被遗忘的国度：无限冒险 Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures p.191

创世纪 8：

Ultima VIII:

异教徒

Pagan

创世纪 8：异教徒（Ultima VIII: Pagan）是《创世纪（Ultima）》系列的第十三部^[1] 作品，争议性也最大。该作匆匆出炉，最终成品大幅缩水、情节惨遭删减，许多内容甚至有不了了之、虎头蛇尾之嫌。

至于那些有幸保存下来的内容，又显得生拼硬凑，很不协调。开发团队似乎将彼此冲突的创作理念一锅乱炖，却未能锤炼出一个令人满意的整体。一方面，游戏以马基雅维利式伦理（Machiavellian ethics）^[2] 为核心，塑造一个关于善恶抉择的故事，黑暗中带着些许病态；另一方面，游戏对跳跃机制和“超级马里奥”式的平台弹跳（Super Mario-esque platforming）设定存在一种莫名的执念，有些人因此嘲讽本作为“超级圣者兄弟”（Super Avatar Bros）^[3] 。前者沉重压抑，后者欢快跳脱，两者格格不入。

尽管存在开发问题多、统一性不强等问题，《创世纪 8》在《创世纪》系列里仍称得上是一部引人入胜、与众不同的作品——不详、陌生、善恶莫测，营造一种幽闭可怖的紧张氛围。倘若好好打磨，《创世纪 8》有望再现《创世纪 7（Ultima VII）》两部曲^[4] 的辉煌。

Ultima VIII: Pagan is overall the 13th game to bear the Ultima name, and it is one of the franchise’s most controversial entries. Rushed out, much of the game was scaled back, cut, or – at worst – left unfinished in the final product.

The material that remained in the game unscathed suffered from a strangely disjointed sense of direction, as if competing development ideologies had not yet been hammered into a cogent whole. A dark – at times even morbid – tale of Machiavellian ethics and moral expediency contrasted sharply with an inexplicable focus on jumping mechanics and Super Mario-esque platforming – leading some to derisively dub the game “Super Avatar Bros”.

Yet despite its monumental development woes and lack of overarching direction, Ultima VIII remains a compelling and distinct entry in the Ultima series foreboding, unfamiliar, viciously morally ambiguous, and possessed of a truly unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere. Had it been given the care it deserved, it may have proven a worthy successor even to the mighty Ultima VII duology.

* 得益于民间开源项目“五芒星”，《创世纪 8：异教徒》能在现代电脑上运行。

* Pentagram is a fan-made open-source program that enables Pagan to run on modern computers.

刚来到培真岛，圣者便目击了一场处决，奠定全作阴郁的基调。岛上的人对圣者一无所知，如果要处死圣者，没有人会手下留情。

You witness an execution as soon as you arrive, setting the grim tone of the game. No one knows about the Avatar here, and they won't hesitate to execute you.

然而，《创世纪 8》如今却钉在历史的耻辱柱上，警告后人，游戏行业的“商业性”^[5] 可能会让本该大放异彩的作品折戟沉沙。这是一次惨痛的教训，不幸的是，时至今日，人们仍有重蹈覆辙的可能。

《创世纪 8》的剧情与《创世纪 7：巨蛇岛（Ultima VII: Serpent Isle）》的结局无缝衔接。圣者（Avatar）落入守护者的魔爪中，走投无路。守护者是一个野心勃勃的邪神，一心征服圣者的故土——不列颠尼亚（Britannia）。鉴于圣者先前一次次捣毁自己的计划，出于报复，守护者将圣者放逐到“培真岛”——一座荒芜的黑暗之岛（岛名与游戏名同音）。圣者必须摸索出一条回乡之路，这是在与时间赛跑，因为在圣者寻路回乡的同时，守护者也将魔爪伸向了不列颠尼亚。

