Ultima I is a must play for gaming historians. It is the ULTIMAte experience if you pardon the pun. The outdoor tile graphics in Ultima I would become a staple of the entire series and would vastly improve over time. Ken Arnold, a friend of Richard Garriott’s, worked on the machine language programming so that the tile graphics could be used. The City of Arnold, located in the Lands of the Feudal Lords, is named after Arnold. Ultima I would become the flagship for what would evolve into an enduring, award winning, fan favorite series.
I went into Ultima I completely blind. I had never played a single Ultima game nor ever read any spoilers. I also found the large overland maps to be intimidating and before I knew it the entire series had passed me by. Now many years later, I wanted to give the game the respect it deserved. I wanted to read the manual which came packaged with the game as my only preparation. I also wanted to turn my weakness with overland maps into my greatest strength by mapping all four continents out by hand. I was banking that this reciprocity would allow for a more immersive experience.
The game sports 4 continents, 8 castles, 32 towns, 36 dungeons, and 8 sign posts. It has a big bad in the form of an evil sorcerer bent on world domination who uses a phylactery to house his power. There are hover cars, space travel, interstellar dog fights with enemy ships, and a time machine. This game packs so much into it that I expected to find a discarded kitchen sink on a rocky shore while traversing Sosaria as well.
Ultima I is a game of exploration and discovery. When you begin the game you really have no idea what you are to do or where you are supposed to go. In one of my earlier blog posts I likened playing Ultima to watching an episode of Lost. You learn snippets of information by visiting each of the pubs scattered about Sosaria. Each piece of information by itself creates an even greater mystery. The overall plot is laid out eventually and you learn that you’re going to have to go back in time in order to defeat Mondain. You discover that you have to use a time machine and in order to operate it you need four different colored gems. So far so good. There are two castles on each of the four continents and each of the eight kings will send you on a quest. I had decided to map out all four continents before I took on any quests. My mapping and traveling ended up being fortuitous because it was only through visiting each of the towns that I learned what I needed to do. Once my mapping chores were complete I visited each of the eight kings to see what quests they wanted to send me on. Four of the quests tasked me with finding a particular sign post for each king. I knew where all of these signs were because my maps were complete so I finished those four quests first. Each king awarded me by raising my strength attribute several points. Now that I had four of the eight quests completed I was beginning to get a little nervous because I still had no idea where the time machine was located or the four gems were that I needed to operate it. The last four quests involved slaying a particular creature in the dungeons. I was tasked with slaying a Gelatinous Cube, Carrion Crawler, a Lich, and a Balron. I decided to venture into the Mines of Mt. Drash to complete all four of these quests. Once I accomplished that task each of the kings I visited awarded me with a different colored gem!
I learned that if I became a space ace the princess would tell me where the time machine was located.
This part of the game really surprised me. I had no idea there would be hover cars, blasters, and lastly a space shuttle! Once you purchase and then blast off aboard the shuttle Ultima becomes a completely different game. You move about space sector by sector by jumping to Lightspeed. Some sectors have bases where you can refuel or board a new vessel while other sectors have enemy ships that you have to attack. You achieve the rank of Space Ace by destroying 20 enemy ships. The controls and gameplay is reminiscent of Atari’s Star Raider. Once you achieve your desired rank you then have to return to Sosaria. There is a bit of a learning curve dealing with the enemy ships but I have no doubt you’ll soon master it.
Once back on solid ground it is time to seek out the princess. In each of the eight castles I had found a princess imprisoned there but I could not free her. I thought perhaps with my new rank of Space Ace the game would allow me to unlock her cell. No such luck. I tried the Unlock spell as well to no avail. All the while I’m attempting these things the jester is moving around crying; “I’ve got the key! I’ve got the key!” I had a hard time wrapping my mind around this part of the game. I could not steal the key from the jester nor could I transact with him in any way. I decided to do the unthinkable and kill the annoying little bastard. I was certain this would lead to disaster. Surely Lord British did not want me killing his jester right in front of him. I clobbered the clown and was awarded with a key! I was also assaulted by every guard in the entire castle. Once I dispatched all of them, I rescued the princess and she informed me where I could find the time machine.
Entering the time machine begins the end game or the final confrontation with Mondain. This was surprisingly well done. You have to best him in battle, destroy his gem, and then finally destroy him when he polymorphs into a large bat.
I wasn’t kidding when I said that this game had it all. All of this from a game published in 1981. When you approach the game with no prior knowledge and refuse to use spoilers of any kind the game seems incredibly massive.
It took me a total of 24 hours to complete Ultima I. The mapping of each of the four continents was a slow process and served to bloat the number of hours I spent with the game. In my mind it was time well spent. I wanted to honor the game’s place in history and give it the respect it deserved. The passion that Richard Garriott put into this creation is obvious. His youthful exuberance shines through every moment of this game as it resonates just plain fun. You can tell he tried to fit as much fun and enjoyment as he could into one game for individuals to enjoy.
Ultima differs from other games in the way that it awards hit points and deals with experience and I find this dichotomy very interesting. Whenever I needed more hit points I would enter the nearest dungeon and begin to work through the first three levels. In Ultima every time you exit a dungeon it awards you hit points based upon the experience gained during that foray. This is a vastly different approach from Wizardry I which I also just finished playing. While I found the hit point awards a bit odd at first, I found that it helped to promote a particular pace as well as overland exploration.
My experience with Ultima I has been a highlight for me as I work through the role-playing offerings from 1981. It was one of the games I was most looking forward to playing and it did not disappoint. In hindsight, I am extremely thankful that I steadfastly decided to take my time with the game and to simply enjoy it.
Yes, there’s a lot packed into Ultima I. Way, *way* too much! Richard Garriott was a teenager when he wrote it and you can sense in the game the youthful zeal that caused him to want to cram as much into the game as possible, whether or not it made thematic sense! The latter Ultima games would become much more disciplined in their choice of components, as Richard honed his craft as a games designer.
Judging by your screenshots, you’re playing the 1986 re-implementation of the game, rather than the original 1981 release. The 1986 version is, thanks to being re-coded in machine code, much more polished and does have a bit more content in it. It’s a more enjoyable experience to play than the 1981 version so I think that you were right to choose it.
I was amused by the story of your agonising over whether to kill Lord British’s jester. As you progress further through the series, I think you’ll enjoy Ultimas 4 – 6!
haha yes I just couldn’t understand why he would design having me kill the jester in front of Lord British. I am looking forward to future installments. Thank you, as always, for stopping by with your thoughts William