Soulbringer | Retro Reviews
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- A retrospective review of Gremlin Interactive's Ultima VIII-inspired 3d roleplaying game - dubbed "England's Ultima" in early previews - which was published in May 2000 by Infogrames S.A.. The video covers both the game's conception and road to release, then looks at gameplay, art and audio direction, story, and roleplaying options. Check the chapter timestamps below if you're interested in a particular topic. A couple of clarifications - I referred to Realms of the Haunting's sales as "abysmal", but from reading further this is a bit of an exaggeration - my understanding is that the sales in themselves were alright, but poor in the context of the budget and development time that had gone into it. I also state there are no customization options at the start of the game, although technically you do actually start with a free level up. In addition, I misstated a couple of names - Gremlin's Andy Ritson, and the in-game character Barthelago - apologies to them both! I was also a bit disappointed I couldn't find enough high-quality promo renders or concept art to use for a sections explaining the game's background lore - unfortunately a lot of these seem to have been found on 1999/2000 press kits - which I couldn't get my hands on - so I shortened this section considerably. In any case, hope you all enjoy the video!
00:00 Opening
01:31 Chapter 1 - Introduction and Overview
10:48 Chapter 2 - Behind the Scenes
11:13 2:1 - The road to "RPG"
17:27 2:2 - "England's Ultima" unveiled
30:52 2:3 - "River, scene, snow"
41:54 2:4 - Expédition d'Angleterre
49:34 2:5 - Release and Aftermath
57:04 Chapter 3 - Gameplay
57:28 3:1 - Gameplay Basics
1:12:57 3:2 - The Hex and Campaign Structure (MINOR SPOILERS)
1:19:16 3:3 - Gameplay Analysis
1:57:37 Chapter 4 - Art and Sound
1:58:10 4:1 - Visuals
2:18:52 4:2 - Audio
2:30:41 4:4 - Playing on modern systems
2:43:52 Chapter 5 - Story and Roleplaying (MODERATE SPOILERS)
2:44:45 5:1 - Story Overview
3:05:58 5:2 - Soulbringer's influences
3:18:37 5:3 - Writing and Roleplaying
3:45:09 Closing thoughts and outro - Ігри
it's still crazy to me that I won't sit through a 90 minute popcorn movie but I WILL sit through a 233 minute niche video essay about an obscure early 00's CRPG with full attention.
Why's that? User-created content is clearly better. People actually CARE about what they make, unlike the movie where they're just doing it for money.
I can't even watch my own videos all the way through desu
Everything gets turned into a TV series anyways. Interactive media > Passive media
I've had to resort to watching hilariously terrible movies to get a laugh and entertainment from them anymore. Nothing but shit for the last 20 years (apart from foreign cinema)
It's just a little longer than "Killers of the Flower Moon" and infinitely more entertaining.
A 4h video on that game packaged with Planescape Torment nobody played?
okay, lol. I'll watch it.
I actually played this game more than Planescape due to Planscape having such hard-to-read text. Also Soulbringer was so different from any other game I played.
I don't often get to use the phrase "criminally underrated" in earnest about a channel, but for yours it is absolutely true. Seriously, we should start arresting people for not being subscribed.
Always love when we’re blessed with another Mr. Edders banger
Big Ed always delivers the goods
+1 to that
means it's pizza day today!
One of my favourite parts of these reviews is looking back at *old* reviews at the time. It's interesting to see just how bang-on most of them are, even looking at the game now
For all the game's faults, that snowy intro scene really is cozy
Man I love your videos so much, genuinely hard to describe the joy I get from hanging out as you talk about these kinda obscure RPGs from the 90s and 2000s, its nostalgia + discovery + wonder all at once. Thank you!!
The way the character models are sort of textures snapped onto a skeleton is such a charming look.
It's a shame the look wouldn't have been appreciated by many at the time when the arms race for polygons was in full swing.
Yesssss I don’t even care if I’ve ever played the game. Your reviews are too well done. I’ll watch
But why does this game looks soo good? This style just speaks to me.
Wow! Another epic long retrospective from one of my favorite channels.
