I got this + expansion but I can't force myself to play

You're losing out on a great game with more depth than most modern RPGs, but it's understandable if you can't get into it. It's from a bygone era, so if you're spoiled by conveniences from more modern RPGs it'll be hard for you to get into it.

Play Ultima 4-6 instead. 7 misses a lot without them anyway.
You can also play the two Worlds of Ultima games.

>>3861902
What's the most accessible version of IV? The DOS version was too much for me. Heard good things about the Genesis version -- thoughts?

>>3861886
Well, I was born in late 90's so this game looks like some ancient relic
>>3861902
You mean that i'would not understand plot? As far as I know you're some kind of holy person and go on a quest given to you by king that for some reason every player in the world wants to kill

>>3861919
The SMS port is good. The main alternative is xu4 which adds various comfort functions to the computer versions.

>>3861929
You only really comprehend what it means to be the avatar by taking the quest for the avatar, otherwise you're just a replacement.
There are a lot of recurring elements and characters you mainly appreciate if you play from 4 onward.

>>3861978
Just reading manual for ultima 4
Why controls are so complicated? There are literally billions of commands. Also it implies lack of in-game journal

>>3862020
>Also it implies lack of in-game journal
It's from 1985. The journal that Savage Empire added in 90 was revolutionary. Even Black Gate didn't have one despite being made afterwards.

xu4 slimlines the commands quite a bit so you can get context-dependent and automatic actions.
The initial idea behind the commands was to use every key on the keyboard and over the years they started to simplify it. Ultima 1 distinguished between opening coffins and unlocking chests.

>>3861810
umm no. i couldn't get into those games. you need ingredients to cast spells. wth

>>3861810
isn't 5 better?

>>3862061
You don't need to do anything with the reagents, it just means there's a (small) cost for spellcasting. I think they were going for an idea where you were supposed to hunt down and gather reagents, but it was always much easier just to buy them.

What's wrong with that though? Lots of games have the concept.

>>3865045
Depends on what you like in a game. 5 is "rawer" for lack of a better term. Britannia is much less civilized, and traveling from town to town is far more dangerous. You do a lot more dungeon crawling and combat. You have to explore this lightless underworld, and you WILL come back with dead party members, even on a maxed out party with everyone using magic axes (by far the best weapon in the game).

But there's also a lot less interaction and character development. You don't really see much in the way of personality in NPCs, they're mostly "Ho hum I am here to give you THIS clue", or guys like Blackthorn himself who is there to be cartoonishly evil.

Personally, I preferred 7, but I can understand if you like 5 more.

>>3865217
>What's wrong with that though? Lots of games have the concept.

name one other non ultima game where i need to buy or gather ingredients/reagent type items to cast a spell. "mana potions" don't count. you learn and know a spell, you cast it if you have enough magical energy to expend and if the spell is applicable. not if i have enough herbs in my inventory.

I couldn't get into it because the perspective gives me a headache

>>3865252

Tabletop DnD, for starters. Pretty much any adventure game with spellcasting mechanics (Try KQ3 or 6). The Jeff Vogel Exile games had reagent necessities for certain spells, and practically any game where you have a ritualistic sort of magic, put the candle on the altar and light it but only after you bring the incense sort of thing common to horror games is essentially a reagent system.

>>3865252
>name one other non ultima game where i need to buy or gather ingredients/reagent type items to cast a spell

Quest of the Avatar. I'm not sure if that carried over into Ultima V or VI since I've yet to play those.

>>3865278
Quest of the Avatar is an ultima game, anon. U4 to be specific.

>>3865252
Secret of Evermore

>>3865252
FF5 chemist

>>3865252
- Final Fantasy VIII
But really, any game that has ammunition for ranged weapons is ingredients/reagent type items to throw an effect at a target

>>3865285
>Quest of the Avatar is an ultima game, anon.

Oh. I misread that. Specifically, I didn't see the "non" part.

>>3865252
Albion

>>3861810
If you don't like it you're not missing out on anything. You don't have to like everything that's considered a classic OP so don't force yourself into trying to like something just because a lot of other people do.

>>3865278
In Ultima 1 and 2 spells were single uses bought in a store.
3 had two schools with 16 spells each. Mana was the only restriction on what each character could cast but it was very severe at that with spells costing 0-75 SP out of a maximum of 99.
4 introduced ingredients that needed to be mixed beforehand
5 let you mix multiple spells at the same time (this was added to newer versions of Ultima 4). Spells were coded to runes as copy protection and to allow more than 26 spells.
6 removed the need to mix them beforehand, instead requiring you to carry a spellbook and purchase spells.
7 is identical to 6 in that regard.
Savage Empire had three offerings for three skulls to create magic effects.
8 went back to mixing spells beforehand for Necromancy, Thaumaturgy and Sorcery. Sorcery is particularly complicated since the ingredients needed to be placed in a pentagram with red and black candles. Theurgy on the other hand only needed a focus item to cast.
9 only needed ingredients to add a spell to your spellbook. After that you only needed mana.
Underworld 1 and 2 use rune magic where the runes you find determine what spells you can cast. Most spells are commonly known but a few have to be discovered.

The entire Ultima series is overrated shit and Garriott is a greedy jew who tried to sue every other RPG developer for the PC because he wrongly claimed to have invented the genre

>>3866903
If somebody invented a genre then it's definitely him.
The only cases I know where he intervened were Questron and Xanadu which blatantly ripped off Ultima.