Fox Reviews | Ultima VII: The Black Gate (2017)

Fox Reviews Ultima VII: The Black Gate -- again, this time in 2017 with a more in-depth and serious look at this amazing classic from 1992!
Link to my older review of U7: • Fox Classic Review | U...
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[@MatinAmerica]

Such an incredible game. I remember Iolo and Dupre as my favorite vid game characters ever. I played this for hours as a teen in the early 90’s. Thanks for the memory trip!

[@cesarebachelli]

I want this game to be remade. Would buy and replay in a heartbeat

[@daltonmorrison5193]

Y

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

@@cesarebachelli Very hard for a remake to happen with richard garriot not owning the IP anymore and EA doesn't seem to be interested at all ((and let's be honest, it's hard for EA not to screw it up if they decide to remake it, it's EA).

[@diarrhea_splatter]

When I first played this, I always called him LoLo 🤣

[@skuttduck]

If you cheat and get into the room with the dead alligator you will see it contains a clock. Since the Pirates name was hook, I believe this was a nod to Peter Pan.

[@everythingpony]

You can just walk in there

[@dougcarey2233]

So, the circle of stones with the sword on Valoria is the shrine of Valor. There are 8 shrines in the game. They've been there since u4.

[@helgrafdragon5095]

If you have a compass, bringing up the map will also reveal your position on the map.

[@eomat]

I love the fact that it doesn’t work indoors. Sextant that is.

[@kruxxme5372]

I first played this in 1997/8 when I was 15/16. Absolutely loved it; actually made me late for some of my exams (we can leave school at 16 in the UK). Thanks for the video - massive nostalgia trip, one of the few games that has stuck so long in my memory!

[@mrqmrq-cr2hq]

That quirky song you mentioned in the bee caves is called Flight of the Bumblebee. Also, Rule, Britannia! plays in the town fair area.

[@OojiJerrik]

The Fallen Virgin is the name of the Tavern... And the book is it's registry of Guests. Sorry had to say something.

[@LBCAndrew]

Notice how the Guardian is known as "The Destroyer of Worlds", while Origin's slogan is "We Create Worlds"? And the three blackrock items are the cube, sphere, and cone (Electronic Arts Logo) and that you're tracking down Elizabeth & Abraham (EA). It was quite clear that the developers were not happy with their new Masters (EA) who recently bought the company. There are countless additional, very clear hidden messages like that throughout the game.

[@GrimeUK777]

whats the meanings?

[@Will-xk4nm]

@@GrimeUK777 The Electronic Arts logo from the 80s and 90s featured a cube, sphere, and tetrahedron -- the same shapes of the Guardian's evil generators in U7.

[@dannysummers4591]

Origin had no choice but to merge with EA, the retailers were very harsh at the time and only sold games from successful companies

[@Will-xk4nm]

@Aunchient Pistol I wouldn't call them the main antagonists given that the Avatar only meets them for the final battle, but yes, they are another dig at EA. I think Ultima 6 was actually more savage, with the Pirates being named after EA executives.

[@JustMe99999]

U7 was released before EA aquired Origin. Garriott talks about having to explain these things to the EA folks in a video interview of him I just watched. U8 was the first Ultima under the EA banner (and it shows).

[@perfectblue8443]

One of the undisputed, most flawless masterpieces in video history

[@arcadion448]

The only thing that didn't make sense is that Elizabeth & Abraham are always resurrecting the Avatar (even if you have already killed them). They should've changed it to someone else.

[@Drunk_Metroid]

This was a nice surprise to see in my feed, an uncharacteristically big video. I enjoyed it a lot! Always like your long form content. The little oddities section at the end was also really neat. Wouldn't mind seeing you cover more milestone games from your childhood/classic PC games.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

I personally miss long-form content on KZbin. Nowadays, everyone is going toward short, shallow videos that are easy to make and generate lots of views. I'd rather watch a longer video on a niche topic.

[@Yoni123]

@@RealMarcFoxx subbed :)

[@gregoryberrycone]

the game looks much better without the texture smoothing in my opinion. pixel art should be sharp not blurry. also that song in the bee cave is "flight of the bumblebee"...