You, Dungeon Chill, Andrew Bluett & Prime Theater have all uploaded epic retrospectives within just a week's time frame. I'm in heaven.
Your channel is a obscure and esoteric gem of these times, that's why I subscribed, I consider myself with my 37 years old a some sort of "connoisseur" too, but today you have gave a lesson of humbleness in the best way possible: I never in my life listen to mention this game!!!! I will be glad if in the future you decide to tackle Mageslayer
I hope one day we can get a Mageslayer re-release
I actually played Mageslayer for a few hours during the Nox video as I was trying to get footage of mid-90s magic-action games, but ended up using AI art instead.
As much as the graphics and animations look quite crude, I do really like the environment and visual design.
It's very moody and bleak, giving it a really distinctive tone.
The pixelated texturing probably helps it to hold up by not going for photorealism and instead going for something a bit more impressionistic.
Yeah it didn't look that bad to me other than some really blurry textures for artworks and stuff. It probably suffered a lot for competing with purely pre-rendered 2d rivals and much more advanced polygonal games like Vampire.
Yeah, the art direction is good, something which is much more important than graphical fidelity.
Always excited for a new video
I love this game! Played it so many times over the years! Very underrated!
I really do have a sense for new uploads haha everytime I think "Oh this certain UA-camr hasn't uploaded in a while, I wonder when their next will be?" 1 or 2 days later it happens. So glad to see another video from you and I love this channel.
Masterful, throrough and always exciting. You make old games feel like new releases with the amount of energy and information you bring to each of these titles.
your videos are always a pleasure to watch my friend
Amazing work just found your channel. You're great!
Another classic from the lore master himself
Great work as always. The detail of the research and the presentation of thr info are what makes these videos worth it, as I have never played or heard about most of the games you cover
Fantastic as always. Your channel is a gift, and it deserves to grow.
I guess you found a way to record. I am happy to see you are still uploading.
Your retro reviews are the best, glad to see you back with another one
"Ah yes, the _demon_ papers, by Rafaella of Horrath!"
I remember picking this up in a jewel case alongside Planescape: Torment. I made multiple attempts at Soulbringer, coming within the finishing stretch at one point, but the latter half of the game really began to drag its heels, losing the sense of adventure that kept me invested during the former. The sudden death of your uncle Andrus, the promise of interesting dungeon design brought about by the Iron Mines (in which a much younger me felt awfully clever using the minecarts to destroy the nigh-invincible golems), and the way magic was drip-fed enticingly to the player eventually gave way to a repetitive slog of slowly singling out increasingly powerful enemies.
Once again, another great entry into your expanding library of thorough, highly informative reviews. Keep it up MrEdders, it's always worth the wait!
Blessed by an upload! Thank you very much mr. Edders
Yesss! I had a feeling you'd upload something soon. Thanks for the video!
Great work! I hear you often reference arcanum in your reviews. I am really hopeful you'll have a review on it in the future!
Thank you for the great video!! 😊
I love that you always find some obscure game and make one of the best pieces of content imaginable on it. Well done again. Always a treat when you upload
Great to see your content on my feed once again!
You have NO idea how much I needed this
Happy to see you back!!
The amount of research you seem to put into your reviews is astounding!
I just ask ChatGPT for a summary desu
All of your videos are great. Thanks!
wonderful video, very fascinating. i'm always amazed that there are still cool old crusty RPGs like this that I'd never even heard of.
This was... quite thorough. Impressive.
Special thanks for trying to find out who exactly were artists.
Magnificent review on a game I never played. Always a pleasure. Very much looking forward to the Ultima: WOA review!
I refuse to believe it's been 9 months since the Plainscape video
Yeah I miss being able to hammer a video out every couple of months during covid lol
Thank you for all your incredible work. I can't imagine how long this took to research.
Thanks! Not that long though, you can exhaust most online sources in about or week or so. It's contacting devs or hunting down stuff that isn't archived in one place that can really bog you down.
