Ultima III - Retrospective

[HiddenX]

Majuular looks back at Ultima III and Origin:

Ultima III Retrospective | Origins & Exoduses

In 1983 the Garriott brothers, dissatisfied with the state of the industry, took matters into their own hands, forming the now legendary Origin Systems. Within a year, the developer released Ultima III: Exodus - a game regarded as foundational not only within its own series, but for RPGs in general. This video chronicles the story of Richard Garriott's exodus from Sierra, and the origin of Origin Systems.

More information.

 

[JDR13]

I think it might be the first Western RPG that I finished. I was really young at the time and had played mostly JRPGs on the NES prior to that. In fact, it was the NES version of U3 that I played. It had better graphics than earlier versions, but I think some of the dialogue may have been cut.

Some of those dungeons were brutally hard.

 

[Carnifex]

The first game I actually plunked down money for and it took months to get through! Great game and awesome memories.

 

[Zloth]

You're attacked by the grass! You're attacked by the floor!! I barely remember the game, but I sure do remember those!

That was a fun watch. Great to be reminded of how the game worked. (Starving! BLUP!!)

 

[rjshae]

I remember really enjoying the tactical combat system in this game. It beat the blobber combat systems by a mile. This was a precursor to the GoldBox games' combat system.

 

[JFarrell71]

I never played III (or I or II or Akalabeth or whatever it's called). I started with IV and played them all through Serpent's Isle after that, including the Martian one. I never will now because they're too primitive for them to be something I would enjoy. I get the urge sometimes to replay VII - Black Gate, though, via Exult. That's my favorite Ultima game.

 

[Stingray]

I get the urge sometimes to replay VII - Black Gate, though, via Exult. That's my favorite Ultima game.

My favorite as well. But I tried to replay it via Exult about a year ago and the chaotic/stupid realtime combat was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to play for very long. The rest of the game still held up quite well, though.

Wouldn't have that kind of problem with the earlier Ultimas, since they were turn-based.

 

[Moorkh]

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Thought I just had to post something here

I'm going to mark this video down for a lazy afternoon - really enjoyed his their one!

 

[Stingray]

Nice, you waited over 17 years for these first trilogy Ultima threads but it paid off. (Well, maybe...I don't remember you ever having a different avatar?)

 

[blatantninja]

My favorite as well. But I tried to replay it via Exult about a year ago and the chaotic/stupid realtime combat was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to play for very long. The rest of the game still held up quite well, though.

Wouldn't have that kind of problem with the earlier Ultimas, since they were turn-based.

I played through it a few years ago with Exult. The combat really is bad, but I muttled through it. I've started and stopped on Part 2 a few times since.

Ultima III was the first Ultima I played, on a C64. My older brother bought it and my dad made copies of the disks so we could both play and not mess each other's games up. I never finished it on the C64, I was just too young to really put it all together, but I had fun making various parties and exploring. I think the first time I beat it was actually the NES version. I later went back and played the DOS version in the early 2000s. It definitely sparked my long term love of the genre!

 

[Jaguar]

I've gotten around to playing 1-4 in the past few years. 5 will be next. Are you serious that 7 has real time combat? Just assumed it would remain turn based until 8.

 

[Stingray]

Yeah, it's realtime and it's even worse than it sounds. Truly terrible combat.

 

[bjon045]

I quite enjoyed the combat in U7p1 and p2. I like how you didn't actually have to do anything, just engage combat mode and let your companions do the killing. Once you get them geared out with magic weapons and armour they are pretty much unkillable. There is only one tough battle (against the banes) in u7p2 and you need to spam spells to get through that one.

 

[booboo]

Richard Garriot - "The satanic perverter of America's youth! "...ah now that's a title to aspire to
I remember playing D&D in the 80's we didn't have the 'moral majority' here but there were still dark and disapproving looks ;-) (*)

(*) one of our party members was very religious (well, certainly his gf was) and he flat out lied to her about playing D&D (and then we spotted her spying through the curtains as we huddled around the table with our dice and the DMG with the efreet on the cover. I kid you not. Not sure how he explained that! )

 

[Carnifex]

Uhm yes, I had parents out for my head when I lived in Aiken SC and Augusta Ga as a youth and was heavily involved in Dungeons and Dragons games, among others. These people even tried to get Robin Hood of Sherwood banned off PBS because they showed actual paganism, lol. Oh yes, the CSRA was a fun place to live in the seventies and eighties!

 

[mercy]

I would have tried this, as Wizardry 6 SNES looks amazing, compared to the PC version.. BUT THIS HAS BLINKING COMBATANTS Aarrrghh! So eyestraining..

Ultima III: Exodus - NES Gameplay​

 

[JDR13]

I would have tried this, as Wizardry 6 SNES looks amazing, compared to the PC version.. BUT THIS HAS BLINKING COMBATANTS Aarrrghh! So eyestraining..

There was a significant jump in visual fidelity from the NES to the SNES. Still, U3 looked pretty good on the NES for its time. (The music was kind of lame though.)