Do you recommend playing any of the Ultima games?

[Violent By Design]

Gog has a sale on some of the Ultima games, and I'm thinking of buying one (or more) for the future.

I think the most common answer that 4-7 (and 7 part 2) are the ones worth playing. But is this just fandom, or do you really think these games have aged well enough to play today?

Any opinions on any of the Ultima games are welcomed, including Underworld.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I had the Ultima Collection (sadly out-of-print and expensive) when I was young and played every game contained on it. I've also downloaded some other titles and have some of the NES/SNEs ports.

4-7 (PC versions) are certainly the best. I would say all Ultima games are worth playing except for IX and Escape from Mt. Drash (which is impossible to find anyway).

VI is my personal favorite.

[Xeogred]

I've played Underworld since I'm a big fan of games that followed its design. It's basically the blueprints for Deus Ex, System Shock (obviously), and stuff like that.

I played it just last year so yeah, it's aged well if you can get over the controls and limited view (small window for the actual game, 2 supposedly has a much bigger view). Just thinking about how it came out around Doom 3's time, but had a lot of other complex stuff, was pretty interesting. I think I had trouble off and on with the music though.

I found it to be easier to get into than the first System Shock.

[MrPopo]

I played it just last year so yeah, it's aged well if you can get over the controls and limited view (small window for the actual game, 2 supposedly has a much bigger view). Just thinking about how it came out around Doom 3's time, but had a lot of other complex stuff, was pretty interesting. I think I had trouble off and on with the music though.

You've got your timeline mixed up. UU came out the same year as Wolfenstein 3D. Wolfenstein even came about because Carmack had seen demos of UU and thought he could make a faster rendering engine.

As for the question, based on the little I've seen of U4 I'd say it's worth playing; the game has a lot going on inside. U1-3 are more historical curiosities. U1 is quick and fairly simple, U2 is fundamentally broken and has a ton of useless content, and U3 is terribly balanced. You can definitely see the genesis of the JRPG in U3, though.

[Menegrothx]

4, 5, 6, 7, 7 part 2, Underworld and Underworld 2 are all worth it.

8 and 9 are garbage, that's when EA got involved with the series and started ruining the games.
1-3 are very simple and basic compared to 4-6. Starting in 4 the plots became a lot more thoughtful. U4-6 might be the only RPGs from that time period that had actually good stories, stories that are better than those of many modern RPGs, so while there's nothing wrong with 1-3 technically (that's where most JRPGs go their style), they're kind of a waste of time compared to playing 4-6.
7 is still one of the best world simulation&sandbox games and one of the best CRPGs of all time.

Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 are definitely worth playing too, some of the greatest early 3D games (and dungeon crawlers)

The worlds of Ultima games I've heard are good, but they're spinoffs.

[Violent By Design]

4, 5, 6, 7, 7 part 2, Underworld and Underworld 2 are all worth it.

8 and 9 are garbage, that's when EA got involved with the series and started ruining the games.
1-3 are very simple and basic compared to 4-6. Starting in 4 the plots became a lot more thoughtful. U4-6 might be the only RPGs from that time period that had actually good stories, stories that are better than those of many modern RPGs, so while there's nothing wrong with 1-3 technically (that's where most JRPGs go their style), they're kind of a waste of time compared to playing 4-6.
7 is still one of the best world simulation&sandbox games and one of the best CRPGs of all time.

Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 are definitely worth playing too, some of the greatest early 3D games (and dungeon crawlers)

The worlds of Ultima games I've heard are good, but they're spinoffs.

Where do you rank them? And does it matter which Ultima you start off with in terms of narrative?

[Menegrothx]

4-6 is a legit trilogy and 7 is set in the same game world too. It really is a series with it's own lore that is referenced throughout the games, so it pays to play them in order. In fact the games come with lore books that explain what the world of Britannia is like. But there are explanations of what happened in the past in the intros&manuals if you choose to skip the previous title.

4 was the first RPG with an "ethically complex" plot, but 5 improved upon it a lot. They're large games so you might not feel like playing 5&6 after going through 4, so in that sense playing 5 first might be better idea to give you a better idea of how good the series is. It's kind off like comparing Baldur's gate 1 and 2.

The Spoony reviews of the Ultima series give a decent impression of the different titles, but in some reviews he bitches about things that most people don't have a problem with, or makes the good games (U6, UW2) look bad by his constant complaining and nitpicking, but he does give the games their due, he especially praises Ultima 5, rightfully so. It's worth it just for his Ultima 9 review, which is the best "angry video game review" I'ver ever seen
http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/ga ... ospective/

[Violent By Design]

4-6 is a legit trilogy and 7 is set in the same game world too. It really is a series with it's own lore that is referenced throughout the games, so it pays to play them in order. In fact the games come with lore books that explain what the world of Britannia is like. But there are explanations of what happened in the past in the intros&manuals if you choose to skip the previous title.

4 was the first RPG with an "ethically complex" plot, but 5 improved upon it a lot. They're large games so you might not feel like playing 5&6 after going through 4, so in that sense playing 5 first might be better idea to give you a better idea of how good the series is. It's kind off like comparing Baldur's gate 1 and 2.

The Spoony reviews of the Ultima series give a decent impression of the different titles, but in some reviews he bitches about things that most people don't have a problem with, or makes the good games (U6, UW2) look bad by his constant complaining and nitpicking, but he does give the games their due, he especially praises Ultima 5, rightfully so. It's worth it just for his Ultima 9 review, which is the best "angry video game review" I'ver ever seen
http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/ga ... ospective/

Maybe a better question is if I play them out of order will I spoil the others too much? Like if I played 6, would the plots of 4 and 5 be hurt too much by spoilers to enjoy them properly?

[da66en]

I actually really enjoyed Ultima 8. Forget the naysayers and give it a try before you discard it.

My biggest gripe with Ultimas 1-6 is there is very little variety in weapons and armor. For some classes/characters, the weapon they start with is the best weapon possible for the entire game. In that aspect those games haven't aged well.

Ultima 5 is a test in patience because pretty much all the dungeons are the same.

Ultima 6 had the best mix of RPG gameplay and adventuring.

Ultima 7 is a great adventure game, but the RPG game play is not so good. You press C and all your guys just go randomly running off in different directions - and if you're lucky Iolo and Sparks didn't throw away half of their stuff running away from combat.

UU and UU2 are just fantastic. UU2 is probably the best Ultima game.

[Hatta]

My biggest gripe with Ultimas 1-6 is there is very little variety in weapons and armor. For some classes/characters, the weapon they start with is the best weapon possible for the entire game. In that aspect those games haven't aged well.

Ultima's not really about grinding for weapons and armor. That they manage to do so much without needing to dangle a carrot in front of your face is a way in which they have aged well.