Reply To: Final Thoughts
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I haven’t finished it yet (getting close to half way I think), but I’ve got a few thoughts nonetheless.
This game definitely still adheres to some older design principles where it was expected you wouldn’t beat the game on your first or even second playthrough. This is fine if you’re living in the early 90s with no internet and only a handful of games, especially if you’re a teenager with lots of free time. But as an adult in 2025 I only feel slightly bad about using a walkthrough. For anyone looking for a walkthrough, I’d recommend the one I’m using at sircaribus.com. It’s not a step-by-step guide, and doesn’t give away too many story points – it just has a list of things you need to do on each level in order to not soft-lock yourself.
I agree with the general sentiment on the controls – slightly janky, but shockingly good for the time. I actually sort of LIKE the jankiness – having navigation be so challenging just adds to the oppressive, dangerous atmosphere of the game.
The only thing I hate about the controls is there is no buffer between a click and a drag with your mouse in your inventory. The amount of times I have accidentally thrown my sword or wand away, or put it into a random bag, instead of readying it for combat, is truly maddening!
I’m also going to indulge in a very petty complaint and say I’m not a huge fan of the sprite graphics. All the monsters and character portraits just kind of look blobby and badly proportioned to me. I’m pretty sure they improve this in UWII though.
I’m really glad I’m finally playing this game now. It has literally been on my backlog for about 20 years. I bought a compilation CD with UW and UWII in the mid 2000s, but never considered myself “ready” for them. I’ve always been somehow intimidated, thinking it would require too much of a commitment or investment in time and mental effort. But it’s really a lot more approachable than I gave it credit for, apart from a few systemic annoyances that a lot of RPGs of the era suffer from.
Also, I strongly recommend reading the review by the CRPG addict here.
On that note, I think it would be great to get Chester Bolingbroke on the episode!
