Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress - Review / Retrospective

[@finntrovert]

The entire Ultima review series playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL6ySdS-taQCLCyXvRRoHCYgBDo2h8bUle

[@JustMe99999]

This was my first Ultima game as a kid, and the 3rd RPG I ever played (Temple of Apshai and Wizardry were my first two). I remember being attracted to the box art at ComputerLand and begged my dad to buy it. In the original version of the game, when you won, it would say "Report thy feat!" and if you did, you got a signed certificate from Lord British himself.

[@finntrovert]

One thing I appreciate, is how Richard Garriott still responds to people reporting their feat, albeit mostly on Twitter.

[@seandelaney8639]

Why the shuttle and not an airplane? probably because Garriot's father was an astronaut who flew to space!

[@Sanguivore]

Isn't Garriott himself also an astronaut?

[@marblemunkey]

Astronaut? Probably depends on your definition, but yes he has been to space.

[@Sanguivore]

@@marblemunkey What else makes someone an astronaut if not going to space?

[@seandelaney8639]

@@marblemunkey re: the Virgin Galactic launch a couple of days ago. "Virgin Galactic Unity soars to suborbital space with its 1st commercial passengers" the voiceover called the passengers "astronauts". I thought that at some point they stopped giving astro wings to space plane pilots..?

[@caseytwill]

@@Sanguivore He was a tourist... not a trained astronaut

[@SageofStars]

Very informative. This is one I never knew much about, but you explained it well, and actually laid out the steps in a much more logical order than the other videos I'd seen on this game, even including the maps to compare the various timeframes of the game to, which I'd been under the impression the 'Age of Legends' was Sasaria/Britannia, and had thought the dungeons did not exist in this one. Beyond that, a nice bit of linking between the games here, as you did connect it directly to the last one with the opening, while allowing the next one to be shown off. Good editing too, as you used the one shot of the 'vanilla' game to show off why you won't be using its visuals, but did so in a way to not cause your viewers much eyestrain, something I know others have problems with, lingering on a shot of the hard to look at graphics for some reason. Overall, an excellent second step.

[@ZagnutBar]

8:15 if you were playing the original Apple ][ version, you'd find the color palette is quite nice. The CGA conversion is a monstrosity.

[@finntrovert]

It would be interesting to try the original versions, but I've never even known someone who owns an Apple ][, nor do I have the funds to try and get one. The "joys" of living in the back end of nowhere. :P

[@ZagnutBar]

@@finntrovert Nearly the entire library of Apple ][ software is out there. WOZ files are considered to be of higher quality than the earlier DSK files you'll find, but I've had success with both. If you want to get into some early RPGs that are even older than Ultima, check out Dungeon Campaign and Wilderness Campaign by Robert C. Clardy. His magnum opus "Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure" was released about the same time as Ultima, but has elements that create a new campaign every time you play. Again, the pacing is very slow as the game was written in integer basic, but you can tweak the emulator settings to run faster. But be careful because if you set the game to run too fast, you'll miss critical messages and won't know what's happening.

[@eldraque4556]

The days of getting stuck in a game without the internet.

[@CastChaos]

It's amazing how few handholding the old games had and how probable it was to get stuck or die and need to start completely over, like, 100 times before starting to get the hang of them. Even in the early 90s, when I first started to play, I wouldn't ever have imagined that the vidogame industry grows so big and there will be miriads of games one could play quick one after other, with quest markers and other assurances to make the player finish quick and buy the next game.

[@Peremptor]

My first Ultima and really only one I played to any extent was Exodus on the NES... had a lot of fun with it though.

[@rogeneyusi1943]

I played this as a child and my brothers and we beat it. The clue to the quicksword was in the manual and if we didn't remember it mentioned there, we wouldn't have thought of getting it from Sentri when he mentioned about a quick blade. And you needed it to kill Minax.

[@exidy-yt]

If you really enjoy this type of retro RPG, I highly recommmend the C64 classic Questron, and it's 'true' sequel Legacy of the Ancients. (Questron II was made after LotA and apes many of it's storyline beats in a worse game engine)

[@finntrovert]

Thank you for the recommendation! I've been thinking about looking for more C64 games to play at some point, and seems like now I have one.

[@ZagnutBar]

I believe Garriott sued (or had some legal battles) with the creators of Questron because it is so obviously a copy of the style of the early Ultimas. I mean, it's a bit silly since Garriott essentially lifted Tolkien, Star Wars, Time Bandits and Doctor Who for his early games.

[@exidy-yt]

@@ZagnutBar There was definately some kind of beef, as Questron says on it's main options page that elements of the game are used....either with permission of or under license of Richard Garriott, I don't remember which, but Questron was a superior game to Ultimas 1 and 2 imo with the introduction of skill-based stat-up games, gambling and a more detailed story with the best final dungeon and ending reward sequence of pretty much any CRPG of it's era until it's own sequels, Legacy of the Ancients and Legend of Blacksilver.

[@eldraque4556]

Like yourself, I've always been imtrested in these games, now i can experience them without the ball ache and suitably dry narration, nice one

[@RaVirrTheTrader]

I've had these games for a while, but never gave them a fair shot. I think it's time to finally crack these bad boys back open.

[@actionvestadventure]

To this day, Ultima ][ is the only one i've yet to play. I donno, guess the plot never really grab me and i didn't care for the idea of stomping around various time eras on earth. But i never did notice that they totally Konami'd the cover... that is Mad Max... flipped... but with a laser gun heh.

[@Chaosherold]

I did enjoy this more serious/grounded presentation of yours more, compared to the review of the first Ultima game (which was enjoyable by itself, don't get me wrong). What is most amusing about Ultima II is that the thieves in the wilderness are not the only NPCs who are willing to steal stuff from the player character. :-D

[@finntrovert]

I appreciate it! Getting more comfortable with editing, and the style of videos I want to make. And indeed, the world is bleak. So many scamming asshats!

[@xtremetuberVII]

VODTIME!

[@joshuahensley9395]

2:36 Africa looks like a goofy dinosaur

[@eldraque4556]

an aircraft like a zeplin?

[@GKNomu]

10x better than your first. def see the difference in script

[@finntrovert]

@@GKNomu In the first one I was trying way too hard to make a KZbin video, instead of just trying to make a good video, which led to pointless and unfunny inserts just because I felt that "this is how a KZbin video should be, right?" I think keeping it has been a good reminder to myself about how I should NOT approach a project.

[@WoollyLuke]

Canada! lol 😂 - A Canadian