Ahh, this was a great game, I was working at Origin at the time and worked on both Black Gate and SI. Its neat that you commented on the portraits being larger, most of them in Serpent were done by Michael Priest. Such an amazing artist that recently passed away but had such an impact. I remember he did my portrait, took a polaroid of me and drew it in from that (I was in Moonshade, Andrio). The amazing thing about Michael was that he was color blind. Those portraits that had a tad bit more dithering than usually were most likely done by him. Ahh the Cowboys cheerleaders. A few of the designers were die hard Cowboys fans and had to leave tribute to their fav team. Thanks for the memories!
Really cool comment, great to know the origin of the portraits. They really caught my eye back in 1993 as cutting edge. I nearly remember your portrait and will instantly when I see it again when I do my first play through in 20 years.
I first played this in my late Senior High year, in 1993. Loved the game so much. In fact, this was the game that introduced and made me fell head over heels with RPG games. I was so in awe with its graphic, gameplay, and story. It was about a year later I looked and bought the Blackgate. And then played backward to Ultima 6. I tried to enjoy Ultima 5, but couldn't get past the outdated graphic. Ultima 8 I played and completed in my college years. Didn't enjoy it. I played Ultima 9 in 2000, when I was trying to land a job as an english teacher. My mom died that one night I played the game at a friend's house, just before the entrance test. So yeah, the Ultima series has a very profound impact and history for me. Thank you for the review. And for doing it without shouting.
I liked how they incorporated the Bloodspawn reagent into the lore of the story. The fact that its outlawed, the process of making it. That adds a lot of flavor to spellcasting and magic in the world.
The Fallen Virgin book is a register so it just means it's the Inn/Tavern register. Fallen Virgin is the name of the inn. And Iolo and Gwenno signed it, they slept there one day that's all. As for the sword on a pedestal I'm pretty sure it's one of the the shrines that were so important in the three previous Ultimas. NPCs mention them, how they fell into disuse yet some mention how they'll like to do a pilgrimage there one day. If I'm not wrong the recall stones by default all point to one of the shrines before you overwrite them. The sword one is likely the shrine of Valor. Edit: somehow I answered on the wrong video :D It was meant for the Black Gate one. Drats! Well since I'm in Serpent Isle. You asked about liches. Well there's one. You were talking about them right after killing a drider. Well the boss of that section of the expansion pack that made those driders is a lich. And I think there's one lich in the tunnels towards the north or the goblin village with a side room and a lich guarding a firedoom staff.
I started playing Serpent Isle at 10 years old when my brother bought it. I played it off & on since its first release & I even used the cheat system to renovate the entire White Dragon Castle, complete with pc’s with schedules weaving, cooking, making potions & meeting together to dine, teaching me a lot about game engines at an early age,. I only finally beat the game yesterday for the first time. The ending is very compelling & this still one of my fav games of all time, However, this review hasn’t mentioned the biggest flaw in my opinion: I’d heard about but disbelieved that this game was rushed in development. Once I got to the last, more open world section of the game I realized it was very very true. Plot & Dialogue begins to be thin. PCs barely recognize what’s going on & usually only say the barest necessary quest speeches. There’s still a dramatic moment or two, but they kind of come out of nowhere. I find the game really hard to care about at this point. Magic weapon? Big deal, combat isn’t getting more challenging. Money? Don’t need that. New companion found at the inn? Well that’s nice, but why don’t they notice that they’re entire family is now dead? Onto the next temple to complete a boring ritual by putting stuff on pedestals, or the next plot point that feels shoe-horned into the story. So I powered through it for the first time & I’m really glad I did, because the very final area & ending cinematic was worth seeing! I just wish some talented writers could flesh out the last chapters & complete what EA never could.
