Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium
- Thread starter RySenkari
- Start date
- Status
So if Big Bad Beetleborgs doesn't exist ITTL, does that mean VR Troopers went on for say, 4 seasons?
I don't think so. All we know that after getting its two seasons, Grimlord became part the main villain of Power Rangers Turbo (Divatox got demoted.) and Ryan became the new Turbo Red and later Mega Black in Megaforce.
Summer 2011 (Part 7) - Streamers And Stars
Summer Games Done Quick Lineup 2011 - August 4-6, 2011 (hosted on Okuma)
($37,040 raised for the Organization For Autism Research)
Blaster Master (NES)
DuckTales (NES)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Mega Man (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Mega Man 3 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Mega Man X (SNES)
Pulseman (SNES-CD)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario World 2 (SNES-CD)
Metroid Darkness (Ultra Nintendo)
Gargoyle's Quest (Game Boy)
Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Sega Saturn)
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 (Sega Saturn)
Eclectic (Apple iTwin)
Ultra Mario Kart (Ultra Nintendo)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Flip (Sapphire)
Techno Angel (Xbox)
Fairytale (Ultra Nintendo)
-
*On the screen, the opening gameplay segment of Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon is playing, while in the bottom left corner, a young woman is shown on a webcam streaming the footage.*
Pilar Sandoval: Now that the opening scenes are out of the way, it's time to see what we can actually do. Looks like I'm controlling Erick, and there's Dona and Creel, and we're going to see just what's happening in this jungle. We've got to find our friends, that much I know.
*Erick walks around on the screen with Dona and Creel following him. The characters casually converse with one another, while exploring this opening jungle segment. There's some loot in a small chest behind Erick that Pilar eventually notices.*
Pilar: A treasure chest, wouldn't be a pirate game without a treasure chest! I love how he's commenting on these chests as we go up to it, it seems like every treasure we find is going to open up some new dialogue. This is so fun so far.
*Pilar continues exploring, listening to the dialogue and occasionally laughing whenever someone, usually Dona, says something snarky.*
Pilar: I love Dona! She's a sass master. Hold on, I'm just going to stop and not move and see what happens.
*Sure enough, Dona makes a sarcastic remark directed at Erick. Creel defends him, and Dona insults Creel.*
Pilar: *snickering* Okay, this is really amazing. I remember when Sonic would get impatient too whenever you'd stop moving, but then if you waited long enough he'd just jump off the stage and die, and that wouldn't be fun. At least here nobody's dying.
*Pilar continues to explore the jungle, finding a couple more treasures and making snarky comments on her own about the dialogue, marveling at the graphics and enjoying herself greatly.*
Pilar: There's a waterfall. Can I get soaked? Can I get soaked? We have to find out if we can get soaked.
*She takes Erick, Dona, and Creel over and makes them stand under the waterfall. Dona seems annoyed but Erick is enjoying himself, and Creel is just laughing. Dona actually walks away from the waterfall and lets the two guys stand under there laughing at each other.*
Pilar: *laughing* Cute wet guys, I'm not gonna do anything, I'm just gonna stand here and let you both keep getting soaked.
*Dona notices something and tells Creel and Erick to come over. Pilar keeps them under the waterfall, and Dona gets impatient with them but doesn't move from where she's standing.*
Pilar: I guess I should go over there but I don't want to stop soaking these guys! Maybe they'll catch a cold, is the game that realistic? Dona looks so pissed off over there! Okay, I'll go see what she wants.
*Later on, Pilar gets into her first swordfight of the game, with a rival group of pirates. Dona and Creel are fighting on their own, while Pilar is controlling Erick against the pirate leader.*
Pilar: I'm winning, right? I better be winning.
*Pilar wins the fight fairly easily, and the three protagonists hold the rival pirate crew at swordpoint.*
Pilar: Oh, they don't kill them huh?
*Pilar just watches the cutscene play out, with Erick and the pirate leader negotiating a route to the hidden treasure on the island together. Later on, Erick and friends are exploring a cave when they run into more trouble, and this time, it's Victoria who shows up to save the day, swinging in on a rope and using her fencing sword to pin someone about to take out Erick.*
Pilar: WHOA! Victoria's cool. I remember the first game when she was just whiny and you had to save her, now she's badass!
-from PilarDeFlor's August 9, 2011 stream of Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon on Okuma
-
Pilar Sandoval, AKA PilarDeFlor, is a 21 year old game streamer living in Mexico City. She's become the fifth most popular streamer on Okuma and its most popular female streamer, and plays a mix of modern and classic games, with the classic games sprinkled between big current releases.
"I try to get through at least two new games a month," says Sandoval, explaining her stream schedule and how she maximizes the number and types of games she plays. "If a game's short and I have enough time, I'll stream something older. Usually that'll be one of my old favorites, but sometimes it'll be something I've never played before."
