Let's Play Ultima I #15: Confronting Mondain

Channel:

Kikoskia

Subscribers:

57,000

Published on April 17, 2018 9:00:02 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbrbJIbVZko

Game:

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (1981)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 15:41

6,212 views

282

The Stranger has proven himself to be as skilled at piloting a space fighter as he is at shooting with a blaster, earning the prestigious title of Space Ace from... Well, we're not quite sure who exactly has conferred him that title. Is there a Sosaria Society of Space Aces that assessed his performance out amongst the stars or is it a self-given title? Either way, all on Sosaria know of the Stranger's accomplishment, including the princesses that are locked in the various castles - I can only presume that they heard it from the guards guarding them. All we need do now is rescue one of them and they'll tell us where the time machine is. We have the gems needed for it and we're likely strong enough to confront the evil wizard behind the peril Sosaria is in, but can we actually defeat Mondain? What can one person do against such collosal power?

We could shoot him with zappy pew pews until he dies, I suppose. You know what they say: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Will it work? We'll find out, won't we?

I had very little idea of what to expect when I started Ultima I, save that whatever was there would be far more primitive mechanically than the later games in the series I'm more used to. While the game is a lot simpler in that regard, I'm happy to say that I found playing it an incredibly enjoyable. At the time it was originally released I can imagine this game causing quite a stir; a whole world to explore with dungeons, cities and quests along with an evil villain to stop at the end of it all. Looking at it today it's still a fun if short game to play and what it lacks in variety of things to do it makes up for in being good at what it does. The gameplay is simple but solid and the increase in difficulty is not too steep, allowing you leeway to learn how things work. The controls were easy enough to use when I had reference material for them on hand to consult, something I really recommend when playing this game. The dungeons are fun to explore if a little prone to getting lost within and the overworld has distinctive landmarks scattered about it. The graphics are fine enough as I could fully recognise what I was looking at and the sound effects, while sparse, were fit for purpose. I can't talk about the music because there was none. All in all, it was great to see the beginnings of what would become a long running and successful series of games, the first steps on the road to Britannia, the Avatar and all the adventures to come.

That's not to say there aren't things that weren't so good. Many of the landmasses were rather samey and the quests were nearly identical to one another save for their difficulty. A little variety in what you needed to do would've been good, no matter how small the difference; a quest to kill so many enemies on a particular floor would've made a nice chance to slaying just one foe, for example. A few NPC citizens walking around the cities would've given them a little life, as barring Iolo and the person in the tavern everyone in the cities was static. Likewise, a couple of non-hostile NPCs on the overworld would've made the place more believable, especially if the monsters tried to fight them also. As it was, the Stranger felt like the only active agent in a stationary world which detached me a little from the experience. I have no complaints about the space fighting part save that it was a little peculiar to see, for once I got used to how it worked I found it a welcome change to what I'd been doing before.

In conclusion, I'd say that Ultima I is worth having a look at if you want to see how the series began and can appreciate the simpler gameplay and graphics. For those that can't or don't wish to do that, I'd suggest starting with a later Ultima game - Ultima VI is the first game not to use the kind of engine seen in Ultima I - but I can safely say that I really loved playing this game and I'm sure other people would enjoy going back to experience the beginning of the series like I have.

So what's next? For a while I've had a pretty clear plan for what one of the next let's plays would be, but the other I was a little stumped on. Then as I was pondering this topic one afternoon, I came to the realisation that there's a series or two of games that I haven't yet completed for one reason or another. It might've been that I didn't own the game at the time of finishing the previous ones, that I hadn't heard great things about it and decided not to see if they were true or that I simply haven't gotten round to playing it yet. It's time to remedy that, for one series at least. For now however, I think it's time for the Stranger to relax a little; I imagine he's a little tired out after saving Sosaria from the evil plans of Mondain. The people of Sosaria may one day call upon the Stranger again to save them, but that time is not now.

See you next let's play!

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