantasie series are kinda like Ultima

Only in appearance. At heart Phantasie is more like Wizardry and other blobbers, in that the game is mostly combat, is quite linear, and there isn't really that much to figure out.

 

[Absalom]

Trololol, I figured out the Stones puzzle when I was 12, playing the game by myself, no hint materials. Younger generationg blarg blarg, cellphones, blargblarg spoiled, mwarghargh, social media, blarghblargh, attention spans...

Actually, if you played this game out of the box, the manual or other game media had a written notation for how to play Stones. And back then this stuff was always significant. It might have even been considered copy protection. So that made the solution more obvious.

Also the explorer diary told you how to find LB, and I am sure on in-box media had hints scatteted about. It was just a different experience from today, where you have in-game documentation and hints, quest compasses etc.

Hurr durr except I stated myself I played it before the internet as a child. Try harder.

And the problem wasn't goddamn Stones, it was recognizing the fact that the random box was the plot important item, not the super useful magic carpet in the same location.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

If you complete the whole Oppression subplot Saduj will outright tell you that it's essential for British to return and that it's hidden in his chamber.

 

[V_K]

Magic Candle series is arguably your best bet in terms of overall structure (travelling around the word, gathering clues, etc). You could also try Tunnels&Trolls, although it has a very different style, emphasizing CYOA-style encounters.

 

[:Flash:]

Excelsior - Phase One: Lysandia



It is kind of funny how Excelsior Phase One is so close to the style of Ultima V, but was released after Ultima VI, and Excelsior Phase Two mimics Ultima VI, but was released five years after Ultima VIII. It's like you can track how long the creators took to make it

 

[MisterStone]

Trololol, I figured out the Stones puzzle when I was 12, playing the game by myself, no hint materials. Younger generationg blarg blarg, cellphones, blargblarg spoiled, mwarghargh, social media, blarghblargh, attention spans...

Actually, if you played this game out of the box, the manual or other game media had a written notation for how to play Stones. And back then this stuff was always significant. It might have even been considered copy protection. So that made the solution more obvious.

Also the explorer diary told you how to find LB, and I am sure on in-box media had hints scatteted about. It was just a different experience from today, where you have in-game documentation and hints, quest compasses etc.

Hurr durr except I stated myself I played it before the internet as a child. Try harder.

And the problem wasn't goddamn Stones, it was recognizing the fact that the random box was the plot important item, not the super useful magic carpet in the same location.

All I'm saying is, it wasn't a huge quest continuity problem... I think it was mentioned that there were few harpsichords (not pianos ffs) in the game, so I just played the tune on every one until it paid off. My logic was extraneous to anything in the game: the in-box materials include detailed info about something, it must be important. I talked to whoever tells you about the box after I found the thing, simply because rooting around everywhere was how adventure games of all kinds were played, especially Ultimas.

 

[tuluse]

A seemingly obvious suggestion would be Divinity: Original Sin. Well, I can't say it de-emphasizes combat, but structurally it's a love letter to U7. The whole story is about going from place to place and investigating suspicious activities.

 

[BigWeather]

Any time I need to learn a new technology I set about re-creating as much of Ultima V as I can (before I've learned what I need and lose interest). Did it to learn XNA, Unity, and now working on a HTML5/TypeScript version. Amazing game, my favorite plot, world detail, tileset, and music of all the Ultimas.

 

[rezaf]

A seemingly obvious suggestion would be Divinity: Original Sin. Well, I can't say it de-emphasizes combat, but structurally it's a love letter to U7. The whole story is about going from place to place and investigating suspicious activities.

Wait, what?
_____
rezaf

 

[Crooked Bee]

A seemingly obvious suggestion would be Divinity: Original Sin. Well, I can't say it de-emphasizes combat, but structurally it's a love letter to U7. The whole story is about going from place to place and investigating suspicious activities.

Wait, what?
_____
rezaf

What?

 

[lurker3000]

The reason so many people say U5 is one of the best (if not the best) RPG around is because there is nothing else really like it. U4 is U5 lite and U6 goes in another direction. The Wizardry and M&M series are more combat focused. I would say games like Wasteland and FO1 are sort of like it in spirit (exploring, talking to npcs, figuring out the puzzle) but overall U5 stands alone.

Also me and a buddy figured out the stones thing from the manual the first time we entered British's room. I don't think we even talked to Kenneth about it.

 

[Dreaad]

Morrowind. Seriously, just don't enchant anything or make any potions or any spells. Also don't "buy" any training. Lastly get better heads/bodies and widescreen mod.

Read everything. Profit.