My favorite memory of this game is completing all of it, standing before the statue, when the Earth Serpent asks you to "Ssssslay me with the Serpent Sword!" ... uh... yeah, about that... I lost it. I somehow misplaced it and that was that. The universe was destroyed because I'm a messy.
It's so easy to do it in Ultima games, maybe because sometimes plot items often look like common junk. I discarded Batlin's first letter in U7 and the girl's sword in U7-2 a some points and needed to travel the world to recover them... only to find both at the center of a pavimented city, each.
Exactly the same thing happened to me. And my brother, too. As far as I know, it was one of the many bugs that were only patched later. Nevertheless, apart from that, it was the best gaming experience of my entire life. Ultima VII is an unforgettable game.
Ah man, such great memories of this game. Makes sense that it was rushed. After the wall of lights could have been like after Kefka in FF6. But instead it just felt a bit like an afterthought. Still an amazing game!
I have to give this one a honest effort to complete this one. I loved U7 growing up and I still think it's an amazing title. Serpent Isle always felt like they threw everything at the story, I like how a little more grounded U7 is compared to Serpent Isle.
I think I have the exact same feeling about this game as you, I loved it all until releasing the banes, then its just kind of mid after that. However the history of the Ophidians and all the voice acting (I remember buying a separate disk for that?) really made this game stand out to me back then.
The whole chasing after Batlin quest up to that point is the highlight of the game, honestly. Learning about the Ophidian system afterwards though, still worth playing past that point despite it not really comparing to the first half. I still love the game as a whole though, and always play to the end.
Hmm. The belief system or systems of chaos and order is a Eastern religion concept found in those religions and occultism. This reminds me of in one of the Western forms, Luciferianism; duality is a central part of it and funny how it echoes the "knowing both good and evil" whispered by the serpent to Eve. I know people like to say the Satanic Panic was a laugh, but if one actually knows occultism and it's symbolism, this really does teach those principles held by from what I'm aware, elitist figures in history and world.
My thoughts on why it took 18 months to find the enchanted scroll is due to them dismantling the fellowship as a whole. It had branches all over Britania including secret operations inside 4 dungeons. I'd think or at least hope that Batlin would not have just left that talking head scroll in a chest in his bedroom. Also having to deal with the being bound inside a giant Blackrock dome. Plus I believe the guardian wanted the Avatar to find the scroll. Because Serpent Isle was more a trap to lure the Avatar so that he could take him and place him in Pagan.
Thanks for the great review! I think I got The Black Gate as a christmas gift when I was a child. I played YEARS with it discovering the enormous open world - my mom allowed only one our of playing time, so I used it mostly for playing Ultima VII. I couln't play with Serpent Isle because the local PC game shop didn't sell it, and neither any of my friends had it. I just red a walkthrough about it so I wanted to play it badly, I only got the game after Ultima Collection was released on CD. The atmosphere of SI is great. Even better than BG in my opinion. It has a very special feel. However the ending of Serpent Isle didn't make much sense to me at the time. I'm glad you included a short summary about the Ophidian Virtues. I found out on the internet years later, that there was so much content cut from SI. I'm really sad about it. I wish some dedicated people would unite their creative forces and their Ultima VII enthusiasm, and recreated all the cut content with Exult.
You're welcome. Appreciate the comment. I find the atmosphere in Serpent Isle the best over Black Gate too, and Black Gate is still a great game. With Exult though, I can see them recreating all that cut content. At least there's SI Fixes for bugs and missing lines and such.
"I always thought he could be another Avatar, since I was the one who trained him." They the ideal headcanon is that he's protected Britannia while you're on your quest to the Serpent Isle.
Used to wonder if some of the people at Origin Systems were fans of American Gladiators, the blonde male Avatar's paperdoll head looks almost exactly like Malibu.
As soon as I got the notification this uploaded, I started the video. I've technically watched it three times now, but I keep falling asleep. I'll get it watched, pinky promise.
Plays the same as the Black Gate - I'd say 80-90% right, but SI had some decent upgrades in the engine and I've always put it over BG. That said - if you are playing in Exult (which I am 99.9% sure you are), then you get all the SI upgrades in BG and it's all great. I guess my point is (pushed glasses up on nose), play either or on Exult and it's perfect.
i just love how spoony express our emotions when certain "situations" appear in the game, like: the Avatar caught by the Guardian, and the Great Earth Serpent did nothing, Spoony added some dialouge which apologize to Avatar with the excuse of they are too busy on restoring the balance in Serpent Isle. Btw, you made a great video on reviewing the plot cut too!
Ultima 7 Serpent Isle was my first entry into Ultima series, back in 1994. I was incredibly blown away and immediately engrossed with the game for a month. Even skipping classes for it--I was a second year college boy at the time. I worked my way back to the previous games after completing SI.