[@dickbison]

It was kinda "blurry" on CRT monitors, but it was a pretty subtle effect and these filters always fail to recreate it.

[@eomat]

Fully agree. Pixels added to the charm. This game ages like fine wine.

[@michaelnorrisisdabesteva]

The song that plays is Flight of the BumbleBee. Weirdly fitting😂

[@stimmymayhem3201]

i had to scroll down and make sure somebody posted this.

[@GeorgAnkar]

Yeah, by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov)

[@czarkowskipawelyt]

Yeah, this is such a shit review.

[@stephenthomas1492]

Wow! Freeing up memory just to run this game really brings back memories!! Heck, just to run part two, I had to disable my sound-blaster drivers to free up enough memory to play it that way. And can we talk about the included cloth map that came with the game? Games have come a long way, but have really went backwards in some areas. I miss the days of large boxes of supplemental material that fleshed out the game.

[@KayJay940]

Grandpa tell us again about Virtual Memory. 😂 Right....

[@marcellachine5718]

@@KayJay940 well son, you see there was the config.sys file, the auto exec.bat file, and so forth, sometimes you needed to fiddle with them for hours before the game would run acceptably on lesser powered systems.

[@moviebrainfart]

The Fellowship is not based on christianity, it's Scientology. Pretty much everything the fellowship says is straight out of scientology, and Batlin's portrait is based on L Ron Hubbard. But sure, what applies as criticism of scientology, is applicable to all organised religions really.

[@moviebrainfart]

freedom.lronhubbard.org/img/index2.jpg

[@GeorgAnkar]

Just like later it was with the Hubologists in Fallout 2)

[@sheezy2526]

Yeah, one is a "cult", the other is a "religion" when there is almost nothing different between them. It's like calling torture extra ordinary rendition, a euphemism.

[@rolinthor]

Extraordinary rendition is “kidnapping.” You’re thinking of “enhanced interrogation methods.”

[@DavidMiller-kv4we]

The best thing about the magic carpet? The fact that it has bucket seats. :D

[@facetronic9307]

Slight correction, the fellowship is actually based on the church of scientology, the design of batlin was heavily inspired in L. Ron Hubbard, it's founder. And most of of the fellowship schemes and tricks to gather new members are stuff the scientology do in real life

[@Frank_42]

Yes they were known for those tests that prove you need their system. No matter how you answer the questions it means there's something wrong with you that only they can fix.

[@aWookiee]

That song is titled Flight Of The Bumblebee so it was actually very appropriate.

[@blanchfor]

I’m trying to play right now on exult. It’s amazing how deep this game is for 1992. Hard learning curve but I still want to play.

[@phantommercenary8650]

Its been forever since I played U7, but the sword/alter is supposed to be the Shrine of Valor on the island with Jholem. No purpose of it except symbolic. The shrines had greater purpose in previous games.

[@RetroDeathReviews666]

Amazing video. Loved the last ultima VII video you made as well. Sad how there's little to no other reviews of it on here, such a masterpiece of a game.

[@argentorangeok6224]

I put so many hours into this and Serpent Isle. Some of my fondest video game nostalgia.

[@Frank_42]

I never realized before, but I'm sure the Guardian is Canadian with his flapping head and beady eyes.

[@itmademesignup9508]

"There's plenty of useless junk in this game.". Yup, Iolo. Also, the music in the bee cave is "Flight of the Bumblebee"

[@SMAXZO]

So...the Fallen Virgin isn't a book title...it's the name of the tavern! That's the tavern's register book!

[@fhuk8221]

I loved both the Ultima 7 games, so detailed - you could even use random farm tools as weapons which I thought was awesome, my favourite 90's rpg games of all time

[@ChrLOwens]

At 52:08 that is the Shrine of Valor, the sword being the symbol of valor. I don't think it plays any role in this game, except to be there from previous Ultima's.

[@ChrLOwens]

And in the next scene "The Fallen Virgin" is the name of the pub. This is a register of visitors to the pub.

