In the course of just a few months, your intro has become a sound I love to hear. Won't have time to watch this until later tonight but I know it'll be a great time.
I saw a video essay on Breaking Bad in which the author missed the opportunity to call a chapter "The Event Horizonberg" and vowed to never let this happen to me.
@@asmonius Given that Total War is one franchise and Warhammer is another, it's probably a terrible idea from a marketing perspective and may also have legal issues for the two IPs. But, what are those in the face of the Rule of Cool?!
Before watching Majuular's retrospective I just knew Ultima as "some old RPG series for PC". Now I'm not only invested in the story of this franchise and eagerly waiting to find out more both from within the games and the context surrounding them, but I understand how important they were for the entire genre This comment is an offer for the entity that shall not be named, you know, the thing that runs this platform
Heck I only knew it for Ultima Underworld cause that game predated or released around Wolf 3D. Even then I don't know much about Ultima Underworld to begin with.
"Important for the genre" goes double for what I presume is the topic of the next vid, Ultima Underworld. There's a lot of huge franchises we wouln't have today without Underworld, most notably in recent years the Dark Souls franchise and Elden Ring (King's Field being highly inspired by it) as well as the Elder Scrolls franchise (and by extension the Bethesda Fallout games). Ultima is the grand daddy of th CRPG genre, while Underworld is the pappy of first person dungeon crawlers.
@@analogmoz if we're talking personal peak, Underworld 1 was my jam, U7 had lots of great plot moments I loved, you're right about the combat though, pretty incomprehensible
Sorry to hear that. Hang in there! Things will get better even when it feels like they won't because that's what things do. Hope the video gives you some joy.
Majuular, you're a god damn gift, man. Thank you so much for being the vessel for thousands of people who never got the chance to experience those old Ultima Games. I started playing Ultima Online in the late 90s...and its been wild to see where all of those game design ideas came from.
Thank you truly, it's been a real joy sharing my experience with these games. My head is already spinning imagining the logistics of the inevitable Ultima Online video.
@@Majuular I was hoping you were heading in that direction, hah! No rush, i've thoroughly enjoyed all the non-ultima videos just as much. Cheers homie, you're doing the world a service!
I still have a vivid memory of dumbass child me repeatedly following people into the woods outside Britain with the promise of being given free stuff or shown cool things and getting murdered. And who says video games can't teach pertinent life lessons.
I was so confused: I saw Mr Edders video on Martian Dreams and thought I'd already watched this. Two Ultima videos! In close proximity (obviously just coincidence)! We're eating well tonight!
Just wanted to say thank you for putting so much effort into these retrospectives. Your videos actually helped me through a tough time in my life (breakup - c'est la vie) by giving me some good as hell content to go through and learn from, and your intro gives me the happy brain chemicals every time I hear it now. All this to say - keep up the awesome work!! :)
It's my privilege. Thank you for the super thanks! Hope that life is stabilizing, at least. Long term relationships are a hell of a thing. Take care of yourself bud.
Goddamnit Majulaar! How I looked at the Sacage Empire UI before: "Well that is a stylish and neat variant of the U6 interface!" How I look at it now: 👁👄👁
25:22 I wouldn't call nitrate a mineral. The reason you harvest it from a cave is because guano (bat poop) is a heavy source of nitrate. Doesn't make the video any worse- I'm still loving it! Just thought I would pop up as an educational tidbit for anyone reading.
To think, I only stumbled upon your channel because UA-cam'a search bar decided "heck, we'll throw this random channel in the search bar". Dunno what compelled me to check it, but my god, I'm *so* glad I did, your intro is always a welcome tune in my ears.
I remember how I did. I got a random Darkseed video come across my feed when we were setting uo for a six hour car trip, and I thought 'Hey, why not. I saw the Retsuprae's, lets see what someone else has to say about that little gremlin Mike'.
Been watching your channel since your harvester video, i love seeing new videos come out. The ultimate series has been particularly thrilling, thank you for the countless hours of entertainment!
Oh man I had no idea why I woke up 3 hours ago but I know now. My soul was like "Wake up, there's more amazing Ultima stuff from Majuular" Love your work, Happy Monday Majuular
Started watching this series like a week ago and finished the final one earlier, isn't this a nice surprise. I wasn't alive when these games were made and you've got me to start looking into early RPGs through this series, and just early fantasy like LotR in general. Your videos have a tangible effect on people's lives, thanks for making them.
Thanks so much! One of my goals is to make video game history fun and digestible, since it's easy to feel disconnected from the past. Always vindicating to read comments like this.
It's testament to your writing, delivery and editing that I have watched and loved this series but have no nostalgia or experience with the games whatsoever. Keep it up buddy
Chrono Trigger and Cross get a lot of their inspiration from Ultima 2, 3 and Savage Empire. Most people today just don't notice and think JRPGs and WRPGs are unrelated.
All RPGs regardless of where they come fron are either Ultima or Wizardry. Final Fantasy is an Ultima, Dragon Quest is a Wizardry, Persona looks like a Wizardry but is actually an Ultima. I am only partially joking.