@@VoidbrandGallery Nearly all of Origin System's games back then were WAY beyond their time, in terms of innovation and technology. From Ultima series to Crusader, Wing Commander series, System Shock, and Wings of Glory. Try the Crusader series (No Remorse and No Regret), if you haven't. Those two will also hook you up good, I'd guarantee!
I plan on uploading a Pagan playthrough to my other channel (link just in case): www.youtube.com/@VoidbrandGaming I'd like to do playthroughs of VII as well but they're pretty long games.
@@VoidbrandGallery Pleanty of good VII playthroughs on youtube, but yet to find one of VIII that I've been able to sit through! Excited to hear you're doing one!
I quite enjoyed this one, but admittedly it's not a particularly serious play through and focuses on playing the game as a terrible person ua-cam.com/video/5p74VLaWqCc/v-deo.htmlsi=278XfSQaqHAlzg0b
Your speech speed plus the softer tones and mic made it a bit hard to follow all your words. Try pacing out the whole sentence rather than hammering out the first half and then slowing up at at the end. Its totally fine for your video length to be an extra 10-15 minutes to compensate for this. Most of us like longer form videos anyway
Thanks. Been using the Samson Q2U for the past 6 months I've been doing this and this is a first for me. It might be your ears, speakers or headphones. If I see this regularly I'll think about changing it. As far as my speech goes I've been like that my whole life, it's not something I can change overnight. Regardless you can just turn on subtitles. I added them to every video before uploading just in case.
Bro, me and my dad also got stuck at the runes "Thou hast forgotten something". Never got past it as a kid, only MUCH later did I learn how to move past!!! Totally agree on the feel of EA's influence post Wall of Light.
The black avatar's portrait makes me lol. It just looks like some dude named Ron who works as a mechanic. It strikes me less as heroic and more "did you see the game last night?" Then again, a lot of NPC portraits in this game bear that quality. I am guessing they are based off of devs and people the devs knew.
It's a far cry from the black avatar in 6, definitely. Here he looks like he'd be at home in a '90s sitcom. And yeah they're based off real-life people. Like Kalen the pirate (didn't talk about him in this game I don't think) and the knight Brendann are based on the programmers in Serpent Isle. And Spektor is Warren Spector.
This Ophidian virtue system is just amazing with all these extremes and combinations, especially that they really get to be part of the plot and gameplay. I also liked Serpent Isle even more than Black Gate, the story was extreme exciting. Well, I always liked the Chaos/Order setting (hence my username), at least in those younger times of mine. But I always understood that the open world and millions of sidequests and hidden areas appealed to players more.
I love Serpent Isle a lot. Always play it right after The Black Gate. The Ophidian system is my favorite next to the Eight Virtues. I like how they work with each other, while the Eight Virtues conflict. It's a good system.
There's some very old games I'd like to talk about that I haven't played yet, like Eye of the Beholder and Ravenloft. For retrospectives, I really want to do Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, as the first game really cemented me as a PC gamer back then. Just want to do it justice so don't know when that's going to be.
SI is my all time favorite Ultima. One of the most influential games of my early childhood.
Same
This and ultima 7 was just sooooo good.
My favorite memory of this game is completing all of it, standing before the statue, when the Earth Serpent asks you to "Ssssslay me with the Serpent Sword!" ... uh... yeah, about that... I lost it. I somehow misplaced it and that was that. The universe was destroyed because I'm a messy.
Wow that's worse than losing the Serpent Ring. 💀
It's so easy to do it in Ultima games, maybe because sometimes plot items often look like common junk.
I discarded Batlin's first letter in U7 and the girl's sword in U7-2 a some points and needed to travel the world to recover them... only to find both at the center of a pavimented city, each.
@@VoidbrandGalleryat least spoony has shown that you don't necessarily need the serpent ring because of a glitch.
The sword tho? Yeah....
Exactly the same thing happened to me. And my brother, too. As far as I know, it was one of the many bugs that were only patched later. Nevertheless, apart from that, it was the best gaming experience of my entire life. Ultima VII is an unforgettable game.
Great stuff as always!
Ah man, such great memories of this game. Makes sense that it was rushed. After the wall of lights could have been like after Kefka in FF6. But instead it just felt a bit like an afterthought. Still an amazing game!
Would've loved to see the original Banes plot, maybe someone can mod it in somehow.
Ah, starts off with my favourite Ultima track.
I have to give this one a honest effort to complete this one. I loved U7 growing up and I still think it's an amazing title. Serpent Isle always felt like they threw everything at the story, I like how a little more grounded U7 is compared to Serpent Isle.
