Lessons In Video Game History- The Ultima Saga, Part 4- Ultima V!

[NamerOfStars]

(Parts 1, 2, and 3: Lessons in Video Game History- The Ultima Saga, Part III- Ultima IV! Lessons In Video Game History: the Ultima Saga, Part One Lessons In Video Game History: The Ultima Saga, Part 2- Ultimas II and III ) So, Ultima I was the first one, II was the weird one, III was the one that started to get things together, and IV was the defining one. What about V? V was the refining one- taking what worked in IV, and building off it. Ultima V came out in 1988, a full three years after IV- much longer than the gap between previous games. Was the extra time worth it? Let's take a look:

Whichever one of us we are is in SERIOUS trouble, here.

So this game opens differently from the last one: we're at home on Earth, having returned from our adventure in Ultima IV, and kind of wondering whether it was all a dream. Then one night, a box suddenly appears in our room, containing the Ankh amulet that serves as the symbol of our Avatarhood, and we grab it and race out to the circle of stones where the portal formed. After some manipulation on our part, another one does, and we dive through it.

And into a heavy metal album cover.

...I guess the Ultima version of me has a much more security-minded fashion sense. Anyway, Shamino, a friend from the last game, shows up and claims to have magically summoned you:

Hey, why'd our helmet change?

but announces you need to leave before-

Oh, crap.

You manage to drive them off with the amulet (which can't be done in-game, for some reason), but Shamino's badly wounded; as you flee to help and safety, he fills you in: your discovery and exploration of the Abyss, where the Codex was located in the last game, set off a flurry of speculation among the people of Britannia. It was decided that the whole area should be raised to the surface, and doing so revealed a massive, continent-spanning Underworld, which Lord British himself, along with a team of knights, went to explore- and disappeared. His regent, Lord Blackthorn, took over and was doing okay for a while, but then the Shadowlords showed up.

Well THERE'S a crossover I didn't expect!

No, no, it's 1988; White Wolf doesn't exist yet. These are the hooded robe guys from the intro. It turns out that they sprang from the shards of Mondain's immortality gem, which we destroyed back in Ultima I (although apparently not thoroughly enough), and have made their way up to the surface somehow, and begun corrupting all they run across. If you visit a town while a Shadowlord is there, the people will either run from you, try to steal from you, or flat-out attack you on sight, depending on which Shadowlord it is. They also corrupted Lord Blackthorn, and now the virtue that rules each town has been twisted into a mockery of itself. Trinsic, the town of honor, has a poster put up by the entrance gates, saying "If thou dost lose thine own honor, thou shalt take thine own life." Well, that's kind of extreme, but we have 'death before dishonor' folks here on Earth, too. Minoc, the town of sacrifice, has one that says "Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income." Ouch- but we've got tax rates even higher here. Moonglow, the town of honesty, 's says "Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue." which... yeah, that's a bit much. Jhelom, the unpronounceable town of valor? "Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward." Okay, now you're just insane. And that's the MILDER HALF of the virtues.

But from those examples, it's not hard to see how the twisted version of each virtue helps the government keep the people down. It turns out that a resistance movement has sprung up against it, and we'll need to join them! (Actually, I've read that it IS possible to beat the game joining Blackthorn's side (referred to as "the Oppression" in an unusually direct way, but that runs rather counter to the whole "Avatar of virtue" thing). And here's where an interesting note comes in. Here is the Britannian runic alphabet:

As you can see, it's basically a slightly modified form of Old Futhark. When you get the password to be admitted into the headquarters of the Resistance (kind of funny that the AVATAR, of all people, would need it, but hey), you're told it's "Dawn". But I, still new to the alphabet, and receiving it in runic form, mistranslated it as "Damn", and when I gave that password to the guard, I was asked "With language like that, how did you ever become the Avatar?". Just an amusing little swear filter? Well, that's what I thought, but out of novelty, I decided to look up all the words that triggered it. Aside from the usual words you'd expect, and some you wouldn't ("fart"? Really, Ultima?) is the phrase "Electronic Arts". Yes. That's a SWEAR in Ultima V. This was due to Garriott's disgust with the company's overly businesslike approach to making games, and his more specific objections to their apparent plagiarism of Origin's Deathlord. And this was in 1988; the Electronic Arts of 1988 compared with the EA of 2022 is like Temujin compared with Genghis Khan. Considering, too, what EA would do to Origin specifically, it seems horribly prescient.

Ultima V has other neat features, like the fact that the moongates are now not in fixed locations, but above wherever the corresponding moonstone is buried; you can dig them up and move them. And unlike in Ultimas III and IV, you can attack on diagonals- in IV, only monsters could do that. Plus you get a magic carpet! Oh, and remember Smith, the talking horse? He was supposed to play a larger role in IV, but there was a bug in his dialogue, so he didn't have much to say. But in V, he finally says it:

Yeah. He gives you a hint on how to win the LAST game. This would be his defining trait for the rest of the series: giving you guidance on how to accomplish a task you've already accomplished.

Perhaps most importantly, Ultima V teaches a very unexpected lesson. What would you say is the most beautiful word in the English language? Well, you're wrong. The most beautiful word in the English language is "shipwright". No more spending real-time HOURS walking along the map waiting for a boat to spawn- you can just walk into a town and BUY one! Yes! Just like in Ultima I!

And with that, I'm going to draw this to a close. I have a LOT to say about Ultima VI, but I think I'm going to do these in more rigid chronological order, so tune in next time for part V: the spinoffs!