There was one notable lich in U7 P2, at least in the Silver Seed expansion. I forget his name (I think he had one?), but you had to wreck a bunch of bronze metal men to get to him, then he was incredibly tough to beat, but had a ton of loot in the room behind him, including the quick gauntlets.
there was a knight in the inn outside monitor that would join you after the "event" but quit the moment he took enough damage to flee combat. you could get around this by setting his combat ai to berserk mode so he would never flee
This game made me laugh out loud regularly, which is rare for me. The clothing swap at the start was a WTF moment and I didn't even know I was wearing women's clothing until I was informed that I was wearing the armour of beauty and had to give it back. And now...the Dance of Love, which no man can resist! Fireworks and avatar music ensue. Don't hurt yourself.
I don't think there are liches in Serpent Isle, but there is one place where there is a liche statue that uses the liche sprite from Black Gate, and it gives me a jump scare every time I run into it. I don't recall exactly where it is. I'm sure they included it just to mess with people who had liche trauma after the Black Gate.
I also heartily recommend reading through the Let’s Play Archive of SI. It’s full of insider tidbits, insight & hilarity! lparchive.org/Ultima-VII-Part-2-Serpent-Isle/
Cool review ! I haven't played this game in a while but it's probably my favorite Ultima. About the portraits, from what I've read a bunch of the characters bear the likeness of some Origin staff from this time period (Spektor is obviously Warren Spector, but there is also one of the lead programmer, Brendan Segraves as "Brendann"). There was also a contest and the winners got the honor to see their face given to some character.
I used to hack this game and try to make my own cities from the old abandoned cities and I made my own little special house at the silver seed tree location.
This was probably my favorite game in the series. For most of the Black Gate, you were pretty much riding blind and aren't faced with the urgency of defeating the main antagonist until the very end. The entire time playing the Serpernt Isle, its quite clear there are BIG problems and there is still probably 50% of the game left when the situation is properly revealed. It's truly a shame that they allowed Electronic Arts in the door, and i can only imagine how much better the last two games would have been had they not been involved. Ultima 8 Pagan was a horrible game and the use of the Crusader engine killed it from the beginning. Ultima 9 Ascension was even worse and was a final ,,I,, to decades long Ultima fans by Electronic Arts.
Ultima 8 is not good, but if you can force yourself through it there are actually elements that are worth experiencing. It could have been so much better though, you're right.
I can tell based on how you describe this game that you never played this game in its original form back when it was released in 1993. Serpent Isle was truthfully one of the best open-ended RPG's ever made, or even games ever made really. It was incredibly far ahead of its time in both concept and game design. At the time it was using leading graphics and nothing else was comparable in terms of depth of gameplay. A lot of your complaints are about luxuries like the Silver Seed items and reagents, yet reagents were a key aspect of all Ultima games. The Silver Seed items were simply a bonus similar to the free items you got when you beat Metal Gear Solid and got the invisibility cloak or unlimited ammo. Additionally, you're playing on the Exult version which is different from the original, with several negative changes. For example, the Dallas Cowboys football treasure area was not broken in the original game; that bug was introduced in the Exult version. Party formations also changed, there were no health/mana bars in the original, etc. The original version was entirely bug free from what I can remember. Truth be told, Ultima VII (both games) set the standard for RPG's as a whole, and anyone that says Skyrim is the best RPG around never played these or Betrayal at Krondor (probably tied for best RPG with these).
I played both parts of Ultima VII when they were originally released, as I stated in one or both of my review videos. The portal in the hidden football room is indeed broken in the original game -- there are countless websites still up on the internet that detailed this issue. Here's just one: bootstrike.com/Ultima7si/Online/faq2.php As usual, this is the internet, so I do not expect you to admit being wrong, but just to stand corrected in silence.
Your memory is pretty selective. Betrayal at Krondor def didn't set any great RPG standards. It was really ugly and I didn't really like it. I liked Lands of Lore much better and Ultima Underworld was evolutionary in RPG game development and for the future of FPS games as well. Also Elder Scrolls came out just shortly after Betrayal at Krondor and totally blew it away. Also there was Star Control 2 around then. And yes these days they still make totally amazing RPGS like Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2. Also it's pretty ridiculous to compare Skyrim to Betrayal at Krondor. Nobody in their right mind would say Krondor was better than Skyrim even considering each within it's own time of release. What in Krondor did you think was better than Skyrim? All you could subjectively say maybe would be Story but probably not even that.