I think I have the exact same feeling about this game as you, I loved it all until releasing the banes, then its just kind of mid after that. However the history of the Ophidians and all the voice acting (I remember buying a separate disk for that?) really made this game stand out to me back then.
The whole chasing after Batlin quest up to that point is the highlight of the game, honestly. Learning about the Ophidian system afterwards though, still worth playing past that point despite it not really comparing to the first half. I still love the game as a whole though, and always play to the end.
Hmm. The belief system or systems of chaos and order is a Eastern religion concept found in those religions and occultism. This reminds me of in one of the Western forms, Luciferianism; duality is a central part of it and funny how it echoes the "knowing both good and evil" whispered by the serpent to Eve. I know people like to say the Satanic Panic was a laugh, but if one actually knows occultism and it's symbolism, this really does teach those principles held by from what I'm aware, elitist figures in history and world.
Serpent Isle is more deserving to be called Ultima 8 than pagan.
Even Pagan deserves better just as much as Serpent Isle
Pagan would have being better as 3rd Ultima Underworld game and should be passionately made in 3D.
It's tragic to see right when Ultima was hitting it's highest stride, it was set for such a long, painful fall
Indeed.
Just like a roller coaster. Then came ultima 8, then 9 and then irrelevancy
@@guilhermehank4938Ultima online really was the last breath of life from the franchise. May it rest in peace.
Going from this to Ultima Online was a fever dream for me. Probably the pinnacle of gaming excitement for me.
Thank you daddy Voidbrand
Hey really good channel, glad I found it! Would love to see some Wizardry 6/7/8 vids, I think you'd do a great job
Thanks man. Maybe one day I'll check them out. Never played them. 💀
My thoughts on why it took 18 months to find the enchanted scroll is due to them dismantling the fellowship as a whole. It had branches all over Britania including secret operations inside 4 dungeons. I'd think or at least hope that Batlin would not have just left that talking head scroll in a chest in his bedroom. Also having to deal with the being bound inside a giant Blackrock dome. Plus I believe the guardian wanted the Avatar to find the scroll. Because Serpent Isle was more a trap to lure the Avatar so that he could take him and place him in Pagan.
That's a good reasoning. If there were ever going to be a remaster/remake I'd like to see light shed on stuff like that.
Top review, love your videos!
I dread the last video on ultimate, or rather, the last in the series
Yeah Ultima 8 is BAD, it can't get any worse... Right??? RIGHT???
Wtf was that dancing scene
As soon as I saw this was up I clicked on it
God tier game
Thanks for the great review! I think I got The Black Gate as a christmas gift when I was a child. I played YEARS with it discovering the enormous open world - my mom allowed only one our of playing time, so I used it mostly for playing Ultima VII. I couln't play with Serpent Isle because the local PC game shop didn't sell it, and neither any of my friends had it. I just red a walkthrough about it so I wanted to play it badly, I only got the game after Ultima Collection was released on CD.
The atmosphere of SI is great. Even better than BG in my opinion. It has a very special feel. However the ending of Serpent Isle didn't make much sense to me at the time. I'm glad you included a short summary about the Ophidian Virtues.
I found out on the internet years later, that there was so much content cut from SI. I'm really sad about it. I wish some dedicated people would unite their creative forces and their Ultima VII enthusiasm, and recreated all the cut content with Exult.
You're welcome. Appreciate the comment. I find the atmosphere in Serpent Isle the best over Black Gate too, and Black Gate is still a great game. With Exult though, I can see them recreating all that cut content. At least there's SI Fixes for bugs and missing lines and such.
"Guess it's time to play Ultima 8: Pagan." Yeah, good luck with that.
"I always thought he could be another Avatar, since I was the one who trained him."
They the ideal headcanon is that he's protected Britannia while you're on your quest to the Serpent Isle.
True. This makes me wonder where the heck Spark is in Ultima ix
Peak 90s RPG! Eat your heart out Japanese games. US devs owned the PC gaming market
owo
Just wanted to say I really enjoyed finding your videos today. You're cool dude. :)
Happy you're enjoying them, appreciate the comment. Happy New Years. 💀
Used to wonder if some of the people at Origin Systems were fans of American Gladiators, the blonde male Avatar's paperdoll head looks almost exactly like Malibu.
lol he does. Wouldn't be surprised.
As soon as I got the notification this uploaded, I started the video. I've technically watched it three times now, but I keep falling asleep. I'll get it watched, pinky promise.
No need for promises, it'll be up unless UA-cam decides the naked dancing scene is too much for UA-cam or something.
Plays the same as the Black Gate - I'd say 80-90% right, but SI had some decent upgrades in the engine and I've always put it over BG.
