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I've been playing computer games since I was 4 years old, and the first game I ever played just happened to be an RPG
- Ultima 7. At the time I thought it was rather boring, but it was not until recently that I have begun to feel appreciation
for such an open ended yet terrific piece of software. Along my life I have idolized the Computer RPG (CRPG from here on).
Since then, I have trudged through many an RPG, but I now turn my head towards the Golden Age of many forms of media - Video
& Computer Games, phenomenons such as The Transformers, and a nice time when a kid's life was incredibly simple. Then
there were also comic books. A time when all the well known super heroes - Superman, Spider-man, Batman, The Fantastic Four,
etc. relished and thrived after many years of fans collecting every issue possible.
Today's kids have been invaded by just about anything but this Golden collection of media. New cartoons are (no offense)
lackluster at best, and could never EVER replace the phenomena that were The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or The Transformers,
or even super hero shows. Similarily, today's computer game developers have also been replaced by a bunch of developers
who are largely in it for the money, and don't really care much for the people who are actually coming to the stores to buy
their product. Of course, not to be pessimistic, there are many gems out their today which would not at all be possible without
the technology available. Back then, games were text-based and didn't really give you a real sense of immersion, but a deep
sense of concentration. Now the ultimate quality of sound cards and 7.1 surround sound added to superior graphics quality
have given a sense of immersion. A really good example of this is Call of Duty. Although the First Person Shooter element
of it really takes away the depth of any kind of characters, the sense of immersion you get from full compatibility of the
Sound Blaster Audigy really gives you the sense that you are in the battle zone. Despite quite a few exceptions, the pizzazz
of the first DOS software in the early 80s could really mop up if it would go up against 21st century Software in a grudge
match. Think about it. You had the starts of all the good RPG series back then. The three major titans that lived into the
21st century were Ultima, Might & Magic, and Wizardry. My personal favourite was Ultima, but I haven't tried Might &
Magic and I have very limited experience with Wizardy. None the less, two of these series dwindled into nothingness as new
publishers or developers entered the scene. For Ultima, it began with its eigth entry, and with Might & Magic, its seventh.
My point is that the developers either changed the formula too much (Ultima 8 was more action based) or not at all (Might
& Magic VII was just a rehash with a new story). And yet the develpers didn't change things until it was too late or they
changed the systems in the game. For example, after M & M VII, 8 was the same, yet when they changed the 2D sprites to
3D polygons in the ninth entry, it wasn't even worth it because (no offense) the graphics, story and gameplay still stunk
up. Also, in Ultima 9, you ended up fighting the Guardian (the main enemy for the past few entries) sword to sword, yet he
was some supernatural being who far surpassed your power. This was not to mention the hideous bugs, and the pointless progression,
where you had to do the exact same thing 8 times if I'm not mistaken.
As I write this, Wizardy will be finishing (as far as I know) with the ninth game, and Ultima continues (sadly) into
the world of a costly massively multi-player online role-playing game, Ultima X. As far as most fans would consider, the series
ended after 7, even if there was a cliffhanger. Hopefully, Wizardry 9 will instill its fans with many hours of well crafted
role-playing, as much of us will desire for decades (and perhaps centuries) to come.
-Eniac_Brainiac
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