虽然在故事情节上，《创世纪 8》与《创世纪 7》两部曲一脉相承，但就玩法机制而言，两者迥然不同。哪怕与所有系列前作相比，《创世纪 8》也堪称另类。开发者弃用《创世纪 7》的斜顶视角（slant-overhead camera perspective），改用纯 3D 等距视角（pure 3D-isometric perspective）。迄今为止，《创世纪 8》是该系列第一部、也是唯一一部采用这一视角的游戏。圣者的战友们——即历代前作的同伴机制，也不复存在。圣者只能孤身一人，开启冒险之旅。

早期创世纪作品采用回合制战斗，并带有专门的战斗场景。后来《创世纪 7》的战斗大幅简化，改为流畅的即时战斗系统。到了《创世纪 8》，战斗的精简程度更进一步（也有人认为这是游戏的退步），与“砍杀式”（hack and slash）战斗无异。

与《创世纪 7》相比，魔法系统也有大幅调整。施法过程更复杂、吟唱时间也更长。可以说，本作将魔法系统边缘化，鼓励玩家进行白刃战。

Instead, it is an enduring testament to the way in which the “business” side of the gaming industry can cripple a promising project – a hard lesson, and unfortunately still a very relevant one today.

The narrative of Ultima VIII begins directly where Ultima VII: Serpent Isle ends. The Avatar finds himself helpless in the hands of the Guardian, an evil invading deity hell-bent on conquering the Avatar's adopted fatherland, Britannia. In order to punish the Avatar for continually meddling in his plans, the Guardian exiles him to the eponymous Pagan, a barren land of darkness. From there, the Avatar must search for a way to return to Britannia – all along in a desperate race against time, as the Guardian has already begun his grim conquest.

Though Ultima VIII's story functions as a direct continuation of the Ultima VII duology, the gameplay mechanics are substantially different from its two immediate predecessors – and even, to varying extents, from any of the previous games in the series. Gone is the slant-overhead camera perspective of Ultima VII Ultima VIII was the first, and is currently the only, game in the series to have a pure 3D-isometric perspective. The Avatar's “companions”, iconic party members present even in the earliest games, are missing for the first time – the Avatar must journey alone.

The turn-based, battle-scene combat of earlier Ultima games had already been simplified in Ultima VII into a more fluid, real-time action system; in Ultima VIII, that system was even further simplified – some would say devolved – into what is, for all intents and purposes, “hack and slash” combat.

The magic system was also overhauled from the one found in Ultima VII – spells now require a lot more effort and time to cast, arguably marginalising them in favour of weapon-based attacks.

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¹ 译者注：除了 8 部正传外（《创世纪 7》算两部），《创世纪》还有 4 部外传：《洪荒帝国（The Savage Empire）》、《创世纪冒险世界 2：火星梦（Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams）》、《美德符文（Runes of Virtue）》两部曲与《地下世界（Underworld）》两部曲。
² 译者注：马基雅维利伦理学抨击了传统的道德理念，强调人们为了实现结果正义，可以不择手段。关于善恶抉择，与《巫师 3：狂猎（The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt）》不同，游戏没有两难抉择等拷问人心的内容供玩家自行领悟，而是通过主线情节的推进，将“为了阻止邪恶，光明的圣者也会作恶；对于培真岛而言，所谓的圣者才是末日恶魔”等理念灌输给玩家。
³ 译者注：《超级马里奥兄弟（Super Mario Bros）》是一款横版过关游戏，由于《创世纪 8》大量关卡需要圣者（The Avatar，本作主角）跳跃，且跳跃手感差，操作反直觉，因此被玩家吐槽为“超级圣者兄弟”（Super Avatar Bros）。
⁴ 译者注：《创世纪 7》分为上下两部，分别是《创世纪 7：黑暗之门（Ultima VII: The Black Gate）》与《创世纪 7 下：巨蛇岛（Ultima VII – Part 2: Serpent Isle）》。
⁵ 译者注：为迎合 EA 的市场开发计划，Origins 将原定两年的开发周期压缩到三个月，影响游戏完成度；长期加班等恶性政策劝退骨干成员（如资深编剧 Raymend Benson），制作水准因此受到影响；为迎合市场对动作类游戏的追捧，《创世纪 8》试图转型，但由于开发时间紧张、项目管理力差等原因，不仅未能转型，还因此声名扫地。