The intro is basically my welcome back speech. Lol
man I love these videos. good stuff
Soulbringer, Siege of Avalon, and Divine Dinvinity were my favorite obscure rpgs of the early 2000's. Never have I met in person someone who has played one of these games 😅.
I think a lot of people went back and played DD due to Larian's later games. But yeah I was barely aware of it at the time.
Hi.
I swear, I learn so much from your investigative style.
I just sent a bunch of emails. A real fan would've gone to Sheffield!
Regarding to impostor graphics, I think what you said is true, each individual body part seems to be a two dimensional "billboard" always facing to the camera displaying the said body part sprite in correct angle. The same technique was used for example in Myth, but the billboards/impostors were whole characters instead of individual body parts. The effect of popping is prevalent in Myth as well, but even more noticeable since the sprites are larger and there are several clones of the same unit, resulting in a "wave of pops" (for the lack of a better term), when multiple units change their sprite at the same time due to camera rotation. I have a degree in programming/computer graphics but it is indeed sometimes hard to tell just from the visual appearance what kind of specific technique was used. I tried to briefly google for the exact algorithm without luck, most probably it is described in either some research paper or early "Graphics Gems" books - if one could only find the right one.
just letting the algorithm know that this is awesome and must be recommended to much larger crowds. :)
This is the longest review I've ever watched and it was worth it!
3-4hrs is bite-sized by youtube standards now 😁
I've never heard of this game until now. It reminds me so much of Summoner when I look at it. This definitely looks 100x better than Ultima IX. God that game will never not haunt me.
Finally finished watching, took me a week. Great video, thanks!
I played this as a kid bundled with torment but I've never seen content made on it this is so good
As usual, a great video. Will replay Soulbringer once I have time (i.e. once my financial situation is again stable). My memories of the game are really good, I think it is one of those that shaped my own tabletop rpg worldbuilding, alongside first BG, first Diablo and Nox.
Awesome work, once again!
return of the king
Just discovered you. Decent library to work through as i renovate my house. Thanks for the effort.
Woohooo!!!!
Thank you so much for another documentary.
I'm a bit of a video essay snob (I think I'm allowed to after making a few of my own, however crummy they may be) and look upon video essays longer than an hour with extreme suspicion. A lot of them ramble on without an exact thesis. I really enjoyed this one, you seem extremely well researched. I was initially wanting to research this game to make my own essay, but I don't like retreading ground and you've beat me to this one! Liked and subbed, Best of luck to you in your future essaying endeavors :D
Thanks! tbh one of the reasons I try to focus on more obscure games is so I'm not competing with as many other channels, as my editing skills etc aren't that good 😁Still, I think there's always room to focus on games from different perspectives or in different contexts. Also I didn't really uncover a huge amount of behind-the-scenes stuff regarding the making of the game - it'd be interesting if someone got to discuss it with Steve Lovesey, Don Kirkland, Paul Green, or one of the other leads.
The singularity is when AI can construct an infinite number of infinitely-long MrEdders videos. Thats when i fully succumb to the machine.
Nice!
Merci beaucoup ! Thanx a lot to give me another great insight to add another forgotten gem to my rpg collection 😊
holy shit he's back
Thank you so much! Didn't know this one. Also wanted to say that I am really hoping for a Divine Divinity review someday.
Great video as always.
time for another a nice binge thanks again
Welcome back buddy
only 30 minutes in - but holy SHIT this documentary is fucking great. Fantastic work.
Huzzah for the upload!
Pretty sure I was thinking today while at the supermarket: "Been a while since Mr. E made a video. Hope something comes out soon."
Lo and behold.
This story does feel simple & familiar, but I sorta like that about it? Feels like a decent starting point to build upon. Maybe even games in different genres that use the lore differently or even better. Oh, what could have been, I suppose.
Edders is back!!!
Time to grab some snacks and binge!
I actually really like the character models with their 2D limbs, its a unique look that'd be really cool to see elsewhere, even with the popping. Very PS1 looking.