This series is so very excellent, thanks so much for making it! I played JRPGs as a kid and didn't know anything about CRPGs at all until much later in life, and even then my knowledge of them was limited -- I knew OF them, but I'd never played them. Watching this series, it's fascinating to see how much this series (and other series like Wizardry) had a HUGE influence on all of the RPGs I loved as a kid. Hell, the first Dragon Quest even looked similar to Ultima! (We got the glow-up version in the States, but still.) Also, it feels like the Elder Scrolls games took a lot of pages from Ultima's design, especially Oblivion and Skyrim. If I had played Ultima before the ES games, I would've been going "well damn, y'all just wanted to make Ultima in 3D I guess!" While I'm glad that you've made this series and introduced me to these games, it makes me sad that EA has done nothing with this series at all and allowed it to just fade from the cultural consciousness. I could go on about how much I hate how EA has done this to so many games and studios, but this comment is long enough already!
I just want to comment on the Wing Commander section: thanks for covering it and giving it the weight it deserves. I feel like a lot of videogame history has forgotten how pivotal it was in creating a space for what became AAA development (for good and ill). And it's my personal view that, while budget-wise Final Fantasy VII handily outspent it, Wing Commander III is actually the first modern AAA videogame in terms of how it was produced. As always, thanks for your thorough and well-researched videos!!
Thank you for giving the time of day to the Runes of Virtue games! I know they're not the best and some people would call them bad, but those two games got me through some very difficult times in my life. As a bonus Runes of Virtue 2 helped me learn how to make gameshark codes which eventually got me into a career in IT.
Wow. I remember I asked you about these two spin-offs, way back during your Exodus video. I think you hinted that you might give them some attention back then. Never would have guessed it was gonna be an entire 2½ hour video!! Thank you so much! I'm happy to see these two games get some more modern day coverage.
Your videos have become my defacto watch whenever i have a bunch of prep work to do for d&d, and seeing this pop up not 5 minutes after starting that work made my whole night
I needed this Maj, these past months haven't been too kind to me, so: Thank you for this upload. Hoping everybody is doing well on your side! Wishing you the best.
Glad to see the next entry in the series, I'd say this is the best Ultima retrospective series on UA-cam and you're not even done yet, can't wait to see when you get to 8 & 9
hell yes another video to fall asleep to like every night for the next month gonna make my youtube rewind "you watched 21x as much as the average viewer" stat look like rookie numbers by this time next year thank you for making content that is as enjoyable to listen to as it is to pay attention to. Always love seeing a new video of yours in my sub box :)
Boy. I think you're a lot more respectful and mature than I am. If it were my dumbass making a video on Savage Empire, I woulda just straight up insulted everyone who gets all uncomfortable and jumps to weird conclusions about the name or the various tribes. Probably woulda said reaching such conclusions says more about the person who got to those conclusions rather than the game itself. What I'm trying to say is, good job navigating that weird aspect of the game. You've got a lot of tact. It was a good reminder for me to take a less combative position in the future.
God It's so nice to see more ultima Deep dives including covering stuff that the old Spoony reviews never covered. Whilst those Spoony retrospectives are fun they definitely are a product of their time but these feel like classics I can come back to watch again and again. I think I've already watched your Shadow tower retrospective like three times already.
As always, incredible to to get so much quality and at such length! The audio, the editing, somehow everything seems to improve with every video! Great job once again!
Unironically happy to have cause to comment on one of your videos this time. Alas, i am really trying to finish some of the other hour + videos im in the middle of but I had to at least stop here and say hey and leave a like😊 I'll have this in my watch history to continue tonight!
A new Majuular video is exactly what this Monday needed. #Cultima Wing Commander was my absolute jam back in the day. Right now, I only have boxes copies of 3 and 4, but I will find the rest one day. That OPL-2 Wing Commander theme has my nostalgia synapses firing like mad.
Thanks for reminding me that I'm 42, and also thanks for someone finally giving the ultima series a really thorough review. Cant wait for the next Trilogy! Not you, Ultima 8 and 9
What a couple of small, imperfect, yet beautiful gems the World of Ultima games are! They show the kind of creativity and risk-taking that are now relegated to indies, but once were somewhat common in the industry. Can you imagine a tuple-A game based on the works of Jules Verne starring Tesla, Freud and Rasputin? Thanks for this retrospective, much appreciated! And now I'm gingerly waiting for the next episode, Ultima Underworld I and II are personal favorites of mine.
Your long form video game essays are some of my favorite content to listen to, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the hard work and research!
Finding you and Dungeon Chill in my recommendations was one of the best things UA-cam has done for me. I may not know anything about most of the games you guys cover, but you're just cosy to listen to. And yeah, definitely invested in learning more about Ultima now thanks to you.
Woke up and while still in bed I saw this in my subscription feed and 2 hours later I’m still in bed as I watch this, so you’re at fault for my lack of productivity this ‘morning’ (it’s 8pm but it’s morning for me dammit).
Man, I love this channel. I can't claim to have played MOST of the games you talk about, but if I ever need a 2-hour video to play in the background while I'm cooking something, or hanging out with the cat, I throw on a Majuular vid most of the time. Good shit, very thankful for your work.
Been foaming at the mouth for every episode, dnd was cancelled and im starting ultima 1 on my miyoo mini while doing my bed sheet laundry, your release could not be more perfectly timed. Love you Majuular.
Thank you as always, sir, for your videos being wonderfully funny and highly educational in depth reviews. Every time a new video of yours drops, I know I'm in for a great time that day.