[@ChrLOwens]

And in the following scene, that is in Hook's lair. The alligator is the gator from the Peter Pan stories that kills Hook. Inside the gator's body (which I think you can only access by cheating) is a clock, also referencing Peter Pan.

[@ChrLOwens]

And I can't believe I remember those things this many years later...

[@TheForeignCitizen]

My closest friend is a huge fan of the Ultima series. I watched this after he was talking about this game with me. So, while I'll never play it, I appreciate your in-depth commentary so that I can see why he loves these titles so much. (and yeah, I actually watched the whole video... it just took me a few days) :D

[@testowykana1763]

I saw your name and it was strangely familiar, then I realised, I watched your channel! :)

[@bengt-goranpersson5125]

Man, this brings me back. The aligator is an easter egg, if you hack your way through the wall it has a ticking clock inside of it.

[@eomat]

A titan of a game. A true masterpiece. Thank you to Exult allowing me to play this on the go on my iPad.

[@hobbyhuman]

The Fallen Virgin is the name of the pub, and the register is the names of the patrons who have attended that pub. The dead crocodile in the room on Buccaneer's Den is a Peter Pan reference. Recall, the pirate you are chasing is named "Hook" and in the Peter Pan story, his hand was removed by a large crocodile while holding his pocket watch (hence the ticking sound the crocodile makes in all the Peter Pan stories). It's been a long time since I've played, but I think if you cheat yourself into this room, the dead animal's corpse contains a clock.

[@JeffHanke]

You can also stack chests and crates on the magic carpet and they will come with you when you fly.

[@samsmythsenior811]

I did that when I played 30 years ago... I was like a flying Fort Knox for most of the game.

[@JustMe99999]

This and Witcher 3, in my opinion, are the two greatest RPGs of all time.

[@eomat]

The soundtrack is amazing. JD Harding remastered it too for listening on iPods and MP3 players.

[@rifz42]

I wish it could be remade with highrez graphics, new sound and maybe voice overs.

[@chernobyl2008]

Great review mr.Fox. I played this back in 1993 when I was a small shit. I didn't understand anything then (dad helped me get out of Trinsic), but now I do understand a lot. A wonderful game, one of the best. Doom, Zelda LTTP, and Ultima VII.

[@sppadde]

those shrines are the shrines of the virtues. You know the shrine with the baby on it? There's a subquest relating to it. "Lady Tory's son was kidnapped by harpies. After talking to her, go to the Shrine of Honor, kill the harpies and take little Ricky back to his mother. Afterwards, put him back into his crib."

[@RealMarcFoxx]

In all these countless hours playing the game, I've somehow never completed this side quest.

[@themidcentrist]

I got into computers and computer gaming in the early 1990s. I never got into Ultima, but by being around back then I can understand how amazing and cutting edge Ultima VII would have been at the time. The graphics are great for the time and the immersion and attention to detail is incredible. When it was released, it probably would have taken a 1 year old decently specced computer to play it well, and a 2 year old computer to play it at all. Hardware became obsolete so quickly back then it was insane. My current PC is 9 years old with a GTX 1060 video card, and only recently has it started to become unable to play new release AAA games but can still do anything non-gaming just fine.

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

If I had only one game to play, this would be it. I spent a lot of time on this when it first came out. Some great memories.

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

@Kenneth Cass I've only ever done 24 hour sessions with this and Eye of the Beholder. It was epic.

[@rpnct]

47:00 if I'm not mistaken the song playing is "flight of the bumblebee", so it's thematic

[@Meisterdieb]

The book @ 52:40 is the guest register of the Inn called "The Fallen Virgin". IIRC, most inns have one.

[@ivanscottw]

Oh boy - I had to get the Voodoo EMS to run !

[@andremc3064]

Shouldn't the fellowship be a parody of Scientology?