Welcome back Mr Edder, man I remember this game from PC Zone magazine. Then again, alot of those "forgotten" games you mention appeared alot in PC Zone magazine, but I think it due to most good games came from Europe during the late 90's to early 2000
PC Zone reviewers also had some personal relationships, so they were more likely to get exclusive coverage etc. I think PC Power, Edge, and PC Format also had pretty close PR links to Gremlin, whereas PC Gamer UK (at least around this period) don't seem to have been particularly close.
@@MrEdders123 PC Gamer always been the "Crappy" one among those magazine, but ironically it still survive to this day in Internet format though.
I think Edge Magazine was the magazine that get inclusive preview and interview with studios and game, but problem is that they usually has the less market but alot of game studios read Edge Magazine as they focus around the world.
Personally my favorite was PC Zone with Charlie Brooker, Paul "Macca" McCandles and Tim Anderson who were humourous writers.
@@hanchiman I couldn't stand Brooker lol, he tried too hard to be funny. Literally half the Soulbringer preview he did was just random jokes that had nothing to do with the game.
@@MrEdders123 haha, I know what you mean, that the reason I loved his stuff. He usually write nonsense at the beginning that is unrelated to the game.
I remember before he quit PC Zone, he had a page where people can send him "Hate Mail" to him where they personally insult him and he would insult them back.
I liked Mr Curzon and Culkin corner
Another masterpiece from MrEdders
Development hell seems to have been just as deadly in the 90's as today. Given how quickly tech was developing at the time.
This game reminds me of Neverwinter Nights with its look. Very well done!
I was just thinking how you could probably recreate the entire campaign (minus the combat system) in Aurora
perfect Timing :D
The return of the king!!! Too bad this game's gog copy didn't want to launch on my pc
Did you try the compatibility patch/wrapper combo?
@@MrEdders123 I'll try the patches when I have more time, thanks, video probably has a section about that :D
@@damirkosm The absolute worse case scenario would probably require running it in a Win98 VM or something and using software mode, but tbh I think a game from 2000 would be way too demanding for that.
Ross Atherton lol. That was a great mag during that era
Thank you for this. My dad bought me this game decades ago and ai could not remember the name, so it had bee gnawing at me for years and years... the game i swore i played but no one else could confirm existed... thank yoy
Sitting on a modern blockbuster movie of 120' mins? Will flip my phone before the hour. Sitting on a retrospective of a game from an age past? Hooked and all time gone.
Great video! I love the way you handled it!
algorithm comment, thank you based MrEdders for another banger
Yesss I love this channel
I have to agree with the statements that this game didn't excel in any one thing but did many things on a okish lvl. I do like the audio effects and audio itself. Specially the motive that is present on @2:25:05. Very good and aspiring to an epic adventure soundtrack. The graphics are not something to write home about but definitely could be worse. I do like the atmosphere even if it's mainly doom and gloom. Overall this does seem like it had ideas but not the execution, maybe experience with working on such titles was the missing thing as is speculated throught the video. Shame that this was not a foundation and basis for another entry. The devs would be smarter next time (probably). Also another excellent MrEdders video, cheers!
Another excellent video *:･ﾟ✧ You have a great narration: nice pace, well-written script, calm and clear voice, tasteful humor, everything is perfect.
Please kindly consider making a video on Sacred (2004).
Amazing
Such a good creator!
:D
Christmas arrived early boys!
About the text and resolution issue. I played the GOG release through dxwnd purely because I wanted to be able to alt tab out of the game but found out that I could use it to adjust the resolution and enabling bilinear filtering in it made the text much more readable.
Thanks for the info bhelish, I tried wine3d/dgvoodoo and a couple of others but not dxwnd.
Game looks spectacular!
I’ve been trying to run the GOG version on Windows 11, but it just crashes at the start. Any help?
Do you have integrated graphics or an AMD card? Best bet is to use the Soulbringer compatibility patches you can find linked in the GoG forums
@@MrEdders123 I just figured it out.
Turns out I should've stuck to Primary Display Driver instead of selecting my graphic card.
One of my favourite games, I have never played.
