Ultima VI: The False Prophet

The Good
Since Ultima IV the series had been firmly following an established tradition of gameplay and creative ideas. Ultima VI once again delivers a meaningful story that is accompanied by flexible, versatile gameplay, and is set in a world that is even more detailed than it was in the previous game.

The interactivity level is higher than ever - there are tons of objects everywhere, which you can manipulate the way you like. Ultima V already had great interactivity, but Ultima VI allows you even more - you can drop objects anywhere you like, and all of them are visible now. There are infinitely more types of objects now - every room is highly detailed, with an enormous amount of stuff to collect.

The gameplay is extremely flexible. Your party is now visible on screen, and each party member can be put in a solo mode and walk around on his own. This feature allows such refinements as having a mouse in your party, putting her in solo mode and letting her explore various mouse holes.

One of the most famous innovations of Ultima VI is its concept of a continuous game world. In previous Ultima games (and other RPGs), the characters were required to walk on a "world map" and access locations (such as towns) that were represented as icons. In Ultima VI there is no such "world map"- or, better to say, the whole world is now a huge world map. There are no "locations" to enter - you walk around just as you would in a real world, with everything being proportional in size. When you leave a town, you don't access a different level, but remain on the same screen that just keep scrolling with you in whatever direction you decide to go. This makes Ultima VI look like an adventure game, only with a game world that is hundred times larger. It is truly amazing how all this was possible to achieve in the early nineties.

Graphically, Ultima VI is stunning, although it was to be expected with the introduction of VGA graphics. The most important graphical addition are character portraits, which are wonderfully designed, adding so much to the atmosphere of the game and the credibility of its world. By the way, this is also the first PC Ultima to have music.

The characters are way more realistic and appealing in Ultima VI than they were in previous Ultimas, not only thanks to the graphic enhancement. The dialogues are much more complex, more varied, and more natural. You can simply stay around and chat with people, talk about their personal affairs, family, business, their town, the current war between humans and gargoyles, etc. In particular, your party members are now more interesting. In previous Ultimas they were accompanying you silently, and once a party member joined you, you couldn't communicate with him in any way. In Ultima VI, not only all your party members are visible on screen and are able to act on their own, but you also can talk to them at any time. They also react individually to your conversations with NPCs. Sometimes they would recognize a friend and exchange a couple of phrases with him. They will sometimes comment upon your actions and show interest in what you do.

Britannia is generally much more believable in Ultima VI than in earlier Ultimas. Towns are much larger and have, beside the obligatory stores and taverns, many other kinds of buildings populated by weavers, farmers, bakers, and other people. This is really a fantastic feature that very few games have. In most games, designers don't pay much attention to characters that don't bear any importance to the game.

Ultima VI is also more user-friendly than its predecessors. The interface is simple and convenient (although still far from the intuitive interface of the next game), and commands can be executed by both keyboard and mouse. Combat system is a bit different now - there are no battle fields, and your party members can also be controlled by AI (although it is still best to control them, since they do stupid things sometimes). In conversations with people, some important keywords are highlighted with red, which makes it easier to track down keywords for further usage. Inventory management is very comfortable, and many old one-letter keyboard commands are now replaced by the handy command "Use".

Ultima VI is very open-ended. A large portion of what seems to be the main plot is in fact just a huge side quest which is not necessary to complete in order to finish the game. There are tons of optional locations, and the obligatory battles are reduced to the point of being non-existent. It is possible to finish Ultima VI without fighting at all. In the very few dungeon-like locations which are necessary to visit (like Sutek's dungeon), you can simply run away from monsters. You start at level 3, and although you can fight a lot, gain experience, level up, and have access to powerful spells, it is not required. I finished the game at level 4, and I found out that, strictly speaking, no leveling up was necessary - I used invisibility potions and rings in tough situations, ran away where I could, and finished the game with minimal damage done to my fellow creatures.

The Bad
Like its two predecessors, Ultima VI is extremely demanding. You can spend months just wandering around aimlessly through the huge game world, unable to find the right clues and getting stuck at every corner. Ultima VI is not difficult combat-wise, and is also more user-friendly than the previous Ultimas, which makes it overall easier than its predecessor, but the abundance of items to find, people to talk to, secret areas to explore, and quests to complete is enough to confuse even an experienced player.

