Let's Play Ultima VIII #52: Becoming the Titan of Ether

Channel:

Kikoskia

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Published on February 21, 2018 9:00:01 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJkV5JqQfXw

Game:

Ultima VIII: Pagan (1994)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 30:02

6,526 views

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This video contains closed caption subtitles for the voice acting within the game. If you would like to see those please turn on close captions and subtitles in the video options (bottom right hand corner of the screen).

With two titans defeated, only Lithos and Stratos stand between the Avatar and being able to reform the blackrock obelisk that we'll be using to escape Pagan. All five pieces need to be infused with the power of a titan, though with the power of all four elemental titans we're still short one titan. That titan will be the Avatar himself, the newly ascendant titan of ether with strength enough to infuse a piece with his own incredible might. Only then will we be able to focus the blackrock obelisk into a moongate not unlike the Black Gate that the Guardian tried to use to invade Britannia, able to whisk the Avatar away from Pagan and to face the Guardian once and for all. Pagan will be a world without the magic of the titans but also without the threat of them destroying it, a land that in time will recover and forget the dark times the Avatar will have banished and all with only a select few knowing who he truly was.

But that's the future and we're not there yet. Lithos and Stratos need to be defeated and afterwards the Guardian. He must answer for his actions and be stopped once and for all. Perhaps with the power we have as the titan of ether we'll be able to face him on more equal terms, but what has the Guardian been up to while we've been imprisoned? Has he truly conquered Britannia? What remains of the beautiful land we've sought to protect and Earth, our home? Is the Avatar too late to save them?

I went into Ultima VIII intent on giving it a fair chance to impress me and despite its rough edges and parts where the story was spread thin, the game has impressed me with how good it is. The world of Pagan is dark, sinister and troubled and the game does a wonderful job of building it up, presenting interesting characters and a world teetering on the edge of oblivion. The story was also really good, the Avatar forced to destroy the fabric of the society he'd been thrown into so that he can fix it, putting his virtue to the test and seeing just what he was willing to do to get home, to stop the Guardian. The music does a fantastic job of adding to the atmosphere of gloom and darkness as do the aesthetics, wonderfully portraying a desolate rock where life somehow clings. That's not to say the game is without flaw, far from it; much was cut from the game, the combat is unwieldy and in general, Ultima VIII has bugs and gameplay issues which did detract a little from my enjoyment of the game. I could see where things had been omitted, avenues in the story that could not be taken and characters that weren't as fleshed out as they could've been.

I went into this game hopeful that it would surprise me but knowing in the back of my mind that it was deeply disliked for a reason. The patched version fixed a lot of things that I never had to experience that sounded highly frustrating but it couldn't fix everything, nor could it add what wasn't added due to time constraints. It's a game that never got to be what it was meant to be and some people can't look beyond that. Even with all that however I found that as I played it I found myself enjoying it more and more, tugged into the story and the world of Pagan and before I knew it, I found myself having a lot of fun. Yes, the game isn't what it could've been but if you're willing to look away from that and instead see what it is, you'll find that there's a lot to like. I never thought when I started let's playing this game that I'd say this at the end, but I really like Ultima VIII I encourage people who like the Ultima series to give this game a fair chance. I believe it deserves that much and who knows, maybe you'll find you enjoy it too. Ultima IX on the other hand...

Well, that's another story for another time, isn't it?

So what's next? I feel the Avatar needs some time to come to terms with what has happened while he's been away and after a long RPG, it's time to play something a little different. In fact, it's time to return to a game that I have some unfinished business with, a story that I've left incomplete. I don't like to leave things incomplete and so, it'll be time to embark on another epic adventure that, like the Avatar's own saga, transcends time itself.

See you next let's play!

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