History VideoGame / UltimaII

* CanonDiscontinuity: The fact that this game takes place on Earth is ''never'' mentioned in any of the later games; and they all speak of Minax conquering Sosaria/Britannia instead. Could be TheGreatOffscreenWar, could be a CosmicRetcon; but even the writers [[ShrugOfGod don't talk about it.]] [[note]]Richard Garriot really wanted to have time travel as a central element in his next game, but thought it would lack gravitas if it happened in the minimally-established fantasy worlds mandated by the limits of 1982 personal computers. So, he decided to have the game happen in a familiar setting, which is to say Earth, so players could engage with it. Understandably, nobody could really figure out how to reconcile this with the next game's decision to phase out the sci-fi elements that'd once been so rampant.[[/note]]

* CanonDiscontinuity: The fact that this game takes place on Earth is ''never'' mentioned in any of the later games; and they all speak of Minax conquering Sosaria/Britannia instead. Could be TheGreatOffscreenWar, could be a CosmicRetcon; but even the writers [[ShrugOfGod don't talk about it.]] [[note]]Richard Garriot really wanted to have time travel as a central element in his next game, but thought it would lack gravitas if it happened in the minimally-established fantasy worlds mandated by the limits of 1982 personal computers. So, he decided to have the game happen in a familiar setting, which is to say Earth, so players could engage with it.[[/note]]

''VideoGame/{{Ultima}} II'', first released in 1982, is the second game in the ''Ultima'' series.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The fact that this game takes place on Earth is ''never'' mentioned in any of the later games; and they all speak of Minax conquering Sosaria/Britannia instead. Could be TheGreatOffscreenWar, could be a CosmicRetcon; but even the writers [[ShrugOfGod don't talk about it.]]

* PurelyAestheticGender: Averted, with male characters getting a +5 bonus to their Strength, and female characters getting a +10 bonus to their Charisma. And no, Charisma is NOT a DumpStat here, so female characters actually get an advantage, as they have five more character points compared to the males.

--> [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]]: I'm guessing they were all exiled there for making too many Uranus jokes.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: None of the eras that you can visit in this game are even remotely historically accurate, with neither the BC era (1423 BC) nor the AD era (1990) having any civilizations that should have existed at that time (though that could be explained by WorldLimitedToThePlot), and the Pangea era is set a mere 9 million years ago, and also has a native civilization.

* TimeTravel: via TimePortal, to different eras. [[TheTimeOfMyths Time of Legends]], [[OneMillionBC Pangea]], [[SwordAndSandal 1423 B.C.]], [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 1990 A.D.]], and [[AfterTheEnd Aftermath 2112 A.D.]] Garriott was a big fan of the movie ''Film/TimeBandits'', and it was the inspiration for the Time Portals (Which in later games were the seed for Moongates).

* VideoGameStealing: One of the creatures can steal your equipment (but the game won't say which one requiring the player to check the stats screen.) As for the player, the game no longer mentions when you get caught stealing - but it provides a rather cheap way to collect food because the town of Le Jester isn't walled and has the food shop near the exit.

* CrapsackWorld: [[Music/{{Rush}} 2112]] A.D. The sole surviving city is a [[DirtyCommunists Soviet outpost]], with everyone else nuked.

* GuideDangIt: ''Ultima II'' is guilty of this trope on two ''enormous'' counts:
** Minax can only be defeated by one weapon in the game: the Quicksword. The game does not tell you this. In order to ''get'' the Quicksword, you need to bribe a random man in a prison cell. The game doesn't tell you ''this'' either.

** In order to get past Minax's force fields, you need the Ring. To get the Ring; you have to travel to Planet X; get a message from a priest, and then bribe an old man under a sign that says "ATREE." And all he says is "I'm an old man". (There's a hint that he has it in the pub messages; but not that you have to go to Planet X). Also, while the game does tell you that you should find the Ring, it doesn't mention that it's for getting past force fields.

** In order to get past Minax's force fields, you need the Ring. To get the Ring; you have to travel to Planet X; get a message from a priest, and then bribe an old man (using a keyboard action not covered in the instructions) under a sign that says "ATREE." And all he says is "I'm an old man". (There's a hint that he has it in the pub messages; but not that you have to go to Planet X). Also, while the game does tell you that you should find the Ring, it doesn't mention that it's for getting past force fields.

''VideoGame/{{Ultima}} II''. First released in 1982.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: All the planets in the Solar System have a habitable climate and harbor life.

* AvengingTheVillain: Minax's motivation.