[@creationzikaz4836]

The song is called “flight of the bumble bee, you figure out the rest…”

[@blackflycanada4943]

This game was amazing, I found this video due to a review on steam, talking about Ultima Pegan and remembered about this. I still fondly remember the magic carpet, and the roulette wheel bug to get tons of money. Ahh good times, good times. Also the secret room at the start of the game in the chimney of the medic building.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

Which review? Did someone post a link to this video?

[@blackflycanada4943]

@@RealMarcFoxx No no, just a steam review of a totally different game. They mentioned Ultima Pegan and I remembered how awesome 7 was, and came to youtube, where I found your video. Cheers.

[@clg6750]

Use pouches to organize your inventory - all gold in one pouch, food in another, and another one for reagent. Also try using a dirty diaper on the dragon :-) The "random sword" among stones, is that the Shrine of Valor? The Fallen Virgin is the name of the inn, the register is the guest registry. The names in the book are just the guests that had signed into the inn.

[@Yoni123]

Good review. I did try to skip the more spoilery parts but I'll check the whole review when I've finished the game. Got it from GOG now

[@jadeosprey7908]

Just to say that the whole Ultima collection is now available on GOG. So it is not abandoned by the publisher, and it costs very little. :)

[@Mage_Chartreux]

What a good retrospective! Thanks.

[@BryanTangren]

so nostalgic, love it! great game, and great review. thanks for putting it together. in the bee cave, btw, they're playing Rimsky Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee"

[@miika2k]

Trivia, the classic song playing in the bee cave is flight of the bumblebee by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov, because of, you know.. 😄

[@coconutlust470]

my favorite part of this game is the cheat room you have to build a stair case out of boxes to reach on top of a house.

[@shaunw.7299]

Magic carpet really did act as a cheat travel-- i feel game would have been more appreciated without it considering the other 3 or 4 forms of travel: ship(purchase), horse carriage, portal and mark/recall. On par with Morrowubd by my count. Imagine if in Morrowind you could find a magic carpet just outside of Seyda Neen.

[@Will-xk4nm]

The Fallen Virgin is a pub and the register is the guest list of people who visited. Addom of Yew is the wanderer who sells you the crystal to fix the Orrey Viewer.

[@InvizManicorp]

One of the coolest Easter eggs of the game is when u find a spaceship from the game Wing Commander on a corn field ... lol

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

YES!

[@cesarebachelli]

I love the pirate on a computer. And the naked couple in the bee cave.

[@ruadeil_zabelin]

I think that earpiercing sound would've sounded a lot more "rounded" and smooth on real hardware. Soundcards back then weren't so high fedility and a lot of the high end would just get filtered out in an attempt to hide the huge amount of noise that came out of the original soundblasters. I'd love to hear what it sounds like on real hardware to compare.

[@xebatansis]

I love Ultima 7 and both Underworld games. To me, these are perfect summer games.

[@pdjinne65]

The best and OG openworld game.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

If you try to cross the mainland non-stop today, it's actually a rather small world, but at the time it did a great job making you think it was a hugely immense world dense with content.

[@pdjinne65]

@@RealMarcFoxx Yeah but every object in-game had a name, you could pick it up, stack items, etc etc. Never seen that in a game before. And on a slow x486 in DOS, it seemed all pretty big :) I have so many good memories from this game.

[@kaarlepatomaki1675]

Watching this review in 2021, and thinking: "Oh wow, this game is already almost 20 years old! No, wait..."

[@Isoquant]

Solid overview of one of the great CRPGs of history, despite some head scratching comments toward the end of the video. Seems the reviewer missed some obvious references and callbacks, but no matter. The video does a wonderful job of highlighting the best (and worst) parts of this early 90s masterpiece.

[@mercster]

Ultima 6 was an open world RPG that had context sensitive music and was mouse driven. NPCs had schedules (so did Ultima 5, for that matter.) It had a full and detailed world.

Thanks for review. Regarding "Sound Blaster vs. Roland". I believe the Roland (MT-32) SFX are better quality (custom patches based on MT-32's LA-synthesis) than the Sound Blaster/AdLib ones (FM-synthesis). At least in the original version DOS version and a real MT-32. Exult may have dropped support for MT-32 SFX via MIDI and/or the MT-32 SFX digital audio has an issue?