I really can't stand this game. I enjoy other Ultimas, especially The Black Gate, but the boring repetitive linearity and constant dialogue are nuisances when you would just like to progress the plot. Why do we need all the busywork? You either design a tight plot driven game without much hassle or a player driven experience like The Black Gate, you don't do an unbalanced mixture of them that suddenly pulls you in to read a short novel, then suddenly throws you back to just do whatever to reveal the next plot point. This game was clearly handled by writers, not by game designers and that is why I view it as a failure and the point where many illfated future studios misunderstood what western RPGs are about. Good for those who read a lot and game I guess, but not really an Ultima game and not for those who like dynamic gameplay with meaningful action.
Make sure to watch my review of Ultima VII Part One: The Black Gate here: ua-cam.com/video/qkrCUXc-frY/v-deo.html
Ahh, this was a great game, I was working at Origin at the time and worked on both Black Gate and SI. Its neat that you commented on the portraits being larger, most of them in Serpent were done by Michael Priest. Such an amazing artist that recently passed away but had such an impact. I remember he did my portrait, took a polaroid of me and drew it in from that (I was in Moonshade, Andrio). The amazing thing about Michael was that he was color blind. Those portraits that had a tad bit more dithering than usually were most likely done by him.
Ahh the Cowboys cheerleaders. A few of the designers were die hard Cowboys fans and had to leave tribute to their fav team.
Thanks for the memories!
Thank you for your work! This is easily the most immersive game I've ever played.
Really cool comment, great to know the origin of the portraits. They really caught my eye back in 1993 as cutting edge. I nearly remember your portrait and will instantly when I see it again when I do my first play through in 20 years.
I first played this in my late Senior High year, in 1993. Loved the game so much. In fact, this was the game that introduced and made me fell head over heels with RPG games. I was so in awe with its graphic, gameplay, and story. It was about a year later I looked and bought the Blackgate. And then played backward to Ultima 6. I tried to enjoy Ultima 5, but couldn't get past the outdated graphic. Ultima 8 I played and completed in my college years. Didn't enjoy it. I played Ultima 9 in 2000, when I was trying to land a job as an english teacher. My mom died that one night I played the game at a friend's house, just before the entrance test. So yeah, the Ultima series has a very profound impact and history for me. Thank you for the review. And for doing it without shouting.
I liked the hot keys in part two, and the key ring was the BOMB.
I liked how they incorporated the Bloodspawn reagent into the lore of the story. The fact that its outlawed, the process of making it. That adds a lot of flavor to spellcasting and magic in the world.
The Fallen Virgin book is a register so it just means it's the Inn/Tavern register. Fallen Virgin is the name of the inn. And Iolo and Gwenno signed it, they slept there one day that's all.
As for the sword on a pedestal I'm pretty sure it's one of the the shrines that were so important in the three previous Ultimas. NPCs mention them, how they fell into disuse yet some mention how they'll like to do a pilgrimage there one day. If I'm not wrong the recall stones by default all point to one of the shrines before you overwrite them. The sword one is likely the shrine of Valor.
Edit: somehow I answered on the wrong video :D It was meant for the Black Gate one. Drats!
Well since I'm in Serpent Isle. You asked about liches. Well there's one. You were talking about them right after killing a drider. Well the boss of that section of the expansion pack that made those driders is a lich. And I think there's one lich in the tunnels towards the north or the goblin village with a side room and a lich guarding a firedoom staff.
Man the viewpoint of these games is just something else. How do you get past the "my brain is falling over" feeling? :D
When u hook up with the mage and go to the mountain! That was so badass...❤
I believe there was a contest where you could submit a photo of yourself and possibly see yourself in the game.
