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
1 авг 2024
