It has been a while since we last heard from Paul Izod at Zero1Gaming, but he has finally found time to continue his ongoing series of Ultima retrospectives, this time taking a look at Ultima 7: The Black Gate. Which, he readily admits, is his favourite game in the series, and he praises it accordingly:

Right from the off, Ultima VII was a huge visual shift. The game had been moved to a new engine and it was immediately apparent. First and foremost, the game world took up the whole screen. Gone were the inventory, conversation and status areas of previous games. Nope, this time the game world took center-stage, with the character icons and the like being overlaid on top of the action. This might seem like basic thing today, but back then it was all new and a real game changer. Just being able to see much more of the game world really allowed the player to feel more immersed in the environment and the story. The Ultima games had always relied heavily in the suspension of disbelief in their players and Ultima VII took a huge forward step in this regard, really making it easier to engage with the world of Britannia.

The whole world was, as a result, expanded; feeling vast, populated and active. Admittedly most of that was smoke and mirrors, but it was expertly presented and really felt like a huge progression into futuristic technology back then. Indeed, the mere fact that the game was now entirely mouse-driven gave it a distinct separation from the old-guard of type and text adventure games. It was an entirely new beast and did its best to prove it. The inventory system was now completely different. Rather than the grid and slot system of old, the player just dragged items into backpacks and bags en-masse and ordered it themselves. This was completely new and felt much more realistic, even if the realism of cramming 101 items from carrots and swords to rings and coins into a single bag resulted in the equally realistic problems of actually finding the damn stuff later on. Seriously, this is the point at which inventory management began to really mean something; if you talk to any Ultima veteran each one will have tales of their own method for managing their labyrinthine inventory.

That says, he does single it out for criticism in some areas:

The story is, in its essence, fantastic. Easily up there with the narratives of IV & VI that I have previously waxed lyrical about, the story ebbs and flows, presenting complex social and political commentary while continuing to build to the ultimate climax at the end. The whole thing is presented as a kind of detective/investigative story, penetrating to the inner corruption of a religion that has become central to the inhabitants, while examining the true nature of faith and your own role as the Avatar in a changing world, as well as the impact of industrialisation on a developing environment. However, there is one slight issue with the narrative; the developers spoil it immediately on starting the game!

Rather than having the Guardian as an ambiguous figure that may or may not be on your side or presenting the fellowship as potentially being a benevolent organisation that genuinely care about the people, they had the Guardian go all out Bond villain immediately and remove 90% of the effect of the narrative from the get go. Hell, they even make Batlin, the leader of the Fellowship, come across and an all-out shifty villain from the start too. I cannot begin to describe how much of a missed opportunity this is. While the story is still engaging and excellent as it stands, if the mystery was kept about the Guardian and the Fellowship and the player was left to work out the link themselves this game would have been hands-down the best Ultima game there is, no questions. As it is, it still stands out as a stellar entry, but largely due to its all-round quality, rather than just its story. Narrative-wise, the undermining of its own story means that it probably occupies a tier below the False Prophet and Quest of the Avatar in the storyline stakes.

That’s probably enough in the way of excerpts; you should really click on through to read the rest. Paul has a very personal, very touching connection to the game that he details toward the end of the piece, and the piece as a whole is well worth the read.