Very quickly became one of my favorite game retrospective channels. Always a treat when you drop a video. One day I hope you hit 1M+ subs and UA-cam bestows upon you the Flask of Tephnuut
I'm a simple man. I see Majuular's 2+ hour vid, I instantly know that I'll get some wonderful video game history and trivia to listen to for the day. Man, I grew up and live outside of US, and while I certainly heard about Ultima, I never knew its actual impact on video game history. This is a fantastic piece of history, and a research work to boot.
Bro I cannot express strongly enough how these videos resonate with me. They're games I dabbled with, but I was either too dumb or too busy to truly engage with. But these videos have driven me back to play a few of them as an adult, and I've gained an appreciation I didn't have then form them. The nostalgia hooks me, and the deep dives engage me. I've told my two brothers about your channel and they're in now too.
Clicked on this series on a whim one night while browsing and I have been hooked since. Your depth of research and passion for these games are infectious and makes me really eager to learn more. Really enjoying the videos, I saw Savage Empire was available for free on GOG so I decided to give it a download to try.
I just came across your channel recently and it's becoming one of my favorites! Really well researched and engaging to watch. Looking forward to whatever you cover Lord Majuular
I can't overstate how much I adore this retrospective series. When Ultima was first making a name for itself I was around 2-3 years old so by the time it became the standard for PC RPGs i was just hitting school but already obsessed with the fantasy genre and gaming as a whole. My parents, being loving but also responsible, didn't really bombard me with every little thing I wanted like a computer but were always willing to get me any book/magazine I wanted so I would live vicariously through the screenshots and coverage. Wing Commander was a title I remember being raved about for quite a while, the different glimpses into it's world looking like absolute magic to me at the time. I knew of Ultima and even rented the odd NES ports on occasion (which I hold a soft spot for, they captured a large part of the essence I think even if compromises were made) so it's incredible to see all I missed out on. What really makes this video series shine, at least to me, is how aside from the excellent step by step overview of the games themselves (which do a wonderful job of making me feel as if I was watching a friend play through them) it gives great background and insight to the real world going ons. I'm not sure if you've read it but I highly recommend the book "You" by Austin Grossman which takes a lot of inspiration from the real world PC gaming scene of the mid 80s through early 90s while also tackling the philosophical concepts of what role the player has while experiencing a game. Easily one of my favorite books of the last few years and adds further appreciation for the men and women who works so tirelessly to bring their vision to the rest of us.
It takes me a few days to finish watching your videos... and what a pleasant surprise to see some fair coverage of the Runes of Virtues GB games at the end! I LOVED Runes of Virtue 2 as a kid. It was the first game I ever played where you could step outside the starting castle and go anywhere... visit towns, steal a pirate ship, take a moongate to parts unknown, explore a cave or dungeon. Highly underrated and whenever I mention it to youtubers with waaaay more subscribers than I have with my humble small channel, nobody takes notice or when they do mention it, it's just to dump on it because they played it for 30 seconds without giving it a chance or understanding it. So thanks for giving those games a few minutes of fair & balanced coverage! I hope other people will realize they exist and give them a play (well, ROV 2 anyway, that's the much better one)
Literally every time I think to myself "huh, it's been a little while since Majuular made something", or when I notice your last video says "4 weeks ago" you put up a new video within a day or two. Your regularity is so astonishing you're Pavloving us into anticipating fresh Majuular joints
yussss! Been waiting for this one not only because I thought that examining Ultima's foray into other genres was fascinating... but also because Majuular's now one step closer to tackling Ultima VII: the Black Gate, which was such a jawdropper of a game at the time
Finally, i can take a break from the hell of the holidays and watch one of my fave series. Love the content maj, your uploads are the highlight of the month for me
A while back I was on a small 90s cRPG bender and decided to tackle Ultima 7, a game I had heard about as one of the big legends. I first tried to do it as a blind Let's Play to serve the dual purpose of introducing other people to this important piece of cRPG history, though I eventually burned out on that, since it's a massive amount of work. When you started this series I told myself I'd finish U7 before your video on it, so I could experience the game for myself first. I am very glad you're tackling Worlds of Ultima and Ultima Underworld, because my progress is glacially slow and this gives me some respite! Absolutely fascinating look at the Worlds of Ultima games, though: they seem to get passed over a lot in discussion of the series as a whole, but this makes Martian Dreams especially stand out as a very creative effort that engages directly with the philosophical themes of mainline games. You've tempted me to play it, despite the complex interface of U6 having initially put me off. (I usually profess to like complex games, but I've found that as an adult I can rarely stand the frustration of a cumbersome interface. I'm think I'm much more interested in engaging with a complex system.)
Bro, I don't care how much time passes or how many subscribers you get. Never change that intro. It's iconic! That's me with the white hair smiling as I sit down to watch another Majuular video! Keep it up, man, you're one of the few I come back for!
Another great chapter in the Ultima Saga. I absolutely plan to watch the whole series again once you're done. Hardest part is just remembering what happened last game.
"Layers upon layers of gorgeous, detailed pixel art - which they just called 'art' back then" And with that, I immediately smashed the like and subscribe buttons. Well played sir! Interesting to see The Fat Man pop up in the credits for Savage Empire. I recognise his name from The 7th Guest, but damn, he's got one hell of a list of games to his name that I never realised!
i've really loved your ultima retrospective. i barely knew anything about it other than it being a 'legendary rpg' before them. when i was a kid, i genuinely thought they were jrpgs but i never found a way to play them. learning about them has felt serendipitous. thanks for all your hard work!