[@Wolfsheim23]

BTW Divinity: Oringinal Sin 1 and 2 were both heavily influenced by Ultima, mainly Ultima VII. It's currently the best RPG in existence I think. 2 much more than 1 which had a really bad story but still great great gameplay. 2 solved all those issues and implemented far more ideas still.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

I've played 57 hours of D:OS2, but for some reason fell out of playing it. I think I spent too much time searching every crevice and container and tired myself out, but I could return to it in the near future.

[@fucheduck]

Shroud of the Avatar is incredibly boring by comparison, I regret pledging anything to kickstarter though these days. You cannot make a game even close to as good as Ultima VII and Serpend Isle in style. By today's standards game makers are "forced" to do things that water stuff down! SoA, a perfect example of this, is not the "spiritual successor" as it has no spirit. I wish Himalaya Studios had made the Ultima series spiritual successor though. They redid King's Quest and Ques For Glory II and have a new game called "Mage's Initiation" that will come out soon. They seem to make gamers feel like they are playing King's Quest and Quest For Glory with their new games(both remakes and new original titles). which DO kindle that sprint. As for Ultima, even though Richard Garriot WAS the original creator, he obviously has less influence here, I suppose someone out there has the knack for this, there just isn't anyone yet doing a spiritual successor to Ultima VII. His new game is more a social media hub than a game.

[@frankb5728]

also those generators you have to destroy are the shapes of the EA logo, the old cube, sphere, triangle one.

[@Pooglian]

After his comment about Elizabeth & Abraham, I was looking for this comment. Weren't those part of the Forge of Virtue expansion?

[@saltysenpai4010]

I basically skipped the E and A quest line....But I DID follow the Captain Hook quest line - which is where the crocodile/alligator in the sealed room is from - The croc ate hooks hand, but it seems in the Britannia universe, he killed it, and kept it!

[@Doskias26]

You mentioned Legends of Kesmai.....it was my first MORPG and still favorite to this day. You should check out the recreation Lands of Kesmai. It added the AG lands from IoK for the first time in graphical form.

[@zacharysmith6062]

so uhh i found a ultimate vii part 2 disk half burried in dirt in a abandoned yard its very dirty and i need to know csn you clean floppy disks without damaging them.

[@Yoni123]

4:20 how do I open that menu? It's not on Esc. GOG version. Is this only on Exault?

[@RealMarcFoxx]

Probably. Most of the settings that you see while I play are Exult only. If you want the most authentic gameplay, play the DOS version from GOG. If you want more convenience and better adaption to modern systems, play using Exult. Exult can use the files from GOG.

[@Lazarus52980]

I loved this game when I was a kid, but my copy had a bug or glitch or whatnot that when I finished making the... cobalt helmets? The things needed to approach the black gate, the game would just crash. I tried multiple times and with new games and it always crashed there. I never did beat it. :(

[@RealMarcFoxx]

It's worth going back to!

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

My whim was to give Spark the Hoe of Destruction and train him up as a tank.

[@kkett100]

I think some of the sound glitches like overlap and getting louder than they should be are issues with modern sound drivers and possibly the exult engine handling of it. I have an old DOS PC that I use to play Ultima games and that does not occur. Other things that I have found that Exult doesn't handle well is companions getting offended or even becoming hostile at the actions of the avatar and strangely cloud shadows which in exult sometime all converge in one giant black blot on the ground.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

Unfortunately, I've always had the problem of certain sound effects being way too loud. In fact, this is even an issue in the SNES version of the game, which was a ground-up remake of the game!

[@josephgilliand4]

"the fallen virgin" is the name of the hotel, and that register shows the names of guests who have stayed there.

[@waterbottle4782]

Not just naming the murderers EA but the sphere, pyramid, and cube that you enter are also ea symbols used in the 90s....

[@mystick93]

What switch games would an Ultima 7 fan probably like? So many titles to choose from.