My biggest problem with this game is the way it is structured. Truth has to be told: following the main quest - which is the only way to complete the game - is a rather tedious affair. They have gone too far with the amount of small tasks you have to complete in order to finally advance the story line. The biggest portion of the game basically consists of traveling from place to place and performing menial tasks for stupid town inhabitants. Some of those quests are interesting, but overall, the story is not very focused, and all you are left with are annoying errands that seem to have no end. You can skip some of them, but in order to do that, you have to consult a walkthrough. Otherwise, there are no clues available, so everything must be done through wandering and talking. The main story is pushed backwards and becomes a mere background for the small tasks you are forced to perform.

The Bottom Line
Ultima VI is a ground-breaking game, with more layers of interactivity and more believable world than ever before. Together with its predecessor, it was way ahead of its time and defined the high principles of Western role-playing long before other RPGs dared to compete with it in content and depth of gameplay.

The Good
This was my first Ultima game I've played and probably the first true RPG game with a 3rd person perspective. Ultima VI is one of those games that really embedded a significant influence on me that I will always regard as "the good ol' days".

A very user friendly game for those who have never played RPG games or the Ultima series before. It has a very good if not great story line. Ultima VI and probably other Ultima games kind of bring a sort of virtual reality where a kid and his computer game always wanted to be a hero of some sort...to actually be a hero in all those games he's been playing. The intro portrayed that fantasy, you in front of your computer being summoned out of know where suddenly being recognized as an Avatar - which means in Hindu Mythology the embodiment of a God in human form.

You really don't have to know much about the previous Ultima games to play this game. The story plot kinda gives the story where its been a hundred more years since your last return, so your practically a myth (everyone in Britannia are immortals in the sense that they don't die of old age) so some character from the previous Ultima games may recognize you.

The flexibility of the adventure gives you time to explore to your own leisure. This game has numerous puzzles, most have nothing to do with the story line to finish the game, but those were probably the best ones. Despite that the walkthrough is actually provided in the manual, it still doesn't stop you from playing the game if not only thrills you more. It's probably because everyone hates being stuck while playing a game. They trusted you enough to give you a detailed walkthrough of the game, considering that there's a lot of things you can do aside from the main plot.

The motto of Origin Systems is "We create worlds". That's one company I know that lived up if not more to that concept. The world of Britannia is astounding. It's not just background graphics when you walk around. You can explore (by foot) the whole damn continent. Every once in a while you find a cave or abandoned house with magical items and stuff which make exploring a top priority. Even great modern RPG's like Arcanum or Baldur's Gate doesn't come close to the freedom of game play. They're too much stuck with the main plot. In Ultima VI, the main plot is just a mini quest. It doesn't introduce you to a new story line that changes the whole story like modern day RPG's, Ultima VI totally depends on your discreation. When and where is totally up to you. There's no such thing as a wrong move or action that destroys the chances of a perfect ending. That reasurrance has a very nice feel of security.

One of the greatest features that made Ultima VI a game to remember is item management. I have never seen a game before that had the total freedom to manipulate items with so much freedom. Almost every item available can be used even though some are useless, like chairs. You can either sit or move them, but at least you can manipulate them, they're not just an immovable object in most games. The fun part of this feature is the puzzle solving that has to do with objects. The developers did they're best to try to hide secret doors by putting objects in front of them to hide. Everytime you see a room but see know door, your compelled to find out where the entrance is...moving objects around, practically re-arranging everything to find that one secret door.

The plot has one of the best moral embedded stories I've ever seen. It's about the evil of human ignorance and prejudice. Which is portrayed by the fear of the local populace towards the "demon-looking" gargoyles portrayed as the evil of the land. Even one of the best RPG games I've played: Final Fantasy VIII lacks the "moral story", as it's more into romantice scenes.

I don't know how the developers did it, if there was one game that taught a child about everything to be a Paladin or champion of goodness. This game would be it. This game babysits kids better than most humans I know.

The Bad
Besides the occasional "bugs", there were some puzzles that I haven't solved, which was kinda annoying - and was not in the manual (the prophecy). The manual doesn't provide the non-story puzzles. Other than that, it was pretty much...perfect!