I don't think I've been as hyped for a youtube video as I am for that Ultima 7 review. Other than the Ultima 8 review, for completely opposite reasons. ... *Oh god Ultima 9* EDIT: OH GOD UNDERWORLD LETS GO!
Space Rogue and 2400 A.D. For such nostalgic experiences for me, no matter what faults they may have. Still play them every so often. And of course, the Worlds of Ultima games are classics, although not as good as the regular mainline Ultima games. I do appreciate that they did use the U6 engine, because I think it is a perfect middle ground between old school and new school Ultima. Still has a tactical flavor, but also is capable of a lot of sandbox interactivity. I don't think Martian Dreams or Savage Empire would have been as good using the U7 engine, as much as I like it. Thank you again for all your hard work and making all of this wonderful content.
H E L L YA! Nothing makes a Monday better then a deep dive with the prairie man himself. On this frigid December day, the retrospective gods smiled upon us, blessing our eyes and ears with another high quality banger of a video. Incredible work as always my guy 👏
I love that Spector's idea for Martian Dreams beat out the more traditionally cool cyberpunk concept. Nerds looking for their coolguy power fantasies where they smoke mecha cigarettes in cyber brothels need to STEP ASIDE because I want to hang out with George Washington Carver and grow plants. Based.
Majulaar out here doing more with Ultima than EA has in years.
It doesn't take much 😬
Savage
That's probably for the better these days.
*decades
🎵 Co-stanzaaa 🎵
In the course of just a few months, your intro has become a sound I love to hear. Won't have time to watch this until later tonight but I know it'll be a great time.
It's PERFECT.
Can't help but whistle it every time I start up a new vid
Where does the intro come from? Sorry if this is common knowledge
@@robinlarin69 The video is from a Commodore Amiga commercial, but the jingle is from something else.
@@Ghosty99675985 hmmm ok thanks, it sounds quite iconic really
"...The cult of Ultima"
Or the Cultim-
"Or the Cultima, as I've decided to call it just now."
Good to know we're on the same wavelength
Same here had the exact same thought lol
I saw a video essay on Breaking Bad in which the author missed the opportunity to call a chapter "The Event Horizonberg" and vowed to never let this happen to me.
Literally the same it filled me with so much joy
@@Majuular That's like Creative Assembly calling it Total War: Warhammer instead of Total Warhammer. IT'S RIGHT THERE!
@@asmonius Given that Total War is one franchise and Warhammer is another, it's probably a terrible idea from a marketing perspective and may also have legal issues for the two IPs.
But, what are those in the face of the Rule of Cool?!
Before watching Majuular's retrospective I just knew Ultima as "some old RPG series for PC". Now I'm not only invested in the story of this franchise and eagerly waiting to find out more both from within the games and the context surrounding them, but I understand how important they were for the entire genre
This comment is an offer for the entity that shall not be named, you know, the thing that runs this platform
That's music to my ears, always love to read comments like this.
yea the story is basically a slow burn tragedy.
Heck I only knew it for Ultima Underworld cause that game predated or released around Wolf 3D.
Even then I don't know much about Ultima Underworld to begin with.
"Important for the genre" goes double for what I presume is the topic of the next vid, Ultima Underworld.
There's a lot of huge franchises we wouln't have today without Underworld, most notably in recent years the Dark Souls franchise and Elden Ring (King's Field being highly inspired by it) as well as the Elder Scrolls franchise (and by extension the Bethesda Fallout games).
Ultima is the grand daddy of th CRPG genre, while Underworld is the pappy of first person dungeon crawlers.
hell yeah! yes. YES! the ultima 7 video is going to be so long, I can feel it
As someone who played Ultima VII back in the day, it's going to be epic and I can't wait.
U7 is shite combat and putting things on top of things. U5 and U6 are peak.
@@analogmoz if we're talking personal peak, Underworld 1 was my jam, U7 had lots of great plot moments I loved, you're right about the combat though, pretty incomprehensible
That's going to be good yes, but i'm looking forward to his Ultima 8 video and especially Ultima 9. That's going to be glorious.
Also Ultima Underworld I & II. :-)
2:21 "This left another of Origin's rising stars as commander in chief of their next big project. Chris Roberts."
Oh cool, a villain origin story!
S-star citizen is coming any day now....
@@MajuularAaaaany day now
@@Majuular Dude.... you gotta believe harder! Take the spirit of Star Citizen into your heart!
Just 1 billion dollars to go!
Its what happens when you remove constraints from a creative that can't set their own limits. It's a Megalopolis/Duke Nukem Forever situation.
no joke, I have rewatched your content so much. you are the coziest retrospective content maker around, and I can't get enough. Thank you boss
Thanks for watching!
I just throw his videos on to fall asleep to lol
Dude, I was having the crappiest two weeks of my life and this just instantly put the first smile on my face in 13 days. Thank you
Sorry to hear that. Hang in there! Things will get better even when it feels like they won't because that's what things do. Hope the video gives you some joy.
@Majuular It is so far, and I will hang on so I can see more of your stuff in the future 😤
Winston Churchill said: when you’re going through hell, keep going.