Sandoval has gained a wide range of fans, both male and female, with her audience skewing slightly female but her streams also attracting plenty of male viewers as well. She tries her best to appeal to the widest audience possible, playing games in almost every genre, ranging from modern action titles to FPS games to RPGs and sports.
"I'll usually play one sports game a year, which is usually FIFA, but sometimes I'll mix it up with a game like Madden," says Sandoval. "Of course, American football's not very popular here, so I had to learn the rules as I went, which made for an interesting streaming experience."
The popularity of international streamers is rising rapidly, and while many streamers in places like Japan and France stream games in their own languages, others, like Sandoval, choose to stream in English. The choices rests primarily on what type of audience the streamer wants to attract, and what games they play.
"If I was doing MMOs primarily, I'd probably be streaming in Spanish, but with the variety of games I do on my channel, I feel English is best to get the biggest audience possible. Most of my friends do speak it, so they're able to follow my streams pretty easily. Sometimes I'll do a Spanish stream on occasion, I actually have a separate channel just for those."
With streaming increasing in popularity, some producers and performers have been able to make a living on streaming games. Sandoval, who attends university in Mexico City, thinks that might be a possibility if her viewership continues to increase, but she's expecting to take on a regular job once she graduates, which will likely cut into her stream time.
"Maybe the best of both worlds would be taking on a less demanding job while also making some money from streaming. If I start a web business like I'd like to do, I could potentially make the two jobs work together in harmony. Otherwise, I'll need to manage my time to be able to keep up a good schedule. I hope I can keep streaming for a long time, because I really enjoy it."
-from an article on Kotaku, posted on August 18, 2011
-
Angry Video Game Nerd: Now, I don't normally do this, but my wife's new show is about to premiere soon and it's all about fairy tale characters. So I thought I'd do an episode dedicated exclusively to fairytale games.
*The Nerd grabs a copy of Fairytale for Ultra Nintendo off the shelf.*
AVGN: Wait, no, this game's great. *tosses it aside* I need a shitty one.
*He picks up a copy of Cinderella's Adventures for the Super Nintendo CD.*
AVGN: There we go. Cinderella's Adventures is a game mixing 2-D platforming and live action cutscenes. Yeah, you know where this is going. It came out in early 1994 for the Super Nintendo CD, right around the same time that The Secret Of Monkey Island came out. You play as Cinderella. Not the Disney Cinderella, who also got her own game on the Sega Genesis but it was way less shitty than this. This game is terrible.
*A cutscene shows an actress playing Cinderella running across a field looking for some kind of magic rock.*
AVGN: You go all over the land looking for magic items. Not your magic slipper, but things like magic flowers, magic books, and magic rocks, so that your fairy godmother can make a magic dress for you. Yeah, that's right, the fairy godmother can't do jack shit for Cinderella unless she brings her a bunch of rocks! What a load of crap. And these items aren't easy to find, oh no. They're hidden. Not cleverly hidden behind obvious scenery, but hidden in the background, which is colored exactly the same as the magic items! You've got to tiptoe back and forth bending over in random spots looking for these things, while rats try to crawl up your ass! And you can't kill the rats, unless you find a stick. But the stick takes forever to kill the rats!
*In the game, Cinderella is shown swinging her stick at the rats over and over again, finally killing them on the fifth blow.*
AVGN: Hey, wait a minute. Didn't the rats help Cinderella in the Disney movie? And now she's trying to murder them! And don't get me started on the cutscenes. They're awful!
*The live action Cinderella is shown begging with her fairy godmother to go to the ball, but the fairy godmother refuses. The acting is terrible, neither of the actresses are showing any emotion whatsoever.*
AVGN: The actress playing Cinderella is acting like she's buying something from the store. And the actress playing the fairy godmother looks half asleep! Maybe she's just drunk. I know I would be if I was in this game. *takes a big swig of Rolling Rock*
-from the Angry Video Game episode "Once Upon A Nerd", uploaded on September 30, 2011
-
As Videocean And Okuma Prepare For Streamer Bidding War, Mark Cuban Launches Televised Talent Search
With game streaming hotter than ever on the web's three biggest platforms for streamed video content, Videocean, Youtube, and Okuma, Mark Cuban is hoping to get the jump on his rivals. He's hosting a show coming to ABC this fall titled "Gamer Wars: The Search For The Next Youtube Sensation". In it, Cuban and a panel of judges from across the internet and gaming world will be judging thousands of hopefuls, who will be narrowed down to six. These six will become the first stars of Youtube's brand new game streaming service, as well as the members of Cuban's professional gaming team, which will compete in professional tournaments that will be live-streamed on the website. The reality show isn't quite the first of its kind (G4 has aired similar shows in the past), but will be the first to be aired before such a large audience, and the first to propose such a big prize: $2,000,000 split amongst the six winners up-front (around $200,000 each after taxes), and the promise of tournament prize winnings and a share of sponsorship and ad revenue in the future depending on their success. While Cuban hopes to get out ahead of Videocean and Okuma by making his talent famous first, the other two sites are hoping to sign already existing talent to exclusive deals in what's expected to be the first online streaming bidding war. With both sites launching exclusive channels later this year, they're hoping to sign already popular game streamers to sponsorship deals in the hopes of keeping talent off their rival channels. Most of the web's major game streamers such as Markiplier, Phenom, and DropZoneGamer post their content to more than one website, with Markiplier posting his newest videos simultaneously to Okuma, Youtube, and Videocean, and DropZoneGamer posting videos to his personal website first before uploading it to the major video channels two days later. Now, both Okuma and Videocean are offering cash up front to some of their most popular content creators, and while it's not just game streamers receiving these offers, they're a top priority for these sites. So far, we've not heard of any content creator signing up for an exclusive deal yet, and it's likely that NDAs cover these deals so that the websites can reveal their exclusive content all at once at a later date. We'll likely begin hearing about these deals in November or December, right around the time the first season of Cuban's show will be wrapping up.
