神秘古域 ADOM - Ancient Domains of Mystery p.194

在《创世纪 8》里，我想着重刻画人性的阴暗面。于是，主角来到守护者（The Guardian）的家乡——培真岛（Pagan）。与以往认知相悖，这个世界不是一个善良的国度，如果仍抱着“老好人”^[6] 的道德原则不放，自己只会寸步难行。

With Ultima VIII, I wanted to be even more severe with the sinister elements. That's where your character went off to the land of Pagan, which was the Guardian's home world. This world wasn't your standard, virtuous goodygoody-two-shoes setting, to the point where, if you tried to uphold the goody-goody-two-shoes life in the game, you couldn't get anywhere.

Richard Garriott,
《创世纪 8：异教徒》作者

Richard Garriott,
Ultima VIII: Pagan's producer

无论从哪方面来看，新加入的平台跳跃（Platforming sequences）机制^[7] 都令人头疼，再结合首发时糟糕的跳跃判定与操作机制，这一设计笨拙得足以让人崩溃。由此引发的轩然大波让 EA 不得不发布补丁^[8] ，重新修改跳跃机制，使其更易上手。

既然游戏存在上述种种问题、漏洞、迷之设定与开发困境，《创世纪 8》又有哪些可取之处呢？在我看来，游戏氛围塑造得极好。虽然游戏删改极多，但开发者仍打造出一个引人入胜的异域世界。无论走到哪，沉重的恐惧感和无法逃离的脆弱感都如影随形。在培真岛上，圣者是一名异乡人；游戏过程中，玩家觉得自己也是一名异乡人：或是因为周围的环境单调中透着份阴森；或是因为身边 NPC 生性残忍行事暴虐；就连圣者本人都让玩家倍感陌生。为了重返不列颠尼亚，圣者开始不择手段，并变本加厉，所犯下的暴行愈发让人不适。

The newly added platforming sequences are a chore by any metric, but the initial release of the game coupled them with absolutely horrific jump controls, clunky enough to be virtually broken. The initial uproar caused by these jump mechanics was so vehement that EA released a patch altering them into a significantly more manageable endeavour.

So – with all of these caveats, flaws, questionable design choices, and development woes, what worth does Ultima VIII offer? For one, the atmosphere holds up incredibly well. Despite the many cuts and revisions, the developers have still managed to craft a compelling, alien world, full of oppressive dread and an inescapable sense of vulnerability. The Avatar is a stranger in Pagan, and the player, too, is meant to feel like a stranger – alienated from the grim, featureless landscape, the vile NPCs, and even from the Avatar, who commits progressively more uncomfortable atrocities in his urge to return to Britannia.

官方原定推出两部衍生作，即原作的 CD-ROM 增强版和《失落之谷（The Lost Vale）》，但由于原作销量惨淡，计划只得中止。关于《失落之谷》，详见相关章节。

An expansion called The Lost Vale and a CDROM enhanced version were planned, but both were cancelled due to poor sales. Read more about The Lost Vale on page 508.

《创世纪 8》描摹活人献祭的血腥场面，展现召唤恶魔的仪式，时至今日，人们仍为此感到震惊与不适。尽管存在大量情节残缺、叙事漏洞及种种不连贯之处，本作仍将主题刻画地淋漓尽致：为了实现自己“正当的”目标，圣者彻底歪曲、颠覆自己的美德守则。^[9]

就结局而言，说得好听些，圣者获得“皮洛士式胜利”（Pyrrhic Victory）^[10] ；说得难听些，圣者败得彻头彻尾，他在多部系列前作里努力坚守、捍卫的道德原则在本作土崩瓦解。

《创世纪 8》是游戏界“欲速则不达”的典型案例，本有望一举成名，最终却惨淡收场，让人失望。不过，即便存在许多不足和失误，本作仍具有特殊的哲学意义，颠覆了《创世纪 4（Ultima IV）》天真的乐观主义：“谨记，哪怕为了顾全大局，也不能以牺牲美德为代价。”

Even today, Ultima VIII's depictions of bloody human sacrifice and demon summoning can still provoke shock and disgust. The narrative – though fraught with plot holes, dropped arcs and other inconsistencies – nevertheless communicates its main theme quite viscerally: that the Avatar, in pursuit of his own “just” ends, is systematically perverting and shattering his own code of virtues.

At the game's conclusion, it is clear that the Avatar's victory is Pyrrhic at best; and at worst, it is not a victory at all, but rather the final collapse of a moral code that the Avatar has spent many Ultima games striving to uphold and protect.

Ultima VIII is a very disappointing example of squandered potential. And yet, beneath all of its faults and missteps, there lies within it an important philosophical counterpoint to the naive optimism of Ultima IV: take care that you do not abandon your virtues, even in pursuit of the greater good.

__________

⁶ 译者注：原文“the goody-goody-two-shoes life”源于一本儿童书。一个小女孩出身贫寒，但常做好事，她常常穿着一只鞋到处走，后来一个绅士给了她一双新鞋，长大后，小女孩成为一名老师，并嫁给了一个有钱人。这则寓言的主旨是好人善有善报。此处形容一个人有道德、但迂腐，有嘲讽之意。
⁷ 译者注：Platforming sequences，即游戏地面存在高度差，如《刺客信条（Assassin's Creed）》的墙面，《超级玛丽》的水管等，玩家需要不断跳跃，才能到达目的地。
⁸ 译者注：改动前，玩家同时按下鼠标左右键，按圣者朝向位置跳跃，本作的等距视角大幅增加跳跃难度，这种反直觉的操作设定饱受玩家诟病。后续补丁将其修改为直接跳跃到鼠标所指方位，难度确实大幅下降，但毫无趣味性。
⁹ 译者注：为了回到故土，圣者要夺取 4 个恶魔的力量，自己创造月门回到不列颠尼亚。在此过程中，圣者要献祭活人。此外，恶魔也起到稳定培真岛元素平衡的作用，圣者杀死恶魔后，整个培真岛元素失衡，陷入一片混乱。最后圣者创造出的月门是黑色的。更讽刺的是，哪怕圣者不择手段，回乡时还是发现自己晚了一步——守护者已经征服了整片大陆。
¹⁰ 译者注：Pyrrhic Victory，指代价高昂的胜利。伊庇鲁斯国王皮洛士曾与罗马共和国作战，连续两次取得胜利。但由于皮洛士海外作战兵源得不到及时补充，而罗马人由于地利，战后都能迅速补充兵力，这就为后来皮洛士最终的失败埋下伏笔。后来，皮洛士式胜利成了惨胜的代名词。