A grimbeard and majuular video on the same day! what kind of magical monday is this!
I KNOWWWWWW. The world is spiraling, but for the next 4 hours we are truly blessed.
What's up, Goth Gamer Nation?
Healthy, wealthy, and goth gamer
Greetings, fellow goth gamer nationals
Someone tell me where the rat relevant content is for the roundup.
Majuular, you're a god damn gift, man. Thank you so much for being the vessel for thousands of people who never got the chance to experience those old Ultima Games.
I started playing Ultima Online in the late 90s...and its been wild to see where all of those game design ideas came from.
Thank you truly, it's been a real joy sharing my experience with these games. My head is already spinning imagining the logistics of the inevitable Ultima Online video.
@Majuular I wish you luck. I started playing UO in 2015 and it's one of my favorite games to date
@@Majuular I was hoping you were heading in that direction, hah! No rush, i've thoroughly enjoyed all the non-ultima videos just as much. Cheers homie, you're doing the world a service!
I still have a vivid memory of dumbass child me repeatedly following people into the woods outside Britain with the promise of being given free stuff or shown cool things and getting murdered.
And who says video games can't teach pertinent life lessons.
I was so confused: I saw Mr Edders video on Martian Dreams and thought I'd already watched this. Two Ultima videos! In close proximity (obviously just coincidence)! We're eating well tonight!
Just wanted to say thank you for putting so much effort into these retrospectives. Your videos actually helped me through a tough time in my life (breakup - c'est la vie) by giving me some good as hell content to go through and learn from, and your intro gives me the happy brain chemicals every time I hear it now.
All this to say - keep up the awesome work!! :)
It's my privilege. Thank you for the super thanks! Hope that life is stabilizing, at least. Long term relationships are a hell of a thing. Take care of yourself bud.
I swear he has a special power to upload whenever im like "Huh its been a little while since he uploaded"
Who knew people would be making in depth analyses of these games over 30 years later. And who knew I'd be watching them.
And now the wait for the Ultima Underworld Retrospective begins...
It's next up on the docket, you shouldn't have to wait too long!
@@MajuularIncluding Underworld Ascendant😏??
LETS NOT GET TOO HEISTY THERE PLEASE @@cybercop0083
Let’s goooo
Goddamnit Majulaar!
How I looked at the Sacage Empire UI before: "Well that is a stylish and neat variant of the U6 interface!"
How I look at it now: 👁👄👁
25:22 I wouldn't call nitrate a mineral. The reason you harvest it from a cave is because guano (bat poop) is a heavy source of nitrate. Doesn't make the video any worse- I'm still loving it! Just thought I would pop up as an educational tidbit for anyone reading.
The rage for nitrate for developing flash photography led to the frantic hunt for bat guano and lead the the awesome expression "batshit crazy."😊
I really like the approach of putting fun trivia that didn't fit elsewhere into the credits.
I concur!
To think, I only stumbled upon your channel because UA-cam'a search bar decided "heck, we'll throw this random channel in the search bar". Dunno what compelled me to check it, but my god, I'm *so* glad I did, your intro is always a welcome tune in my ears.
I remember how I did.
I got a random Darkseed video come across my feed when we were setting uo for a six hour car trip, and I thought 'Hey, why not. I saw the Retsuprae's, lets see what someone else has to say about that little gremlin Mike'.
My experience was UA-cam kept auto playing his King's Field video. After the hundredth time, I finally decided to watch it.
I was looking for the Devin Townsend song and found that dark seed video lol
Been watching your channel since your harvester video, i love seeing new videos come out. The ultimate series has been particularly thrilling, thank you for the countless hours of entertainment!
Thank you for watching!
Majuular always makes my day better
Oh man I had no idea why I woke up 3 hours ago but I know now. My soul was like "Wake up, there's more amazing Ultima stuff from Majuular"
Love your work, Happy Monday Majuular
Started watching this series like a week ago and finished the final one earlier, isn't this a nice surprise. I wasn't alive when these games were made and you've got me to start looking into early RPGs through this series, and just early fantasy like LotR in general. Your videos have a tangible effect on people's lives, thanks for making them.
Thanks so much! One of my goals is to make video game history fun and digestible, since it's easy to feel disconnected from the past. Always vindicating to read comments like this.
Your Ultima retrospective is the best, bar NONE! Christmas came early this year!
Love your stuff!
It's testament to your writing, delivery and editing that I have watched and loved this series but have no nostalgia or experience with the games whatsoever. Keep it up buddy
Chrono Trigger and Cross get a lot of their inspiration from Ultima 2, 3 and Savage Empire. Most people today just don't notice and think JRPGs and WRPGs are unrelated.
All RPGs regardless of where they come fron are either Ultima or Wizardry.
Final Fantasy is an Ultima, Dragon Quest is a Wizardry, Persona looks like a Wizardry but is actually an Ultima.
I am only partially joking.
@@noukan42 No for real. That is pretty accurate.
@noukan42 Yeah pretty much, I mean dragon Quest whas what if we made something like an Ultima or Wizardry but for a NES.
This is the inside of a police station.
This library is a venerable repository of knowledge
This station is non-operational.
@@analogmoz Dark Seed and ATDI reference in the same thread? Worlds are colliding here!!
What a quaint general store with a little bit of everything for day-to-day existence
The combination of company history and game retrospective is an awesome format.