To me this game is still the best game of all time
I started playing Serpent Isle at 10 years old when my brother bought it. I played it off & on since its first release & I even used the cheat system to renovate the entire White Dragon Castle, complete with pc’s with schedules weaving, cooking, making potions & meeting together to dine, teaching me a lot about game engines at an early age,. I only finally beat the game yesterday for the first time.
The ending is very compelling & this still one of my fav games of all time, However, this review hasn’t mentioned the biggest flaw in my opinion: I’d heard about but disbelieved that this game was rushed in development. Once I got to the last, more open world section of the game I realized it was very very true. Plot & Dialogue begins to be thin. PCs barely recognize what’s going on & usually only say the barest necessary quest speeches. There’s still a dramatic moment or two, but they kind of come out of nowhere.
I find the game really hard to care about at this point. Magic weapon? Big deal, combat isn’t getting more challenging. Money? Don’t need that. New companion found at the inn? Well that’s nice, but why don’t they notice that they’re entire family is now dead? Onto the next temple to complete a boring ritual by putting stuff on pedestals, or the next plot point that feels shoe-horned into the story.
So I powered through it for the first time & I’m really glad I did, because the very final area & ending cinematic was worth seeing! I just wish some talented writers could flesh out the last chapters & complete what EA never could.
There was one notable lich in U7 P2, at least in the Silver Seed expansion. I forget his name (I think he had one?), but you had to wreck a bunch of bronze metal men to get to him, then he was incredibly tough to beat, but had a ton of loot in the room behind him, including the quick gauntlets.
That's right, and despite ALWAYS playing through the SS expansion I had forgotten about that.
there was a knight in the inn outside monitor that would join you after the "event" but quit the moment he took enough damage to flee combat. you could get around this by setting his combat ai to berserk mode so he would never flee
This game made me laugh out loud regularly, which is rare for me. The clothing swap at the start was a WTF moment and I didn't even know I was wearing women's clothing until I was informed that I was wearing the armour of beauty and had to give it back. And now...the Dance of Love, which no man can resist! Fireworks and avatar music ensue. Don't hurt yourself.
I don't think there are liches in Serpent Isle, but there is one place where there is a liche statue that uses the liche sprite from Black Gate, and it gives me a jump scare every time I run into it. I don't recall exactly where it is. I'm sure they included it just to mess with people who had liche trauma after the Black Gate.
Aram Dol, a liche, is the only real boss of Silver Seed guarding the guantlets of quickness and a unique axe
I also heartily recommend reading through the Let’s Play Archive of SI. It’s full of insider tidbits, insight & hilarity!
lparchive.org/Ultima-VII-Part-2-Serpent-Isle/
used to cheese the lightning as it would rarely drop magic boots.
Cool review !
I haven't played this game in a while but it's probably my favorite Ultima. About the portraits, from what I've read a bunch of the characters bear the likeness of some Origin staff from this time period (Spektor is obviously Warren Spector, but there is also one of the lead programmer, Brendan Segraves as "Brendann"). There was also a contest and the winners got the honor to see their face given to some character.
Aram-Dol. It's in the Silver Seed expansion. Only liche in the game.
Aram-Dol is a named lich in the silver seed expansion.
Good review but your messy back pack drove me crazy. Lmao!!!
Don't you get a keyring in serpent isle? I remember getting one somewhere. Keys were a disaster in this game...
Any more modern rpgs that are light on combat like U7?
I used to hack this game and try to make my own cities from the old abandoned cities and I made my own little special house at the silver seed tree location.
Are you going to do a playthrough of this game? You teased about it after doing the Black Gate
I'd definitely like to, but the game is a huge endeavor and I'm pretty busy lately... We'll see!
Awesome. I get it life is hectic and Serpent Isle is a long haul. Love the channel and keep up the good work!
How much does this game cost complet
He mentioned in the review for Black Gate that at that time it was roughly $6 on GoG for both Ultima 7s with their expansion.
