“We may be thankful for this prison, inasmuch as we are safe on the inside, while the rest are trapped outside with Chuckles the Jester!”
Ultima Underworld II continues the Guardian storyline and shows us worlds
he already conquered. There’s a brillant atmosphere in Lord British’s castle. If
you compare that to Ultima IX, which contains books explaining you keyboard commands, completely
destroying immersion, you can really get depressive...
The 3D engine isn’t
used for its own sake in the second part of the Underworld series either, but is merely
the stage for a great plot, many dialogues, and many references to Ultima VII. Attention, nitpickers!
The following 3 nitpicks are new:
Ignorance of predecessors
-
Where the hell is the Black Sword? Being bound to it, the Avatar shouldn’t
be able to drop it or leave it anywhere else; thus he should have it at the castle with him.
(by Tribun Dragon) -
What happened to Rudyom’s wand, which destroyed Blackrock in
Ultima VII? Firing like mad on the Blackrock Dome would be too dangerous, of course, but Nystul
could certainly put it to some good use. At the very least, they should mention the wand. (“Hey
Iolo, why don’t we blast the dome away with Rudyom’s wand?” - “That’d
be too dangerous.” - “OK.”)
(by Tribun Dragon) -
In the castle’s cellars, you’ll find a moonstone. Where does it
come from? Are there even more than 8 moonstones in Britannia? What’s really odd is that
you can cast the “Gate Travel” spell on it to create a moongate,
despite the fact that the Guardian destroyed all moongates in Ultima VII. How comes the spell
still works?
(by Tribun Dragon) -
Why does everyone act as if Goblins had always been native to Britannia? Did
you ever see a Goblin in Ultima IV-VII?
(by Tribun Dragon) -
It never is really revealed how the Guardian controls this ethereal plane
(or why he just doesn’t grab the Avatar from here like he does at the end of Serpent
Isle).
(by Crowley)
Technical shortcomings
-
Why has the Avatar lost all of his strength and experience from Ultima VII?
The excuse that the Avatar loses these abilities when he traverses worlds doesn’t work
this time, because the Avatar’s been in Britannia since Ultima VII.
(He should have done more sport .)
(by Tribun Dragon) -
The Guardian suddenly uses Elizabethan English (or rather Ultima English)
in Underworld II. Did he take Shakespeare classes?
(by Tailrace Dragon) -
Isn’t it very odd that magic still works at all in Castle British? Didn’t
we learn that Blackrock blocks ethereal waves in Ultima VII? Well, the castle is surrounded
by a whole sphere of Blackrock...
(Note that Gazers don’t seem to have any problems with magic, either. Weapons that fire spells work, too.)
(by Tribun Dragon) -
Why the heck are there no windows in Castle British, Killorn Keep, and the
Prison Tower? (Oh yeah, nasty engine limitations... On the other hand, closed windows with
no way of looking outside shouldn’t have been a problem at all.)
(by Hacki Dragon) -
Why does the water in the sewers continue to flow all through the game? Surely
there’s not that much, um, output from the Castle? Then again... Look at all
those bottles in the corner of Dupre’s room...
(by Tailrace Dragon) -
Apparently, throwing food at walls can accelerate the growth of mold. Test it yourself in the sewers. Upon throwing one piece of stale cheese against the wall and ’looking’ at it again, it suddenly becomes moldy. Upon throwing it once again against the wall, the unfortunate piece of cheese is reduced to a pile of debris.
This is probably just one of the status indicators (not unlike for weapons, which have condition states and may become damaged when you hurl them at walls) relevant to food, but still, it’s amusing that throwing cheese at walls can incite such rapid mold growth. Perhaps it’s because the sewer walls are coated with slime and mold themselves...
(by BlueClaw) -
Why doesn’t Lord British’s throne room have a throne in it (though it
mysteriously reappears in the ending)? Don’t claim technical limitations. The game already
has chairs, and they could have made a throne with four rectangular blocks. Did they think
it would look silly that Lord British never sits on his throne? (A throne room without said
throne looks much sillier, that’s for sure.)
(by Crowley) -
As everyone probably knows, in Serpent Isle Avatar & co. will need fur clothing to keep warm
up north. However, in Underworld II the Avatar can leisurely stroll around in icy caves and
swim in waters that are probably near freezing point, wearing almost nothing or full steel
armor, without suffering any ill effects from the coldness.
(by Crowley)
General problems
-
We know that Blackrock is a heavy substance. Wouldn’t the castle suffer damage
when the Blackrock shards fall on it?
(by Hyena of Ice) -
According to Fissif, former Fellowship members are gathering on Buccaneer’s Den
and apparently planning something suspicious. At the end, this plot thread is ignored and will
never be finished.
(by Evil_Freak Dragon) -
Who cast the spell to create the Blackrock Dome around Castle Britannia? It
wasn’t the Guardian, since according to Nystul and Nell, the spell was cast from within
the throne room. It couldn’t have been Mors Gotha (though Nystul does say that it was
cast from Mors’ Gotha’s spellbook), since Nell said she heard a man’s
voice. Was it Patterson? Since when can he cast spells?
(by Evil_Freak Dragon) -
When the Avatar blows the Horn of Praecor Loth, shouldn’t the sheer amplitude of the
sound (which is more than enough to achieve resonance in the blackrock dome and shatter it
as a result) be enough to render all people in the castle deaf?
(by BlueClaw) -
Why do they know about Scintillus Academy in the Pits of Carnage? I thought
the different worlds were seperated from each other...
(by Hacki Dragon) -
Isn’t it very strange that they have the same school marks as on Earth
in Scintillus Academy? (A-F)
(by Hacki Dragon) -
I don’t get it: Why do people in the other worlds not flee from the Guardian
by joining the Avatar through the Blackrock walls? Where do those Blackrock walls
come from anyway? Why does nobody except of the Avatar use them?
(by Hacki Dragon) -
You have to wonder why the Guardian, who is aware of all actions of the Avatar, just watches
him getting all blackrock stones, weakening the large crystal. Why didn’t he have some
of his men chase him, in order to stop him early on? (Same syndrome as in Ascension...)
(by Tribun Dragon)
You discovered a nitpick not yet listed on this site? Send it to me! You are also welcome to use the message board for discussions about nitpicks.