The Bottom Line
If you want to know the Ultima series better, this is a great place to start! Say hello to Sherry the mouse for me, I'm gonna miss her!

This review is dedicated to Shamino, Iolo and Dupre. The best companions from UItima an RPG fan could ever wish for.

Thou art the Avatar. Thou shall triumph and good shall prevail!

The Good
AAAhhh.... my chance to review one of my favourite games. Foreword: I completed this (right when it came out, at the times of Amiga!), then I completed U7 and U7-SI ten years later, and then took a look on U4 and U5, which I liked a lot but didn't complete 'cause I already knew the story from U6 game and manual. Reading other players reviews, I realize that there seems to be a U4-U5 clan, opposite to a U7 clan, and not too many people care about U6. U4 fans say that U6 lacks of atmosphere, and U7 fans say that it lacks of graphics, items and so on. Well: in my opinion, this is a fantastic game, and maybe the one to recommend to anybody that has never played an Ultima game. I heard more than one say that the plot of U5 is more fascinating. Ok I cannot reply, since I didn't complete that game; but the story of U6 is really good, and it has something to teach: tolerance. You understand once more that what seems to be evil is often just a bit different, and may have a lot to teach and a lot to share with you. And I loved the fact that everything becomes clear just near the end of the game (despite what happens in U7, where everything is quite obvious since the early game - and this is the worst thing about U7). graphics shouldn't be too important while reviewing a game like this; anyway, I think that having the whole world map on a unique scale is a big conceptual step ahead from U4-U5, where the main map was only symbolic, and cities where just icons on it. It brings really a lot more fan to the exploration. Moreover, the true good thing to say about this game is: everything works well. You are brought into a damn real living world, with very accurate dialogues, and you get a lot of fun just walking around. The interface is perfect, I'd say - less friendly than U7 interface, but more realistic and useful. Ok I won't repeat myself , so if you wanna know why U7 is a step back from U6 for me, just read my U7 review. U4 is famous for its total-non-linearity. Ok, U6 has a story behind it, and it's more linear. But it's far from being totally linear (see U7): since the beginning, you can choose among various things to do (gathering informations about the book of prophecy, starting to follow the main plot, or seeking a way to cleanse the shrines, or knowing more about the gargoyles in battle). In each of the eight cities you have to find a rune of virtue, which is simple in certain cities and difficult in others. Anyway, these are 8 things you have to do and you can do them in any order. Proceeding with the game, you get to look for 8 different map pieces, having only a vague idea about their locations, and again you can find them in any order. I mean: ok the plot is somehow linear, but it splits in different non-linear tasks in more than one occasion.

The Bad
Everything is ok. maybe they could have put some more puzzles of the kind "use this item on that place", since there are only 2-3 of them (apart from using keys), and the rest of the tasks (pratically 99 percent) are exploration tasks.

The Bottom Line
You have the freedom of U7 without its silly plot and its stupid inaccuracies. You have the charme of U5 without playing an only symbolic exploration of Britannia. What more? As I said, the right compromise. And having played previous and next ultima games, now I understand why Ultima fans wouldn't rate this as the best of the series, since they are bond either to U4 or to U7. But there's no doubt: if you've never played Ultima and you want to play only one of the nine, you have to play this - definitely.

The Good
For starters, I liked the plot a great deal. The premise of "you messed this up, now you get to fix it" was one I had not seen before in a computer game, and not one I could easily provide another title for. The graphics were pretty decent for the time, and I liked the fact that you could pick your Avatar's face. I also noticed that it didn't matter whether or not you played as a man or woman, you'd have people hitting on you no matter what! At first, I was very annoyed with the fact that you seemed to be so poor for the first part of the game, and that you had to be so moral--you couldn't open other's possessions, take their gold, etc.--but I had no idea what Ultima or the Avatar was all about, so I didn't understand why it wasn't following the standard adventure game/RPG rule of "Take everything that's not nailed down!" After a while, though, since there are so many things that can be sold in this game--boots, armor, weapons--and the fact that you don't have to buy reagents because you can find them all somewhere in the game made the task of raising money so much easier! I stopped resenting the "enforced morality", and even enjoyed being able to act like a moral person and have my efforts rewarded. I also ended up feeling very sorry for the gargoyles. There are also some in-game cheats, but I took very little advantage of them--this game was a joy to play without them. I also liked the fact that everybody could feed themselves--as long as you had food. It seemed really idiotic to have people that couldn't feed themselves in Ultima 7, and it was even more annoying hearing them complain all the time. I loved the idea of being able to solo characters--you didn't have to have them leave, you could just leave them somewhere while your Avatar went off and did something dangerous. Being both mouse-driven and text-driven gave this Ultima more latitude in terms of what you asked people, but being simple and basic when needing to perform actions.