This is fire 🔥
Gremlin were an interesting company, my first exposure to them was finding a boxed copy of Re-Loaded in a bargain bin at a toystore as a kid. It was pretty cheap, and overall decent, I enjoyed the violence, explosions, and goofy characters.
This game passed me by completely, probably because I wasn't online at the time and wasn't really paying attention to the industry or stuff at that time.
Learning that this has the same writer as Realms Of The Haunting does NOT inspire confidence in me, but I guess I'll keep watching and see where it goes.
Having Paul Green as the writer/designer was a huge marketing point during the run-up to release :D
@@MrEdders123 Pretty dire, but it seems his writing was put through the wringer by this game's tortured development, so I can't judge too hard.
Genuinely excited to watch a 4 hour video on a game I’ve never even heard of
A new video yay
Hey bud, love your videos on CRPGS.
Your planescape video is the most indepth one ive ever seen.
Any chance you could cover Fallout 1/2 or system shock?
Thanks! Probably not though, sorry. I try to avoid better-known stuff (yeah I know I did the Infinity Engine games lol), one reason being there's so much information floating around that it's really hard to collate everything. With Fallout, for example, there was already an insane amount of info available even before Tim Cain launched his channel. I'm going back and forth on something like, say, Arcanum or Ultima Underworld, since they're relatively well-known (by CRPG standards anyway) but don't get that much in-depth coverage. But if they then got remastered and a bunch of other channels started covering them, I'd probably not bother. Sometimes I just randomly change my mind and do stuff anyway (I never had any intention of doing BG or PST when i started the channel),
'...or waifus'
I wonder if there's anything specific MrEdders had in mind there lol
I was thinking of the Silverfall cover art desu
LOVE this game!
Love your work as always. This is what people should mean when they say "games journalism."
Stupid question, but how do you get the non-english review magazines? Do you speak enough of all those languages to interpret the information or do they have translations available somewhere?
No I don't speak any of them, I just run them through DeepL. Sometimes I then run those translations by native speakers if it's something important (e.g. I did this quite frequently when researching Dune to clarify some French stuff). Archive.org lets you select text from the page (if it's not utterly shit quality) and in the cases of most magazines and such, there's a pure text file available too. This sometimes misreads words, though.
Jey, I've seen 2 vids of yours, MrEdders and they are masterfully and beutifull crafted. Mind you crafted not edited, you are an Artisan, period. Now, in this one you finally show the Micromania score, to...then jump to other and talk about their critics, reviews and whatnots, even the frenchs...
Nene, la proxima meteme lo que me decian en Micromania, que eran unos monstruos de la edición y lo probaban todo. La de juegos que descubrí y formas de jugarlos gracias a ellos no es ni normal. (This in spanish to show my frustration xD)
I usually select the magazines because I wanted to show off a particular quote or I feel like using a different source between videos or whatever. In this case I just used the micromania to show off one of the more positive review scores.
@@MrEdders123 I'm very humble to be responded by you. Thank you a lot. I wasn't being serious at all, you don't need to justify your work or choices. Your reviews have a big scope, trying to explain all the circumstances before, around and after the subject, and I love it. Also, even we are have our voice and little biases, yours are very neutral and sincere. So seeing that the magazine that I grew up with appears in this video and that taught me to appreciate many different types of genres, that there were many more studios than the world-known ones and that whenever they could they did interviews with developers, with which you learned what was happening. because of his head... well, it struck a chord with me and you know, you see something, you want more :P
Furthermore, as a hobby, I am always researching and learning about the history of what I consider another art and audiovisual medium that is very little taken into account. With which I know, that much of the information and context of development and other aspects of it are not taken into account, are not asked and are not preserved. It surprises me every time I look for something specific and trust the famous press, at best it is incomplete and in most cases the information is wrong. So I have to spend hours and hours researching it in different sources, forums, magazines, articles...what you basically do, so I know how much it's worth and how hard you put in the effort. In fact, once a year I usually release a small, much shorter video on UA-cam, but in Spanish and more trying to be fun and not informative, although not losing sight of the real facts around it. :P
So finishing my rambling. You are a great content creator and a better historian, keep the good work, I love it ;3