The Age of Armageddon: The Final Ultima Trilogy

How do things end is always a difficult question, especially with a series that began in the late 70s, early 80s as a project done by an enthusiastic kid with little regard for any genuine world-building? The first decade of Ultima saw huge changes in technology, which allowed increasingly bigger games, with better sound and graphics. And Origin was hell-bent on staying atop of that by offering things not seen before like many of their other titles had done.

The final trilogy starts strong with Ultima 7: The Black Gate, which many fans consider to be one of the best, if not the best game in the series. From the get-go, it's easy to see that a lot has changed from the 6th game. Graphically, the new entry was completely different, with a more detailed world, where you could either start following the story or concentrate on other stuff.

At the beginning of the game, Avatar is brought back to Britannia, to the city of Trinsic, where he is greeted by his old friend Iolo. All is not well, as the city has been placed under lockdown because of a gruesome double murder. The mayor of Trinsic tasks avatar to seek out who was behind the heinous crime. Another change in the world is in the form of a new religious sect, the Brotherhood, led by charismatic Baitlin. This new sect has impressed Lord British as well, who wholeheartedly recommends avatar to join them as well. 

It's not only the sinister murder that is hanging above Britannia. There's the little problem of the looming threat of the muppet faced Guardian as well, who is looking for a way to step in the new world he seeks to conquer like he has done for countless other worlds. So, Avatars task is two-fold: find out the elusive murderers who seem to constantly be a step ahead of the investigation and to stop the big, red baddie from entering Britannia.

With Ultima 7, Garriott set out to do a proper trilogy. The three games were to be connected in a more cohesive fashion than what had been done previously, forming a bit more coherent and unified canon. Guardian was to be the main villain of this part of the story and the foundation of the avatarhood would be throughout shaken because of the revelations to come.    

Garriott's own frustrations towards the then owner of Origin, Electronic Arts, seeped into the game as well. The murderers' Avatar chases throughout the game were given names Elizabeth and Abraham, or EA. The generators created to bring Guardian to Britannia are shaped from parts of EA's logo, a tetrahedron, a sphere and a cube. And finally, Guardian is described as "the destroyer of worlds" whereas Origin's own slogan was "We Create Worlds". Having been bought out by EA had changed the company culture from being developer-driven to purely business-driven direction, which did not sit well with Garriott. 

Corporate woes aside, Ultima 7 turned out well. It got mostly raving reviews and the fans were happy, many still citing it the best game in the series. It manages to find its way even now on the lists of best games ever created. It improved the graphics, the music and the world as well as the writing. The AI of the NPCs was improved as was the ways you could interact with the world. In many ways, it still is the baseline for sandbox game creation. 

An expansion, Forge of Virtue, was released to give a bit more content for the game. After installation, a great earthquake hits Britannia, rising an island from the sea. It is, in fact, the Isle of Fire, where avatar defeated Exodus in the 3rd game. Avatar is given a ship by Lord British, so that last remnants of the evil progeny of Minax and Mondain can be taken care of. Completing Forge of Virtue early on might be advisable, as this provides the best gear in the game as well as pads the stats quite a bit, making the rest of the game easier. 

Of course, you can opt to not do much combat, as running away and avoiding fights is a valid strategy. And considering that the combat system is not the best possible, it might be advisable to actually try and skip as much of the combat you can.  

As the development of UItima 7 had been expensive, around a million dollars, there was a question of trying to get more bang for the buck from the engine. As the previous World of Ultima titles, made with the engine of Ultima 6, had been something of flops, Garriott figured a game set in the main series would sell better. Thus came out Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle. This one is the better game, in my opinion, having the virtue of working in a bit more fine-tuned engine, of which kinks were sorted out with the first game. The story is better as well.

After Avatar thwarted the plans of Guardian, the moongates stopped functioning and there was no way out from Britannia. After spending some time in Britannia, Avatar learns that Baitlin, who managed to escape, has gone through a mysterious snake portal to Serpent Isle, following Gwenno, Iolo's wife. Avatar is sent after him. Serpent Isle itself is what has remained of the former Lands of Danger and Despair, formerly ruled by Shamino during Ultima 1. The lands were cut off from Britannia because of the cataclysm caused by the defeat of the evil wizard Mondain.

All hell breaks loose after Avatar's task of catching Baitlin turns into trying to defeat the Banes of Wantonness, Insanity and Anarchy and restore the Balance. But just as the Balance is restored, Avatar is captured by Guardian and is thrown into the world Pagan Guardian had conquered ages ago. Avatar's companions are left behind and in the next part of the series, Avatar is a stranger in a strange land, all alone.

An expansion Silver Seed was also released for Serpent Isle. While it was somewhat of a rush project, causing it to feel a bit unattached to the main game, it does provide some additional magic items to help with the rather terrible inventory management system of Ultima 7. 

Now, which one is better, The Black Gate or Serpent Isle depends mainly on your preferences. While Serpent Isle does improve some areas, it also has many of the same caveats. The combat is still just as boring, the inventory system can quickly turn into an ugly mess and you do a lot of running back and forth, solving quests and tasks, trying to remember who's where and what's what. Back when Ultima 7 came out, it was a demanding game for many home computers, nowadays you can play them on your phone by using Exult. 

The games themselves were developed during the internal turmoil of a changing company, but still, Garriott and his team managed to make the best of it, despite heavily cut content and rushed out products. They set a benchmark for open-world games as many would agree. But after such a great success, the only way from here was down. I don't necessarily fully agree with the sentiment, but when you look at how modern RPGs do world interaction, for example, it is somewhat baffling, that Ultima 7 is in many ways still ahead of them.

The next chapter of Ultima is taking place in the world of Pagan, but more of that the next time.