This series is so very excellent, thanks so much for making it!
I played JRPGs as a kid and didn't know anything about CRPGs at all until much later in life, and even then my knowledge of them was limited -- I knew OF them, but I'd never played them. Watching this series, it's fascinating to see how much this series (and other series like Wizardry) had a HUGE influence on all of the RPGs I loved as a kid. Hell, the first Dragon Quest even looked similar to Ultima! (We got the glow-up version in the States, but still.)
Also, it feels like the Elder Scrolls games took a lot of pages from Ultima's design, especially Oblivion and Skyrim. If I had played Ultima before the ES games, I would've been going "well damn, y'all just wanted to make Ultima in 3D I guess!"
While I'm glad that you've made this series and introduced me to these games, it makes me sad that EA has done nothing with this series at all and allowed it to just fade from the cultural consciousness. I could go on about how much I hate how EA has done this to so many games and studios, but this comment is long enough already!
I just want to comment on the Wing Commander section: thanks for covering it and giving it the weight it deserves. I feel like a lot of videogame history has forgotten how pivotal it was in creating a space for what became AAA development (for good and ill). And it's my personal view that, while budget-wise Final Fantasy VII handily outspent it, Wing Commander III is actually the first modern AAA videogame in terms of how it was produced.
As always, thanks for your thorough and well-researched videos!!
Thank you for giving the time of day to the Runes of Virtue games! I know they're not the best and some people would call them bad, but those two games got me through some very difficult times in my life. As a bonus Runes of Virtue 2 helped me learn how to make gameshark codes which eventually got me into a career in IT.
Look, it says you only uploaded it 5 minutes ago, but without having seen the video yet, I'm already in a better mood.
Wow. I remember I asked you about these two spin-offs, way back during your Exodus video. I think you hinted that you might give them some attention back then. Never would have guessed it was gonna be an entire 2½ hour video!! Thank you so much! I'm happy to see these two games get some more modern day coverage.
Your videos have become my defacto watch whenever i have a bunch of prep work to do for d&d, and seeing this pop up not 5 minutes after starting that work made my whole night
What a wonderful treat. Christmas comes early this year!
Always love and appreciate the uploads.
This series has been so fun and informative! Your videos have gotten better and better over the years!
I needed this Maj, these past months haven't been too kind to me, so: Thank you for this upload.
Hoping everybody is doing well on your side!
Wishing you the best.
Cheers clokko, sorry to hear that. Hope this takes your mind off things for a bit and hope even more that things get better for you.
@Majuular It will, just as all your past ones always have.
Sincerely, thank you.
What wonderful timing, I just ran out of Majuular videos to rewatch. The win here is immense.
I've been rewatching him before bed of late myself.
Majuular and NGPlus videos are my goto.
Thank you for adding chapters, by the way. Now I can jump to the right timing if youtube misremembers where I was
Glad to see the next entry in the series, I'd say this is the best Ultima retrospective series on UA-cam and you're not even done yet, can't wait to see when you get to 8 & 9
It’s neat seeing the evolution from Spoony to MS-DOS Project to FinnTrovert to Maajular.
@Noon3rs I've never seen the MS-DOS Project one but am familiar with the other 2, shame Spoony completely self destructed
@@hakai124 Agreed. Nothing lasts forever, but you always hope the end is one to celebrate and not mourn.
hell yes another video to fall asleep to like every night for the next month
gonna make my youtube rewind "you watched 21x as much as the average viewer" stat look like rookie numbers by this time next year
thank you for making content that is as enjoyable to listen to as it is to pay attention to. Always love seeing a new video of yours in my sub box :)
Majuular sleep crew assemble
Boy. I think you're a lot more respectful and mature than I am. If it were my dumbass making a video on Savage Empire, I woulda just straight up insulted everyone who gets all uncomfortable and jumps to weird conclusions about the name or the various tribes. Probably woulda said reaching such conclusions says more about the person who got to those conclusions rather than the game itself.
What I'm trying to say is, good job navigating that weird aspect of the game. You've got a lot of tact. It was a good reminder for me to take a less combative position in the future.
I have been watching, watching, and rewatching your Ultima Retrospectives again and again and have been waiting for this. and to think I'm this early!
God It's so nice to see more ultima Deep dives including covering stuff that the old Spoony reviews never covered. Whilst those Spoony retrospectives are fun they definitely are a product of their time but these feel like classics I can come back to watch again and again. I think I've already watched your Shadow tower retrospective like three times already.
As always, incredible to to get so much quality and at such length! The audio, the editing, somehow everything seems to improve with every video! Great job once again!
Majuular has really become my favorite content creator. These old rpgs can be quite daunting but it's awesome watching you go through them.
Unironically happy to have cause to comment on one of your videos this time. Alas, i am really trying to finish some of the other hour + videos im in the middle of but I had to at least stop here and say hey and leave a like😊
I'll have this in my watch history to continue tonight!
A new Majuular video is exactly what this Monday needed. #Cultima
Wing Commander was my absolute jam back in the day. Right now, I only have boxes copies of 3 and 4, but I will find the rest one day. That OPL-2 Wing Commander theme has my nostalgia synapses firing like mad.
Here I was rewatching all of your Ultima videos and finished U5, then I see you published this video. Here I go! Thanks for all your efforts.
