Ultima General

>>2793826
One and two are dodgy, kind of rpg shitposting. If you're into the history then give them a go. If you're just playing for fun no need.

Ultima III is where the series starts to buy into itself. It was my first crpg, it's a good game and I love it.

But the LORE of the franchise starts with IV so if you start there no points against you.

Don't play the vanilla IBM versions from gog. Get at least the graphic and music patches.
http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/category/ultima-patcher/
I would also recommend the fan remakes for the games that have them: xu4 for 4, nuvie for 6, exult for 7 and SI and Pentagram for 8

>>2794093
1 is a bit weird but it's short and simple so you don't need to invest much to complete it. Akalabeth is something you should mainly check out for the history
2 could have been cool but it really plays terribly and is so detached from the rest that it's easy to skip.
8 was rushed out and is only a shadow of what it was supposed to be. The gameplay is particularly grueling and you don't miss much by skipping out.
9 is a different matter. The gameplay is well done but the story is lackluster.
Serpent Isle can also be skipped if you don't like it.

>Do these games heavily favor certain builds?
There isn't a whole lot in terms of builds. Strength is the most useful attribute since it governs combat.
In 3 you're best combining Paladins, Larks, Clerics, Druids, Rangers and Sorcerors since thief classes are useless and fighters outclassed by those with casting. The races determine your maximum stats and those determine your spell points so the association is fairly obvious.

For 4 you only get to choose your own class via a personality test. I would recommend to just answer them with your honest opinion. Shepherds are the weakest and Paladins the strongest but you can make things up by finding companions.
For 5 and 6 you are best off transferring a character from 4. Best maximize your stats in 4 since it's easier there.
For UW 1 and 2 Strength is even more important since it determines the vital carrying capacity. Combat skills are king, magic skills are useful, the rest is trash.

>>2794460
>8 was rushed out and is only a shadow of what it was supposed to be. The gameplay is particularly grueling and you don't miss much by skipping out.

Patches to make 8 playable do exist, and 8 has a pretty unique storyline. If you don't mind that the Ultima series become much less of an RPG by the 7th game and deviate more into adventure game territory, you can probably somehow stomach the crap elements of VIII; some events are pretty epic.

>>2795249
The patches or Pentagram make the game a bit more bearable since you can make more precise jumps and don't have to go through a dozen hoops to reload your game when you drowned again but it's still annoying.
The plot was also heavily cut down to fit EA's tight schedule and there's no patch to fix that so far.
I expect that even Lost Vale wouldn't have changed much
Being an action adventure wouldn't have been so bad if the controls weren't so backward.

Any of the console ports worth anything? Heard a SMS version was good.

>>2797658

Ultima IV on the NES I think is the most approachable version since it holds your hand a bit, where as the computer versions dump you into the world and you have to figure your next step out through trial and error.

Also in the NES version, some things were cut that trim the fat of the game, largely you dont lose a fifth of valor for leaving the game, enemies never run so you can't lose honor in a fight, and you don't have to learn the Mantras to enter the shrines of virtue.

I find that to be a good starting point for new players getting into the series...especially if they played jRPGs mostly since it has the Dragon Quest visual style.

Never played the SMS version because I am an American, no one but Johnny Weirdo had Master Systems and that game was released in PAL territories only, anyway. Maybe I should try it. Fuck it, I have the Atari 8-bit version.

>>2797658
The SMS port of 4 is pretty great if you can live without first person dungeons and the inability to transfer your character to 5.

The Nintendo ports are often crap:
3 on the is alright, they changed a bit of stuff but it's still faithful beyond the lack of gender options.
4 is dumbed down and made more like Dragon Quest.
5 is barely playable since they tried to make the game play more like the computer versions of 6.
6 on the SNES is alright. Not the best option out there but not insulting either
7 is practically a different game and NoA's censorship hurt as well.
Savage Empire is simiar to the SNES port of 7 and only available in Japanese.

Additionally there's Underworld 1 on the PS1 which odd low polygon models in place of sprites but not that different otherwise. Also only in Japanese.

>>2793826
Why did you post that moeshit fanart for the OP picture?

>>2797952
That's the official Japanese Famicom boxart.
There was even a TV commercial that occasionally gets claimed as an anime version.

>>2797937
>Savage Empire is simiar to the SNES port of 7 and only available in Japanese
Too bad, the only console version with a great soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbEr2PVvjZQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2h5IYSbJ6I

>>2799295
nuvie may allow to implement that in the future.