Overall 8.4 Graphics 4 Sound 7 Addictive 4 Story 6 Depth 6 Difficulty 6
5.5
Ultima: Exodus is a game about grind. endings
Ultima Exodus is like overcomplicating an RPG. You get over 10 classes of character with no data on what their differences are, you cannot just level up - you need a permit to be above level 5, and just raising your stats doesn't come naturally - you have to go to a weird place. The combat is very slow (because you start 50 feet away from all your enemies, forcing you to walk to each other for many turns), and you need a wide array of incomprable MacGuffins to compelte the quest (cards, marks, a silver horn, etc).Lets face it, this is a grindy game.
Graphics: 4
The character creating sprites are big, but crudely made. The combat sprites are small and only have 2 animations! This feels like some very crude age of gameplay here. One of the items you can pick up is a flower, which looks HUGE and is as big as one of your people. When you enter dungeons, its a first-person experience, and can be disorienting.
Sound: 7
The music is pretty good, honestly. At least they had that going for it.
Addictive: 4
Its fun for awhile, then you get to that crushing realism that you will probably never beat this game, and find out what the heck Exodus is.
Story: 6
So the first Ultima game was about an evil warrior, a Mordred type if you wanna go King Arthur. The second game was about his wicked apprentice, a wizard lady. Now this third game is about Exodus, their infernal creation.. a kid? No, its.. actually... their castle. Yes, you're fighting their castle this time. LOL. It doesn't make much sense but you'll understand it a little better if you make it to the end.
Depth: 6
There is a lot of heart put into this, with the classes, the choice in what stat to upgrade (only 4, but stil), and where to go, what to equip. Its kind of daunting if you're unfamiliar with RPGs. But honestly, the classes are unbalanced and some are useless (don't be a druid). The weapon selection is interestingly very small, and do yourself a favor, try to get ranged weapons. They make combat so much easier. You an even use a bow right next to a bad guy. LOL. The spell selection is classic Dungeons and Dragons, the cleric can even banish the undead with a free spell (and the wizard can get rid of orange little imp guys likewise), so for once, your low level magic users have an easier time starting out.
The part about leveling up your stats is probably the weirdest part of this game. You have to sail into a whirlpool,it takes you to a forgotten island, and of course its full of monsters. Its not a fun place.
One interesting thing about this game if you open treasure in a town, you can get caught and the guards come after you, watch out, they have high levels.
Difficulty: 6
Its not a hard game, its just the grind is so long. You will be annoyed at 'novel' ideas like the towns have a grocery store, where you must buy food, bc your heroes can starve to death and are voracious eaters. You are encouraged to talk to everyone but beware any strangely colored spaces on the ground, its poison or fire that burns you.
All in all, this is a game that paved the way for better ones. Ultima 4:Avatar is twice the game this is, and makes much more sense. What Exodus does well is get that old school RPG grindy feeling mixed with the complex dice rolling rules of tabletop RPG games. Its not a bad game, but adding a food bar to appease and torches for dungeons, a mark to even go past level 5, just makes this more work than it should be.
Graphics 4 Sound 7 Addictive 4 Story 6 Depth 6 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-15-23
Review Replies: 1
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