The first Ultima you play is always the *best*

Ultima IX is currently the ‘best selling title’ on GoG.com at the moment. Ultima 8 and 7 also appear not too far down.

I’ve been watching the reviews of Ultima IX closely. What I thought would happen surely did: people began posting reviews of ‘this game is actually a gem in the rough’. Quoting Spoony and saying ‘What’s a Paladin?’ (obviously put in for new players) isn’t much of an argument. With the latest patches, Ultima IX removed most of its bugs. And game machines today can now clearly handle the game.

Obviously, Ultima IX is a heavily flawed game. It isn’t that great of an Ultima. Yet… there is some memorable stuff going on in the game. I’m glad the game is getting a more neutral re-examination. The bugs the game has are now comedy gold.

What is even more fascinating are people coming out and saying how much they love Ultima IX and are buying the game again for nostalgia reasons. How could they say this? They grew up with the game. Ultima IX was their very first RPG.

On the Horizons Board back before Ultima IX was released, Ultima fans were shocked to hear younger posters saying how much they ‘loved’ Ultima 8. They grew up with Ultima 8.

So is it true that the first Ultima you play is always the *best*? I suppose so if you mean the game when it is current. (If the reader blindly picks a random Ultima game, it will certainly not be the favorite.)

Here, I can tell you this story:

While Ultima 1, 2, and 3, I cannot recall, but with the release of Ultima IV, I believe some Ultima fans were not happy with the major change. And with Ultima V, others were not happy with the shift from black and white morality to a more grey, to a more full storyline. While I can vaguely remember that, I very much remember the hate Ultima VI got. There were so many bugs in Ultima VI, and many Ultima V fans were upset at the ‘decline’ of the series. When Ultima VII came out, again came the same complaints. The combat was a joke in Ultima VII, the bugs were awful (if you slept, your keys would disappear!), Ultima VII didn’t allow you to transfer your character from previous Ultimas, and so on.

As time went on, people only point to Ultima VII as the ‘best’ today because it runs best today on modern hardware. Ultima 8 and 9 still have ‘complications’. But mark my words: every Ultima when it came out was a treat and a delight. Every single one (except for 8 and 9). And even then, young people seemed to like 8 and 9.

What I believe the ultimate future for Ultima is that new players will start with 7, 8, or 9. If they like the game, then they will carefully proceed backwards. Ultima 6 then 5 then 4 then 3 then 2 then 1. In order to play through the Apple 2 Ultima games, you really have to be a passionate fan of both RPG history and Ultima. The obsolete interface and design is so awful that it is entertaining.

Above: Ultima IX’s music stands the test of time.