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Ultima VII is one of my favourite video games of all time. I vividly remember playing it on my family's brand-new 486DX PC, and after making the leap from 16-bit consoles, the sheer scope of its world stunned me.
Here was a game that stacked gameplay mechanics on top of gameplay mechanics yet still managed to present a cohesive, believable world. You could pretty much wander in any direction and choose to ignore the main quest; I spent a large portion of my time making clothing or baking bread, simply because I could.
It's my firm belief that, despite the advance of technology, no RPG has quite reached the same dizzying heights as Ultima VII – and it seems that I'm far from alone in this viewpoint.
Peter Tieryas has just published a truly delightful feature over on Kotaku which digs into the creation of this legendary role-playing title. He speaks to the Ultima creator Richard Garriott, lead writer Raymond Benson (who also contributed one of the game's most famous songs) and writer Andrew Morris about the creation of the game, and I'm going to avoid lifting loads of quotes as you really need to read the entire thing.
However, as a long-time fan of the game, this comment from Morris really stuck out to me personally:
“U7 had a more robust conversation system than its predecessors had, and I was determined to let that help me breathe as much depth – as much life – into the population of Britannia as possible. The writing team put together a character bible, which helped us reduce redundancy in traits and roles, but also to foster development of backstories and personalities.”
I recall talking to every single character I came across in the game and almost getting lost in the multiple-choice dialogue trees each one possessed; the amount of text in this game is mind-boggling, but it's equally impressive how well-written it is, and how each chat seems to immerse the player deeper and deeper into what feels like a persistent world that would keep on existing even if you weren't there to witness it.
Thankfully, Ultima VII is one of those games that isn't lost in the mists of time – Exult has ensured that it remains playable on modern-day operating systems, as long as you have a legit copy of the game, that is. You can also buy it from GOG.