[@anaximander66]

Coming from the pen and paper roll playing world there was never a great solution to limits on spells. Well, at least, they all seems inorganic and relied heavily on narrative. I liked reagents because they gave a natural limitation to magic to keep it in check. I don't think this contradicts your point, just a different perspective.

[@GatorMilk]

There is also a Savage Empire port in Exult, so you can kill some dinos.

[@analogmoz]

Dew-pray (explained in U6,) and Yo-lo. But these are not easy terms to know. But, seriously, great video.

[@tbone5757]

I ran into a glitch where the fellowship song would repeat indefinitely.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

Didn't we all...

[@theguardian8317]

Those terrible SFX are because of the audio emulation in exult. In a real sound blaster or similar they don't sound like that and although the volume thing does happen I don't remember it being that bad. For inventory management you should assign each party member a function. For instance one carries only food, another only potions, etc. Also what I used to do is store stuff I wasn't using in containers on someone's house or on a ship's hold. Since stuff doesn't disappear (afaik) or gets stolen you can leave it anywhere and just note the coordinates. Although if you hoard lots of items is not recommended to have them in the same place in the game world as it may break the game because of the engine limitations even if they are in containers (I don't know if exult has this problem though).

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

The Guardian "Those terrible SFX are because of the audio emulation in exult." No, that's how the game originally sounded on a soundblaster card. I played it that way when it first came out.

[@KingTut14]

this was the greatest game I ever played as a kid. unfortunately, I did not have a computer. the only time I could play it was when I was visiting my friend's house. so, I never ultimately played even a 1/10th of the game, let alone beating it. by the time I got my own PC, this was too old.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

It's still worth playing today! I replay it every so often, and enjoy it every time I do!

[@KingTut14]

I'm older, and have many responsibilities. I simply do not have the amount of time required to enjoy a long and time consuming RPG or MMORPG. Today, I would feel playing a game like Ultima would be like work outside of my already 9-5 work and studying in my free time as well. the only video games I can play are games that you can play for 30 mins, put down, and not play them again for weeks. otherwise, enjoying a game like Ultima I'd have to drop everything I'm doing in my free time and dedicate it to this game for the most part. that's the only way I'd be able to enjoy it. but I most likely wouldn't because I'm trying my best to enjoy this other video game called life...

[@RealMarcFoxx]

I'm married with a family, house, and full-time career. I use walkthroughs to help me get through these longer games in shorter time periods. It's not the ideal way to play, but it's better than not playing at all!

[@KingTut14]

Good for you. I'm single, with no wife, g/f, nor children or house. Trying to change that, and it takes a lot of hard work in order for me to self improve, gain confidence, and attract a mate. So yeah, I prefer to play an RPG called life and not in some pixelated environment, out of which I get virtually nothing.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

That's perfectly fine, although you are here watching this video and commenting, so I figured you'd be interested in playing it.

[@mbarker_lng]

This was a milestone game in the history of RPGs. It did have bugs, but the tech was new and the gameplay so rewarding, no one much cared. The Exult version fixes, I believe, one dire bug that can cause the game to be unwinnable. You could lose a key to a magically locked door that has a quest objective beyond it with no recourse in the original game. IIRC, It was a flaw in the system regarding hotel room keys where you rented a room (getting a one-time use key) and the game accidentally removed the wrong key upon opening the hotel room door. "Stones" has basically transcended the game. I've seen countless musicians cover it and theres even a piano score available. I loved this game, but have to admit the one flaw was the combat. It always felt like a jumbled mess and over so fast, things like strategy or using magic were out the window. Garriott is on record saying he was made adverse to the violence in RPGs and wanted to focus on story telling, and it shows. Finally, if you've read this far: In the town where you start, there is a building with a second floor but no way to access it. This is a 'designer's room' just like in Fallout with a full suite of magic items and such. You can get into it by stacking up crates to build a staircase and go through a window. Great for speed runs ;)

[@planescaped]

I grew up playing Baldurs Gate 1 as my entry to PC gaming. But I remember my older brother had 3 games before my time, Wasteland, Pool of Radiance, and Ultima 7 The Black Gate. Although I did play the crap out of the shareware version of Exile 2 The Crystal Skulls as a kid, and apparently that game was an Ultima knockoff. And I did play Ultima Online for a time, well, attempted to play UO.

