Linguistic Dragon continues romping through Ultima 5:

…by the time I decided we’d all gained enough experience to move onward and make some progress, Aric had climbed his way to level seven, while Dupre and Jaana were just over the edge of level five. Shamino, Iolo and Johne all were holding strong at level four themselves, and some pit stops at Yew and Trinsic to sell off unnecessary equipment earned me enough cash to outfit everyone with a magic axe, a shield, and the best armor I could find for everyone – scale for Johne, chain mail for Jaana, and full plate for the rest of us.

And on that note, this seems like an ideal time to bring up the subject of loot gained during combat. No longer is it just a reward of gold – monsters now also occasionally leave behind equipment, and the tougher the enemy, the better it’s likely to be. I haven’t bought a single torch, gem, or key (save for skull keys, of course), subsisting entirely on what’s been left behind by enemies and what can be scrounged up in dungeons. Combat feels a bit more rewarding in this respect, especially with the hard fights – it’s satisfying to pummel a few dragons into submission and find myself a few In Mani Corp scrolls richer for it. With the addition of potions, scrolls, and magic rings into the mix as well, I feel like I’ve got a lot of options for dealing with the situations in front of me, though I’m not sure how many of them I’ll actually think to make use of. Just the fact that it is available is something, though.

And that’s just the beginning of the latest Ultima Journeys entry. At the outcome of the (lengthy!) tale, Linguistic Dragon was able to banish the Shadowlord of Falsehood, but not before taking a perilous and lengthy journey through the Underworld.

As usual, you should click on through and read the whole thing; Linguistic amped up the narrative element in this installment, and gives a suitably dramatic air to just about all the events chronicled therein.

This comment, made toward the end of the post, is worth highlighting, because it’s something that came up during the recording session for the next Spam Spam Spam Humbug episode:

I had a rip-roaring good time with this session. I’ve never been this far in Ultima V before, and man, have I been missing out. Charting out Lord British’s path in the Underworld and following in his footsteps, seeing the sign and the abandoned skiff and the graves – I don’t get that kind of feeling from many games even now. And people talk about those gaming moments that they’re somewhat sad they’ll never get to experience for the first time again… I think I can add ‘destroying a Shadowlord’ to my own. Even though I have two more to hunt down and defeat, I know what to expect now, and that shake of the screen just won’t hold the same effect now that I know it’s coming.

If that isn’t excellent game design, then it’s quite possible that nothing is.