Line #42 VideoGame/UltimaII


1	[[quoteright:321:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ultima_ii_cover.jpg]]
2	->''"Traverse deep dark deadly dungeons''
3	->''And tall terrifying towers''
4	->''Travel throughout the galaxy''
5	->''To the planets of our solar system''
6	->''And conquer time itself to battle''
7	->''Minax the Enchantress''"
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9	''VideoGame/{{Ultima}} II: The Revenge of the Enchantress'', first released in 1982, is the second game in the ''Ultima'' series.
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11	Minax, the [[TeacherStudentRomance apprentice and lover]] of [[VideoGame/UltimaI Mondain]], is a bit ticked off that some Stranger from another dimension killed her mentor. Utilizing time gates opened in the wake of Mondain's death, Minax travels back to [[TheTimeOfMyths The Time of Legends]] and builds a new army, which she uses to take over Earth. Once again, Lord British (who's escaped to Earth from Sosaria) summons The Stranger, who must travel throughout time and space to save the Solar System from Minax's evil. (Later games {{Retcon}} this, stating that the events of the game took place entirely in Sosaria, the world of the previous game.)
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13	''Ultima II'' is similar to its predecessor, though it takes the SchizoTech element up to eleven, and was originally programmed in machine language rather than BASIC. The gameplay world is vast and detailed, though much of it is only for decoration and not required to complete the game. It also started a tradition of including {{Feelies}} in the box, in this case a cloth map of the various time doors.
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15	----
16	!!This game had examples of:
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18	* 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[[note]]In reality Pangea broke apart about 200 million years ago[[/note]] and also has a native civilization.
19	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: All the planets in the Solar System have a habitable climate and harbor life.
20	%%* AvengingTheVillain: Minax's motivation.
21	* 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. Needless to say, 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]]
22	* CoolSpaceship: No [[VideoGame/UltimaI TIE Fighters]] this time; you have to search the Solar System for a Blessing from a Priest who lives on Planet X (you have to search the other planets to get the coordinates) that gives you permission to get the Ring that lets you survive the DeflectorShields in Minax's castle.
23	* CrapsackWorld: [[Music/RushBand 2112]] A.D. The sole surviving city is a [[DirtyCommunists Soviet outpost]], with everyone else nuked.
24	* DungeonCrawling: Now they have towers too. There's even less reason to go into different ones than in ''VideoGame/UltimaI''. Pick a dungeon and farm it for rocket fuel and LevelGrinding. They were possibly intended to be the only source of fuel, but in most versions (FM-Towns being the exception) it can also be dropped by monsters in the overworld.
25	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The SchizoTech from the first game is still fully present, and this one makes it worse by modeling the world map after the real world.
26	* EvilLearnsOfOutsideContext: After [[PlayerCharacter The Stranger]] arrived on Sosaria in the previous game and thwarted her master/lover's plans, the sorceress Minax learns all she can about him and the world he comes from: Earth. She then uses time magic to raise and army and conquer that world in addition to Sosaria.
27	* FourIsDeath: Hyperwarping a Rocket to coordinates 4-4-4 will send your ship crashing into The Sun resulting in death.
28	* GameBreakingBug: ''Ultima II'' was originally distributed on floppy disks. When it was rereleased in the ''Ultima I-VI Series'', the files from all three disks were placed in the same directory but files on those disks shared the same file name. As such, other planets have their maps overwritten with what's found on earth.
29	* GameFavoredGender: Male characters get a +5 bonus to their Strength, but female characters get 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.
30	* GetBackHereBoss: Minax needs to be hit five times, but teleports to the opposite side of the keep on each hit.
31	* GuideDangIt: 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.
32	* InvincibleMinorMinion: Identified when attacks on those creatures will always miss. One of these is guaranteed to appear in Shadowguard, and inflicts much more damage than normal. Once they enter melee, it requires negating time to escape them.
33	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Minax means "threatening" in Latin.
34	* RandomDrop: Every monster can drop an insane variety of useful items. Keys which allow you to operate airplanes, blue tassles which allow you to captain ships, magic coins to stop time, tri-lithium for spaceship fuel... No, there's not a shop anywhere that sells any of these.
35	* ShoutOut:
36	** [[Music/{{Eagles}} The Hotel California.]]
37	** The Quicksword being named Enilno (read it backwards) is probably a reference to the game being distributed by [[{{Creator/Sierra}} Sierra On-Line]].
38	** One of the first diners where you buy food is named [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds McDonall's.]]
39	* StealthPun: Most of the jesters are located on Uranus...
40	* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: One of the goals of the game is to find the "Quicksword [[SdrawkcabName Enilno]]", which is the only weapon that can kill Minax, and which you get by bribing [[GuideDangIt a random guy in prison]] who has it.
41	* TenSecondFlashlight: The player needs torches to explore the dungeon, available only from random drops, and they last 150 turns each. This limit allows heading directly up or down, but is expensive when trying to map out the dungeon for the first time, especially when dealing with enemies that are present. There's also one opponent that blows out the torch as well.
42	* TimeStandsStill: Rubbing a coin will negate time, allowing the player to escape large groups of enemies. Some enemies still seem to be able to attack despite being immobile.
43	* TimeTravel: Via TimePortal, to different eras. [[TheTimeOfMyths Time of Legends]], [[{{Prehistoria}} 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).
44	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: 1990 A.D., which features Earth as a CyberPunk setting with a nuclear apocalypse right around the edge.
45	* UnendingEndCard: On a victory, the player orbits earth in his space shuttle. On defeat, there's a message saying the player is dead. In both cases, the system needs to be reset, because the game won't return to a main menu to back to Dos.
46	* UnwinnableByMistake: The ''Apple II'' version didn't have a way to increase strength after character creation. Characters with Strength less than 29 would be unable to use reflect armor, required for space flight.
47	* VideoGameStealing:
48	** The thief can steal one random equipment during combat, but the game won't say which one (requiring the player to check the stats screen). This includes the ring required to complete the game. Only torches and tools were considered "thief-proof".
49	** The player can steal food, armor and weapons from shops, but the game no longer mentions when you get caught stealing. This system 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, and is also a cheaper way of getting weapons.
50	* WholePlotReference: The time doors (as well as the map which comes with the game, which shows how they are linked together) comes straight from ''Film/TimeBandits''. Richard Garriot had his team members see the movie repeatedly in theaters so that they could make a copy of the map. He noted that after examining it, he realized it was just a prop and had no relation to the way the gates worked in the movie. He also named the time period that Minax's castle was located in as The Time of Legends, which is where Evil's fortress was located in the movie.

Context VideoGame / UltimaII