Linguistic Dragon has published a couple of new blog posts recently, chronicling the next steps in his ongoing journey through the Ultima series. The first, of course, is his final thoughts on Ultima 3:

I think it was in Ophidian Dragon’s Ultima blog where I came across the opinion that Exodus was a terrible name for a villain. And, well, yeah, I kinda agree. I mean, I can see it as some sort of “.exe-DOS” type pun or something, as a reference to Exodus’ computer-esque nature, but it’s just something of a strange thing to actually call your main villain.

As a name for the particular game, however, I find it somewhat fitting. An exodus, after all, is a departure, a leave-taking, and Ultima III is where the series departs from its goofier, sillier side (not that it’s not still present, as many ‘joke’ characters in the next game will prove), and starts moving toward a more serious nature. Now out of the transitional period of Ultima II, Ultima III begins to set the tone proper for how the rest of the series will progress from here. It’s a turning point, a mark that the series is ready to get down to business, move away from the jumbled mishmash that its predecessors were and start aiming to tell an honest to goodness story. And for that, I find “Exodus” a very appropriate name.

Overall, I enjoyed Ultima III a lot, and I’m glad I finally saw the game through in its entirety. There were a couple hurdles to get myself over, but once I got past them, I found the game a good time. In fact, as much as I love Ultima IV and am raring to give it another playthrough, I find myself somewhat disappointed that I have to shelve Ultima III for now – there’s so many other possibilities I could explore in the game! What are the other classes like? What would the game be like with an all-spellcaster party? A party with no spellcasters? There’s a lot of options the game allows you to take, and I feel like I only scratched the surface. But now that I know the game’s a lot more fun than I first gave it credit for, I’m sure I’ll be back again someday.

Of course, being Linguistic Dragon, he had much, much more to say than just what these two excerpts tell; do read the whole thing. His second post, meanwhile, are his initial thoughts on Ultima 4; I think he likes the game:

Every gamer has “that one game.” The game they return to time and time again, that’s been replayed more times than can be counted. The game they know the best, forwards and backwards and upside down and inside out. The game where every inch, every facet, every nuance is recognizable and familiar and understood completely. The game that can be breezed through in a single sitting, because the player knows every trick in the book – and a few that aren’t in the book, either. The one game that, regardless of whether they champion it as their favorite or not, is the one that, for whatever reason, the gamer knows most intimately.

For me, that game is Ultima IV.

It’s just this feeling I get. A sense if you will…an inkling.

Yeah:

I was first introduced to Ultima IV when I was about ten, by a cousin of mine. It was also my introduction to the Ultima series as a whole, which probably explains why it’s my favorite of the series, or at least goes a long way toward doing so. Not only was it my first Ultima, it was probably my first “true” computer game that I played. Up until this point, most of the games I played were edutainment – Carmen Sandiego, the Super Solvers games, and the like. I’d tried things like the Crystal Caves and Commander Keen games before, but never really got into them as much, mostly because my reflexes were bad and that just frustrated me as a kid. With Ultima IV’s more turn-based combat system, though, I could slow down and make my moves at my pace, which made it a lot easier to get into.

I remember spending weeks on the game, running around the game world frantically searching for clues, emailing my cousin back and forth for hints and tips about the game, getting all excited when something finally clicked in my elementary-school brain that allowed me to solve a puzzle. I remember the sense of accomplishment I felt when I made my way down to the bottom of the Stygian Abyss for the first time, the sense of awe I felt as I watched the symbol of the Codex form as I answered the game’s final questions. It was like nothing I’d ever seen in a game before, and I really felt a sense of progression, of development, of things actually happening in a game.

Even now, I return to Ultima IV often. On a long trip, sometimes I’ll fire it up on my computer to see just how far I can power through the game before I reach my stop. When I’ve had a bad day, I’ll load up my last save, run around, and pound monsters. When I write, I occasionally run my characters through the virtue quiz, just to wrap my head around what certain aspects of virtue they’re liable to hold more important than others. I crack jokes over losing an Eighth, which leaves most of the people I know eyeing me quizzically except for the rare few who blink in astonishment – because they know.

You should probably read the whole thing, as well.