Thanks for reminding me that I'm 42, and also thanks for someone finally giving the ultima series a really thorough review. Cant wait for the next Trilogy! Not you, Ultima 8 and 9
What a couple of small, imperfect, yet beautiful gems the World of Ultima games are! They show the kind of creativity and risk-taking that are now relegated to indies, but once were somewhat common in the industry. Can you imagine a tuple-A game based on the works of Jules Verne starring Tesla, Freud and Rasputin?
Thanks for this retrospective, much appreciated! And now I'm gingerly waiting for the next episode, Ultima Underworld I and II are personal favorites of mine.
Every time a Majuular video graces my subscription feed, my day is immediately better and my evening entertainment set. Thanks for all you do my man!
You know what I do need to watch a 2 hour video analysis of a game I'll never play before going to bed
Your long form video game essays are some of my favorite content to listen to, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the hard work and research!
Finding you and Dungeon Chill in my recommendations was one of the best things UA-cam has done for me. I may not know anything about most of the games you guys cover, but you're just cosy to listen to. And yeah, definitely invested in learning more about Ultima now thanks to you.
Woke up and while still in bed I saw this in my subscription feed and 2 hours later I’m still in bed as I watch this, so you’re at fault for my lack of productivity this ‘morning’ (it’s 8pm but it’s morning for me dammit).
Man, I love this channel. I can't claim to have played MOST of the games you talk about, but if I ever need a 2-hour video to play in the background while I'm cooking something, or hanging out with the cat, I throw on a Majuular vid most of the time. Good shit, very thankful for your work.
Happy cozy season to you majuular.
And to you Ted!
Been foaming at the mouth for every episode, dnd was cancelled and im starting ultima 1 on my miyoo mini while doing my bed sheet laundry, your release could not be more perfectly timed. Love you Majuular.
BABE WAKE UP, NEW RICHARDO LONGFINGER VIDEO JUST DROPPED
The effects of my nat 20 disguise check continue to reverberate throughout the channel
Thank you as always, sir, for your videos being wonderfully funny and highly educational in depth reviews. Every time a new video of yours drops, I know I'm in for a great time that day.
Very quickly became one of my favorite game retrospective channels. Always a treat when you drop a video. One day I hope you hit 1M+ subs and UA-cam bestows upon you the Flask of Tephnuut
I'm recovering from surgery and your videos are just the medicine I need thx Maj
I'm a simple man. I see Majuular's 2+ hour vid, I instantly know that I'll get some wonderful video game history and trivia to listen to for the day. Man, I grew up and live outside of US, and while I certainly heard about Ultima, I never knew its actual impact on video game history. This is a fantastic piece of history, and a research work to boot.
Man, it's crazy how you put out such well-researched, entertaining, and high-quality videos so quickly. Congrats!
Bro I cannot express strongly enough how these videos resonate with me. They're games I dabbled with, but I was either too dumb or too busy to truly engage with. But these videos have driven me back to play a few of them as an adult, and I've gained an appreciation I didn't have then form them. The nostalgia hooks me, and the deep dives engage me. I've told my two brothers about your channel and they're in now too.
Clicked on this series on a whim one night while browsing and I have been hooked since. Your depth of research and passion for these games are infectious and makes me really eager to learn more. Really enjoying the videos, I saw Savage Empire was available for free on GOG so I decided to give it a download to try.
For real, so much roleplaying history in these videos, thanks for making this series.
I just came across your channel recently and it's becoming one of my favorites! Really well researched and engaging to watch. Looking forward to whatever you cover Lord Majuular
You brilliant bastard you managed to do what Spoony never did, love you Majuular
A maj AND Grimbeard drop in the same day? Truly it is a miracle
Your content has a healing power over my soul. Work drains me your vids entertain me. Thanks for all your effort on these Ultima episodes, especially.
👍
Hey thanks so much! You haven't watched the video yet though it might be terrible and you'll regret the tip...
I can't overstate how much I adore this retrospective series. When Ultima was first making a name for itself I was around 2-3 years old so by the time it became the standard for PC RPGs i was just hitting school but already obsessed with the fantasy genre and gaming as a whole. My parents, being loving but also responsible, didn't really bombard me with every little thing I wanted like a computer but were always willing to get me any book/magazine I wanted so I would live vicariously through the screenshots and coverage. Wing Commander was a title I remember being raved about for quite a while, the different glimpses into it's world looking like absolute magic to me at the time. I knew of Ultima and even rented the odd NES ports on occasion (which I hold a soft spot for, they captured a large part of the essence I think even if compromises were made) so it's incredible to see all I missed out on.
What really makes this video series shine, at least to me, is how aside from the excellent step by step overview of the games themselves (which do a wonderful job of making me feel as if I was watching a friend play through them) it gives great background and insight to the real world going ons. I'm not sure if you've read it but I highly recommend the book "You" by Austin Grossman which takes a lot of inspiration from the real world PC gaming scene of the mid 80s through early 90s while also tackling the philosophical concepts of what role the player has while experiencing a game. Easily one of my favorite books of the last few years and adds further appreciation for the men and women who works so tirelessly to bring their vision to the rest of us.
