/lit/ - Literature

i wonder if ultima's time in general is just going to come again. and to keep this girardian - it was one of those aspects of U4, iirc, that the violence was there (and the combat was pretty neat) but that if an enemy was fleeing, you were supposed to let them flee...as this was how you acquired valor. would have made it tough to grind for gold and exp, if that was all there was to do...but the idea, of course, was to become the avatar, not an unstoppable killing machine. and of course the de-escalation of the human-gargoyle war is the whole deal of U6.
>just so we keep it girardian

i mean in terms of introductions to philosophy it's pretty hard to beat that. and even the shadowlords weren't boilerplate evil villains, just personifications of the perversion of the principles of truth, love and courage. it's why 5 is so good, the best in an excellent series of games. the ethics are not the virtues, and *holy moses* is that a subtle point to make. the ethics make for the laws, but the virtues make for the *kingdom.* and then some.

we see this with plato as well. plato the author of the Republic is not the same man that he is as the author of the Laws. and why would he be? he watches Socrates killed by the city they are driving themselves both out of their wits to try and understand philosophically. this understandably takes its toll on the man.

i could go on and on, of course, about how the world is set up from a design perspective to give you as the player something to do and a map to explore, but it's interesting to think also that, in terms of britannia's culture, the shrines are all out there to be visited, and aren't *withdrawn into the cities and fortified...*

how and why peterson gets so amped up about pinocchio i will never understand. ultima is a text and then some. it's a whole goddamn vision. i like and admire the man quite a lot. he has the world's most unenviable job and clearly thrives in the pocket. but ultima, yo. what's not to like?

>9. 9 is not to like
>fortunately 9 does not count

the gygaxian alignment system is a lovable, venerable and well-memed old beast, but the virtues were a whole other thing. kind of amazing that final fantasy is into its 342nd iteration and ultima barely saw the clinton administration.

but at least there's fallout and planescape.
>and then the yawning void