Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Pagan: Ultima VIII departs from the traditional turn-based RPG roots of the series, embracing a faster-paced action-adventure style. You guide the Avatar through sprawling environments, tackling agile platforming challenges and engaging in real-time combat. The melee system feels responsive, with a variety of stances and weapon types that reward timing and positioning over mere button-mashing.

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Magic plays a crucial role in traversal and combat, as you acquire spells to freeze enemies, create makeshift bridges, or even transform foes into harmless creatures. These abilities are woven into level design, offering multiple approaches to puzzles and hidden areas. Coupled with a light character-growth system—driven by attribute upgrades found in shrines—Pagan strikes a satisfying balance between skill and progression.

While exploration is a highlight, the game’s difficulty curve can spike unexpectedly when facing elemental guardians or platforming sequences over bottomless chasms. The control scheme, though largely intuitive, occasionally leads to misjudged jumps or unintended attacks. A bit of patience and willingness to master each area’s quirks will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the core gameplay loop.

Graphics

Visually, Pagan: Ultima VIII makes impressive use of its era’s 3D capabilities. The environments are richly detailed, from moss-covered ruins to flaming caverns, each rendered with distinctive color palettes and dynamic lighting. Textures remain crisp even when upscaled, preserving the game’s designed atmosphere on modern hardware.

Character models exhibit a surprising level of polish, complete with fluid animations for swinging swords, casting spells, and acrobatics. Facial expressions can feel a bit stiff during dialogue, but this minor drawback is offset by atmospheric camera angles and well-placed particle effects that bring each encounter to life.

Environmental effects—such as rippling water, flickering torches, and swirling sandstorms—add depth to each region of Pagan. Occasional frame-rate dips emerge in particularly crowded areas or during large spell animations, but overall performance remains stable. The world’s varied biomes ensure that no two zones feel alike, maintaining visual interest throughout your adventure.

Story

Pagan: Ultima VIII plunges the Avatar into a fractured archipelago, each island dedicated to one of the four primal elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. After a shipwreck, you must ally with or challenge the elemental guardians to restore balance to this hostile realm. Unlike earlier Ultima titles, the narrative unfolds through environmental storytelling and NPC encounters rather than moral dilemmas.

The game introduces a cast of memorable characters—rebellious airship pilots, water-worshipping seers, and earthbound warriors—each with sidequests that deepen the lore of Pagan. Dialogue options are limited but punchy, moving the plot forward swiftly. Key story beats tie into the world’s lore, offering insight into the elemental cults’ motivations and the overarching threat to Britannia itself.

Pacing is solid, with each elemental zone presenting unique challenges and story twists. While the main quest remains relatively linear, optional tasks reward exploration with lore entries, hidden relics, and new magic. This structure may feel restrictive to die-hard RPG fans used to branching narratives, but it streamlines the experience for those looking for a cohesive, action-oriented storyline.

Overall Experience

Pagan: Ultima VIII delivers a bold reinterpretation of the Ultima universe, blending action, exploration, and puzzle-solving into a cohesive package. The CD-ROM version includes both Pagan: Ultima VIII and the optional Pagan: Ultima VIII – Speech Pack, allowing players to enjoy voiced dialogue that heightens immersion without sacrificing the original’s responsiveness.

Audio design is a standout feature: the optional Speech Pack adds personality to NPCs and boss encounters, while the orchestral score underscores dramatic moments. Even without full voiceovers, ambient sounds—rustling leaves, crackling fire, distant thunder—create a vivid soundscape that complements the game’s visual flair.

For prospective buyers, Pagan: Ultima VIII offers a unique blend of platforming, combat, and elemental mystery. Although it diverges from the series’ RPG traditions, it succeeds as an action-adventure title with enough depth to keep you invested. Whether you’re a longtime Ultima fan curious about this tonal shift or an adventurer seeking a richly detailed world, Pagan stands as a compelling journey into a realm of fire, water, air, and earth.

Retro Replay Score

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