The Bad
Being new to the Ultima series, I didn't understand the rudeness of some of the characters. I remember specifically the leader in Yew. When I asked her for the word I needed for the shrine, her response was really rude--something along the lines of "You should remember this, you're the Avatar. What the heck is wrong with you?" and when she finally gave it to me, it seemed really begrudgingly. There were also some characters, like Julia, who got rude if you asked her to leave the party--so I stopped asking her to join! The interface was a bit hard to master, but once I got it, it was fine.

The Bottom Line
Somewhere between the older Ultimas and the newer ones, this game is both mouse-driven and text-driven. This one is not to be missed, for it has a complex plot and plenty of roaming area. I think this game showed off the Avatar's morality quite well. This game, which introduced me to the series, is the reason why I went back and played--or tried to play--some of the others. One of these days I'll get through the series, and this game is the reason why I'll be doing it!

The Good
First off, let me just say that any game where you can kill the annoying Jester and take his body into your inventory and dump him somewhere in the wilderness, is a cool game. Secondly, I loved the plot. It took me a while to get into it, because I was not only physically young when I first started playing this game, but I also was new to the concept of an RPG. After a while though, when I actually left Britannia and tried to do a bit of adventuring, I was engrossed into this game. The graphics were really good for the times, and so was the music. I still to this day find myself humming the tunes at times. I regret to say I haven't played much of this game for about 4 or 5 years, but I will always remember this game as being the one that got me hooked on RPGs. Oh, and by the way, I was sold when I found a gypsy camp, made whoopee with a gypsy woman there, and her concluding by saying "'Twas business doing pleasure with you." What a classic line!

The Bad
The combat and controls were a little tricky to master, but once I did, I found myself missing them in other games. Sometimes it was easy to wander and not accomplish anything, or step into a moongate and instantly be surrounded by daemons or worse. In any case, I can't say much badly about this title. I loved the game, and even now, I still remember it and love it.

The Bottom Line
If you can find it in a store, and you're into reliving gaming nostalgia, buy it. That's all I can say...buy it.

The Good
This was a good game, but a definite let down from Ultima V. For me, the good Ultimas began with IV and ended with VI. I to III are kinda interesting as historical footnotes while VII to IX are modern nightmares.

If you can't tell yet, I'm an Ultima fan (or was). Heck, I can read 'em runic symbols faster than you can say, "Abracadabra!" Beginning with IV, Ultima worked its magic on me. I really was made to feel like an avatar on a noble quest when I was playing IV and V. But while VI's sound and graphics were superior to V's on an absolute level, the combined effect did not draw me into the world of Britannia as much as V (or even IV). I don't know what happened from V to VI, but VI became just another RPG. Good, but not great.

The Bad
For the first time since Ultima IV, the charm of Ultima was broken.

The Bottom Line
Read my review for Ultima V, it's all there.

The Good
While the previous Ultimas may have been superior in one way or another, Ultima 6, the first to use a 256-color graphic interface, is easily the best of the “new” Ultimas. For its’ time, Ultima 6 was a breakthrough in combining gameplay and story. The really great thing about almost all of the Ultimas is the fact that while you are cast as a “good guy”, you don’t have to act that way. And you get to build and ride in a hot air balloon, which is quite possibly a first for any RPG game.

The Bad
Dated graphics, and the fact that this game zips along like a crack fiend on newer machines mars an otherwise excellent game. However, the speed issue can easily be fixed with a copy of MoSlo.

The Bottom Line
If you only play ONE Ultima game in your entire life, make it this one!