That said - if you are playing in Exult (which I am 99.9% sure you are), then you get all the SI upgrades in BG and it's all great. I guess my point is (pushed glasses up on nose), play either or on Exult and it's perfect.
keep up the good work!
i just love how spoony express our emotions when certain "situations" appear in the game, like:
the Avatar caught by the Guardian, and the Great Earth Serpent did nothing, Spoony added some dialouge which apologize to Avatar with the excuse of they are too busy on restoring the balance in Serpent Isle. Btw, you made a great video on reviewing the plot cut too!
Rule Britannia! Snake jazz edition
Ultima 7 Serpent Isle was my first entry into Ultima series, back in 1994. I was incredibly blown away and immediately engrossed with the game for a month. Even skipping classes for it--I was a second year college boy at the time. I worked my way back to the previous games after completing SI.
I never played anything like it back then. Ended up playing through the entire series eventually as I got older.
@@VoidbrandGallery Nearly all of Origin System's games back then were WAY beyond their time, in terms of innovation and technology. From Ultima series to Crusader, Wing Commander series, System Shock, and Wings of Glory. Try the Crusader series (No Remorse and No Regret), if you haven't. Those two will also hook you up good, I'd guarantee!
@@bhoqeem1975 I love the Crusader games. Did videos on those after not playing them since way back.
Would love to see a full playthrough of Pagan, still havent found a good one on YT.
I plan on uploading a Pagan playthrough to my other channel (link just in case): www.youtube.com/@VoidbrandGaming
I'd like to do playthroughs of VII as well but they're pretty long games.
@@VoidbrandGallery Pleanty of good VII playthroughs on youtube, but yet to find one of VIII that I've been able to sit through! Excited to hear you're doing one!
I quite enjoyed this one, but admittedly it's not a particularly serious play through and focuses on playing the game as a terrible person
ua-cam.com/video/5p74VLaWqCc/v-deo.htmlsi=278XfSQaqHAlzg0b
Your speech speed plus the softer tones and mic made it a bit hard to follow all your words. Try pacing out the whole sentence rather than hammering out the first half and then slowing up at at the end.
Its totally fine for your video length to be an extra 10-15 minutes to compensate for this. Most of us like longer form videos anyway
Great video but I found it very hard to follow what you were saying. I believe you are speaking too fast and you may need a new microphone.
Thanks. Been using the Samson Q2U for the past 6 months I've been doing this and this is a first for me. It might be your ears, speakers or headphones. If I see this regularly I'll think about changing it. As far as my speech goes I've been like that my whole life, it's not something I can change overnight.
Regardless you can just turn on subtitles. I added them to every video before uploading just in case.
@@VoidbrandGallery I appreciate the response Void
Bro, me and my dad also got stuck at the runes "Thou hast forgotten something". Never got past it as a kid, only MUCH later did I learn how to move past!!! Totally agree on the feel of EA's influence post Wall of Light.
Looks like it tripped up a lot of people honestly.
Listening to this helps me better understand how to play U7 and SI. This was a hard game. So I had trouble sticking to it.
The black avatar's portrait makes me lol.
It just looks like some dude named Ron who works as a mechanic. It strikes me less as heroic and more "did you see the game last night?"
Then again, a lot of NPC portraits in this game bear that quality. I am guessing they are based off of devs and people the devs knew.
It's a far cry from the black avatar in 6, definitely. Here he looks like he'd be at home in a '90s sitcom. And yeah they're based off real-life people. Like Kalen the pirate (didn't talk about him in this game I don't think) and the knight Brendann are based on the programmers in Serpent Isle. And Spektor is Warren Spector.
another great video
I skipped the Serpent Isle and went straight to Ultima VIII after playing Ultimat VII, so it's good some 30 years later to find out what I missed.
It is a fantastic play
This Ophidian virtue system is just amazing with all these extremes and combinations, especially that they really get to be part of the plot and gameplay.
I also liked Serpent Isle even more than Black Gate, the story was extreme exciting. Well, I always liked the Chaos/Order setting (hence my username), at least in those younger times of mine. But I always understood that the open world and millions of sidequests and hidden areas appealed to players more.
I love Serpent Isle a lot. Always play it right after The Black Gate. The Ophidian system is my favorite next to the Eight Virtues. I like how they work with each other, while the Eight Virtues conflict. It's a good system.
Liking your videos wondering what old computer games or video games you're going to do retrospective of
There's some very old games I'd like to talk about that I haven't played yet, like Eye of the Beholder and Ravenloft. For retrospectives, I really want to do Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, as the first game really cemented me as a PC gamer back then. Just want to do it justice so don't know when that's going to be.
13:22 what
The last Great Ultima Game and then...Ultima is Dead in 8 and 9
Well Ultima Online is amazing still
I enjoyed the reading.