[@kevinflanagan2543]

Stones is great, but I am glad you played Natassia's theme, too. I hated not being able to romance a dude, but her theme made it worthwhile for me. Thanks for doing this!

[@randomindividual9338]

Not only did you live, you played video games during that time.

[@JimboJones2022]

What emulator are you using to play this and what settings?

[@soylentgreenb]

It's a source port/engine rebuild type thing called exult.

[@SprocketWalker]

Very nice review! This game blew my mind when it came out.

[@telengardforever7783]

Ultima 7 brought my computer to it's knees when it first came out. I had to abandon that game as my 386DX couldn't handle it. Now I want to go back and give it another shot. I'm pretty sure my i7 8th gen can handle it -- even without my Geforce 1070ti graphics card. Or can it? Now I am worried!

[@Pooglian]

Actually, out of the box, no. :) The memory manager U7 used was very specific to either DOS or the 3/486 architecture of the time, and never played well with Windows 95 & up. That's why Exult is really the best way to play it these days. Or DOSBox. At least it's easier than the CGA Mega Man game I had. That game didn't install anything, but only booted directly from the floppy.

[@wetterschneider]

Is that palette swapping? I learned it as "color cycling".

[@Barnaclebeard]

"Forgotten relic from the past" No one who played it has forgot it.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

That's true, but how many people who didn't play it have even heard of it? Some games are so popular that those who've never played them still heard all about them. This isn't one of those, but should be!

[@continuingclockwise8926]

Great video! I wasn't playing PC games when this came out, but loved Ultima III, IV, and V. I tried playing VII a few years ago, but the inventory management (including food) made it unplayable to my 21st century sensibilities.

[@Nah_Bohdi]

Stones is a gem, I want to hear a live instrument version of it.

[@DrGreenfun]

I used to play this game and serpent isle. I would try to clean that nasty town build my own house out of cut logs and try to make my own castle from the wisp castle. I wish they would make this into a movie from Ultima 4 onwards

[@bitrage.]

My favorite of all time "Shadows of Darkness"

[@sarat6488]

52:59 it's a guest register for "The Fallen Virgin" Inn.

[@ZagnutBar]

0:50 Missed this by about 6 Ultima games :) I was born in 1974 and played all of the Ultimas (including Akalabeth) as they were released. The very first Ultima published for the Apple ][ in 1980 used full screen graphics and had an open world. So did Ultima II in 1982. Hell, if you really want to go back Akalabeth from 1979 had a full screen open world, though not one worth exploring much. On second though you might technically be correct since the early Apple Ultimas, like all hi-res adventures of the time, left 4 text-only rows at the bottom of the screen to show stats and command input (no mice or icons in those days!). So I guess technically you're right in that not *all* of the screen was used. But it sounds like what you're really thinking of is Ultimas III - VI which started the trend of putting the worldview in a smaller window so that you could see party stats at a glance.

[@Yoni123]

21:30 I think that's fine. It's sort of like how dice rolls decide character fates in role-playing games. Traversing terrain with fire could hurt someone

[@sheezy2526]

What's a paladin?

[@rolinthor]

Having started the series with 4, backtracking to 3, and then adding 5 and 6, I found 7 to be disappointing. I thought the story was off-brand for the series; the combat system was a mess (as you rightly point out); the fonts were annoying; and the click-based dialogue system was a step down from the typed commands the series (and many RPGs of the time) was known for. It was just too arcade-like overall. I much preferred 6 (aside from the small world window).

[@TheMaginor]

I don't have these sound problems when I run the original game engine in dosbox.

[@RealMarcFoxx]

I vividly recall these same sound issues running the game on original PC hardware in DOS when I first got the game.

[@TheMaginor]

Maybe it is hardware dependent.

[@PashaDefragzor]

The same backpack as in "Dark Fall" - a very good and very underrated mmorpg