Ultima IV has got to be my favorite, probably because it was my first. I'm just now coming back to them after more than 20 years, and I have to say they are as good now as they were back then. What Origin accomplished in story and depth back then with a few megabytes of code is truly astounding. Games may be much prettier now, but I still find myself drawn to these classics.

(Master of Orion II and Sword of the Samurai are two others that are just as fun to play now as they were when they first came out.)

IV is my most memorable since I finished that on the C64 as a kid, but I think V is the better game. It's got one of the darkest atmospheres in an RPG that I can recall, very ominous. The combat was also improved, the dungeon room puzzles are even more interesting, the world is bigger, and people have much more to say.

I know a lot of people like VII, but I've had a lot of trouble getting into that one. It's got the small-viewport issue that VI has, I'm not a fan of the combat, and inventory management is a nightmare.

i'm persuaded by everyone so far - even Magnus.
actually i have only played the first few minutes or three of VI and VIII, and never touched 1 or 2 (or Akalabeth) or any underworld/worlds of... but i have strong nostalgia for all of the others, and now i own all but the first trilogy (which is with Akalabeth on a CD somewhere).

just finished IV for the first time in years and gearing up for a deluxe run of V, definitely my favorite mood-wise. (maybe i'll get around to the Dungeon Siege remake after i get around to the DA-Engine BG2...
and i'll definitely write a review when i'm done with VI
IV and V were during particularly formative years for me. i actually missed VI entirely, (i realized too late that VII vaguely spoils VI as far as 'gargoyle development'... skipped out on VIII because of reports. and honestly, as buggy as it was and as long as it takes me to finally finish anything, i adored Ascension... as a product of its time period.

from what i've seen so far, i'd pay a premium to have the moral intricacies of IV, the overhanging threat level of V, the party customization of III, the interface of IX (or Dungeon Siege, i suppose) and the conversational depth of VII...

A bit late to the party, but I'd say Ultima VII part 1. Part 2 I didn't really enjoy because it wasn't Britannia and that was the land that I fell in love with and invested much of my school days with.

Either near tie or equal second, Martian Dreams. It was just such a fantastic fantastical game, which has some of my favourite characters and puzzles in it, the likes of which are sorely lacking in many RPGs now days. Savage Empire had the whole cool Lost Valley thing, long before WoW did their own take, but the historical personages and Chsheket hold my heart.

... its funny that 22 years later I can still remember how to spell her name off the top of my head XD A sign of a well written, well rounded red head...? er. Character

That's interesting to hear.

I finished Ultima 1 through Ultima 4 back in the 1980s, and since I own the whole series now thanks to GoG, I've started in on 4 again. 4 is probably one of my favorite games from that era, and I find it holds up quite well. It's been very fun to replay it, at least. It's heartening to know the following games (the ones I missed back then) are also good, even though it's going to take me a long, long time to work my way through all of them.

It's nice to see a topic like this with no hostility, just discussion. Nice.

For me, Ultima V. It was the first Ultima game I ever played, and almost the very first computer game I played in my life. (The first was Ernie's Big Splash, but that's not important.) I have a lot of nostalgia for the game, obviously, but I still think the sheer depth and openness of the world are quite remarkable.

Second would be a tie between IV and VI. Both great games.

When it comes to naming a favourite I'm always torn between Utlma VII and Serpent Isle.

The feelings of familiarity and freedom of Ultima VII are something I love. I loved watching the way Britannia changed game to game from IV onwards while keeping the same basic geography - If I had to go from Britain to Yew I knew basically where I should go. Ultima VII remained the most immersive game I'd played until 10 years later when I played Morrowind.

The 'better' story of Serpent Isle and the alternate take on familiar history is also something I love. It really made me think about the negative consequences of 'good' actions (the forced integration of the virtue system into society) and how many people could feel alienated and have a totally different view of a major character.

I was very disappointed that I never experienced the full impact of Ultima VI's story. I hit spoilers by stupidly playing Ultima VII before finishing Ultima VI. I would have loved to have gradually worked out what was really going on in that game as I played.

Ultima VI was the RPG Nr.1 for me a very long time because of his good balance.

Martian Dreams was very interesting too but i couldn't get it as a german version
and at the time i played it...my english was very limited :)

Of the core games Ultima V is my favourite. A good mix of exploration, puzzles and combat.
But I enjoyed The Ultima 6 Project remake more than any of the vanilla games.
Of all the games with "Ultima" in the title, UItima Underworld is my favourite, though. It really blew me away when I first saw it, and was the number one reason I ditched my Amiga.

Wish I could get those dungeon siege mods to work.

Ultima III because it's the only one I ever played as a kid. I'm working on playing through them all now though!

I played 1 through 4 as a kid, and while I enjoyed the first three, IV is where things really start to get good.

4,5,6,underworld 1 and 2.

My favorites are the two Underworlds and, following that, VII.

I also like IX (I know! Shock! Horror!) quite a bit even though it completely destroys the canon/continuity of the Ultima series. Taken on it's own, I think it's quite a fine game with an interesting world.

I LOVED Ultima Underworld as a kid- it still holds its place as my favorite game of all time.

We had it on that creative game pack on our first computer in 94'. Totally blew me away.

I even bought a Roland Mt-32 just to experience it as god intended.

As for the others they all have a special place in my heart.

VII is amazing- we never could get it to work as kids because the creative booklet that came with it DIDN'T HAVE THE SOLUTIONS to start the game.

Savage empire is a great game. The environment is so unique and the atmosphere is something else.

I played through VIII after surgery last year- I actually enjoyed the hell out of it. I can see how it was a disaster at the time though- releasing unfinished games was not taken kindly back in the day. I almost wish they would have just continued on the path they were headed for the last ultima game. It wouldn't have been popular but it would have made sense at least.

IX I just can't get into yet. I cannot get over the sour feelings we had buying that game for Christmas in the huge dragon edition box and never getting it to work.