Always a joy seeing a new video of urs pop up in my feed! Super hyped to hear your thoughts on VII :]
It takes me a few days to finish watching your videos... and what a pleasant surprise to see some fair coverage of the Runes of Virtues GB games at the end! I LOVED Runes of Virtue 2 as a kid. It was the first game I ever played where you could step outside the starting castle and go anywhere... visit towns, steal a pirate ship, take a moongate to parts unknown, explore a cave or dungeon. Highly underrated and whenever I mention it to youtubers with waaaay more subscribers than I have with my humble small channel, nobody takes notice or when they do mention it, it's just to dump on it because they played it for 30 seconds without giving it a chance or understanding it. So thanks for giving those games a few minutes of fair & balanced coverage! I hope other people will realize they exist and give them a play (well, ROV 2 anyway, that's the much better one)
Literally every time I think to myself "huh, it's been a little while since Majuular made something", or when I notice your last video says "4 weeks ago" you put up a new video within a day or two. Your regularity is so astonishing you're Pavloving us into anticipating fresh Majuular joints
Having never played any of these games, It's been very fun to see them and have you guide us through them. Good work.
yussss! Been waiting for this one not only because I thought that examining Ultima's foray into other genres was fascinating... but also because Majuular's now one step closer to tackling Ultima VII: the Black Gate, which was such a jawdropper of a game at the time
Your videos are always so cozy.
Just got add my voice to the chorus. That opening synth riff is instant happiness for me. Thanks, and keep doing what you do!
Your videos are huge source of comfort to me. So psyched for the latest Ultima addition!
Your videos are so well made and high quality. I truly get excited everytime when I see a new video of yours. Thank you for your creations
Finally, i can take a break from the hell of the holidays and watch one of my fave series. Love the content maj, your uploads are the highlight of the month for me
A while back I was on a small 90s cRPG bender and decided to tackle Ultima 7, a game I had heard about as one of the big legends. I first tried to do it as a blind Let's Play to serve the dual purpose of introducing other people to this important piece of cRPG history, though I eventually burned out on that, since it's a massive amount of work. When you started this series I told myself I'd finish U7 before your video on it, so I could experience the game for myself first.
I am very glad you're tackling Worlds of Ultima and Ultima Underworld, because my progress is glacially slow and this gives me some respite!
Absolutely fascinating look at the Worlds of Ultima games, though: they seem to get passed over a lot in discussion of the series as a whole, but this makes Martian Dreams especially stand out as a very creative effort that engages directly with the philosophical themes of mainline games. You've tempted me to play it, despite the complex interface of U6 having initially put me off. (I usually profess to like complex games, but I've found that as an adult I can rarely stand the frustration of a cumbersome interface. I'm think I'm much more interested in engaging with a complex system.)
I was eagerly waiting for this, perfect timing.
Just yesterday I was wondering if it was about time for another certified Majuular Banger and here I am watching it
Bro, I don't care how much time passes or how many subscribers you get. Never change that intro. It's iconic! That's me with the white hair smiling as I sit down to watch another Majuular video!
Keep it up, man, you're one of the few I come back for!
Another great chapter in the Ultima Saga. I absolutely plan to watch the whole series again once you're done. Hardest part is just remembering what happened last game.
Just got home after having surgery. This will help pass the time, so thanks dude!
"Layers upon layers of gorgeous, detailed pixel art - which they just called 'art' back then"
And with that, I immediately smashed the like and subscribe buttons. Well played sir!
Interesting to see The Fat Man pop up in the credits for Savage Empire. I recognise his name from The 7th Guest, but damn, he's got one hell of a list of games to his name that I never realised!
i've really loved your ultima retrospective. i barely knew anything about it other than it being a 'legendary rpg' before them. when i was a kid, i genuinely thought they were jrpgs but i never found a way to play them. learning about them has felt serendipitous. thanks for all your hard work!
I don't think I've been as hyped for a youtube video as I am for that Ultima 7 review.
Other than the Ultima 8 review, for completely opposite reasons.
... *Oh god Ultima 9*
EDIT: OH GOD UNDERWORLD LETS GO!
Space Rogue and 2400 A.D. For such nostalgic experiences for me, no matter what faults they may have. Still play them every so often.
And of course, the Worlds of Ultima games are classics, although not as good as the regular mainline Ultima games. I do appreciate that they did use the U6 engine, because I think it is a perfect middle ground between old school and new school Ultima. Still has a tactical flavor, but also is capable of a lot of sandbox interactivity. I don't think Martian Dreams or Savage Empire would have been as good using the U7 engine, as much as I like it.
Thank you again for all your hard work and making all of this wonderful content.
H E L L YA! Nothing makes a Monday better then a deep dive with the prairie man himself. On this frigid December day, the retrospective gods smiled upon us, blessing our eyes and ears with another high quality banger of a video. Incredible work as always my guy 👏
Nice, just it time to watch while I eat!
Ive been looking forward to this video!
it shows how engaging these videos are, because despite me really not caring about Ultima at all, I watched all of this
How did I never hear of savage empire? I thought I played every ultima. This is one of the best channels on UA-cam. Big fan.
I love that Spector's idea for Martian Dreams beat out the more traditionally cool cyberpunk concept. Nerds looking for their coolguy power fantasies where they smoke mecha cigarettes in cyber brothels need to STEP ASIDE because I want to hang out with George Washington Carver and grow plants. Based.
"Pixel art, which they just called art back then..." Sonny, if I want to feel old I'll got in for a prostate exame tyvm.