$6, but they often put it on sale for about $1.20.
A truly remarkable game. Its a pity the combat system was a mess; its was the one major flaw in both this and Black Gate.
This was probably my favorite game in the series. For most of the Black Gate, you were pretty much riding blind and aren't faced with the urgency of defeating the main antagonist until the very end. The entire time playing the Serpernt Isle, its quite clear there are BIG problems and there is still probably 50% of the game left when the situation is properly revealed. It's truly a shame that they allowed Electronic Arts in the door, and i can only imagine how much better the last two games would have been had they not been involved. Ultima 8 Pagan was a horrible game and the use of the Crusader engine killed it from the beginning. Ultima 9 Ascension was even worse and was a final ,,I,, to decades long Ultima fans by Electronic Arts.
Ultima 8 is not good, but if you can force yourself through it there are actually elements that are worth experiencing. It could have been so much better though, you're right.
you had me till you said at 12 min in that Ultima 9 isn't worth playing. That just is not true.
I can tell based on how you describe this game that you never played this game in its original form back when it was released in 1993. Serpent Isle was truthfully one of the best open-ended RPG's ever made, or even games ever made really. It was incredibly far ahead of its time in both concept and game design. At the time it was using leading graphics and nothing else was comparable in terms of depth of gameplay. A lot of your complaints are about luxuries like the Silver Seed items and reagents, yet reagents were a key aspect of all Ultima games. The Silver Seed items were simply a bonus similar to the free items you got when you beat Metal Gear Solid and got the invisibility cloak or unlimited ammo. Additionally, you're playing on the Exult version which is different from the original, with several negative changes. For example, the Dallas Cowboys football treasure area was not broken in the original game; that bug was introduced in the Exult version. Party formations also changed, there were no health/mana bars in the original, etc. The original version was entirely bug free from what I can remember. Truth be told, Ultima VII (both games) set the standard for RPG's as a whole, and anyone that says Skyrim is the best RPG around never played these or Betrayal at Krondor (probably tied for best RPG with these).
I played both parts of Ultima VII when they were originally released, as I stated in one or both of my review videos. The portal in the hidden football room is indeed broken in the original game -- there are countless websites still up on the internet that detailed this issue. Here's just one: bootstrike.com/Ultima7si/Online/faq2.php
As usual, this is the internet, so I do not expect you to admit being wrong, but just to stand corrected in silence.
Your memory is pretty selective. Betrayal at Krondor def didn't set any great RPG standards. It was really ugly and I didn't really like it. I liked Lands of Lore much better and Ultima Underworld was evolutionary in RPG game development and for the future of FPS games as well. Also Elder Scrolls came out just shortly after Betrayal at Krondor and totally blew it away. Also there was Star Control 2 around then. And yes these days they still make totally amazing RPGS like Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2. Also it's pretty ridiculous to compare Skyrim to Betrayal at Krondor. Nobody in their right mind would say Krondor was better than Skyrim even considering each within it's own time of release. What in Krondor did you think was better than Skyrim? All you could subjectively say maybe would be Story but probably not even that.
ahead of its time in both concept and game design - very much so
Liches are bad in almost every game, which is appropriate I suppose. Very much unlike the rhyme I wanted to make about that.
Linch in silver seed...
I really can't stand this game. I enjoy other Ultimas, especially The Black Gate, but the boring repetitive linearity and constant dialogue are nuisances when you would just like to progress the plot. Why do we need all the busywork? You either design a tight plot driven game without much hassle or a player driven experience like The Black Gate, you don't do an unbalanced mixture of them that suddenly pulls you in to read a short novel, then suddenly throws you back to just do whatever to reveal the next plot point. This game was clearly handled by writers, not by game designers and that is why I view it as a failure and the point where many illfated future studios misunderstood what western RPGs are about. Good for those who read a lot and game I guess, but not really an Ultima game and not for those who like dynamic gameplay with meaningful action.
Just got an ad for Red Dead Redemption 2!! HYPE!!