-from an article on Tubehound, posted on September 14, 2011
-
*A young man with a dark brown beard is shown playing the new Blackheart game, Bring Down Savage Maestro, as he discusses a topic with his viewers. On the screen, Messiah is sneaking up to a guard before knocking him out with a kick to the back of the head.*
DropZoneGamer: So, I didn't take Okuma's money. I'm not taking anybody's money. They offered me $50,000, but I'm not taking it. And you say, "well Drop Zone, why didn't you take the money? It's not like any of those sites charge anything to watch your videos, so it's not like people wouldn't get to see them if you posted exclusively on Okuma or wherever". And the reason is this, it's because one, they wanted me to play certain games, which I think is bullshit, I'll play the games I want to play. And the second reason is, I'll be honest, $50,000 isn't enough. I mean, if they had dangled more in front of me, and I won't say how much more, but $50,000 isn't nearly enough. I'm not going to bullshit you guys, I'm not somebody that doesn't have a price. At some point, you know, it's like The Godfather, an offer you can't refuse, right? But in this case, yeah, I refused that offer. I make a lot more than that just hosting my content on my website. Just my website, I make more than $50,000 a year from, not to mention the ad revenue I take in from Videocean. Videocean, by the way, is my preferred site, and they didn't even offer me anything.
*Messiah snipes a couple of guards, then drops down and grabs another guard from behind, but instead of killing her, just takes her hostage and slowly drags her down the hallway while interrogating her.*
DropZoneGamer: I'll be honest with you, I don't like where this is going. I feel like these channels are getting to become more like TV channels, where you'll only see certain things on certain channels, and you're going to have content cordoned off, and THEN they'll start charging. That's another thing, if I took Okuma's money, and then all of a sudden they put up a paywall, I've got no control over that. I don't think they're gonna do that for a while, but it's coming. Videocean too, and probably Youtube eventually since Mark Cuban bought it. I like Mark Cuban, but he didn't get to be a billionaire giving stuff out for free. C'mon.
*Messiah, still holding the guard, stops for a moment, and DropZoneGamer finds that just by pressing a button, he can make her continuously reassure the guard, saying "I'm not going to hurt you" over and over again. He has a chuckle at this, and then makes his point.*
DropZoneGamer: Okay, first off, this game kinda sucks. Secondly, this is a good metaphor for the relationship between these big websites and people like me. Messiah here represents Okuma, just constantly promising that she's not gonna hurt me, over and over again. But how the hell am I supposed to know that if I'm the guard? You're wrenching my arm behind my back, you've got a gun on me, what am I supposed to believe here? ...you know what, actually, I'd probably trust Messiah more than I'd trust these websites, because at least she's shown that she doesn't like to hurt people who aren't a threat to her. These websites are more like Sadira. She might look sweet and pretty from afar, but turn your back on her and she'll beat you to within an inch of your life, then shoot you for good measure. ...I dunno, I mean, I'm sure a lot of my buddies will be taking the money. Me, I don't need it, but I'm kinda lucky. A lot of people will take that quick money and that's fine, but it's not for me.
*Messiah just knocks out the guard and goes through a door.*
DropZoneGamer: Speaking of Sadira, when do we get to go back to her? Feels like I've been Messiah for like an hour now. *sighs* Yeah, this isn't as good as Contract so far, I'm sorry to say.
-from a DropZoneGamer video, posted on September 27, 2011
($37,040 raised for the Organization For Autism Research)
Blaster Master (NES)
DuckTales (NES)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Mega Man (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Mega Man 3 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Mega Man X (SNES)
Pulseman (SNES-CD)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario World 2 (SNES-CD)
Metroid Darkness (Ultra Nintendo)
Gargoyle's Quest (Game Boy)
Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Sega Saturn)
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 (Sega Saturn)
Eclectic (Apple iTwin)
Ultra Mario Kart (Ultra Nintendo)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Flip (Sapphire)
Techno Angel (Xbox)
Fairytale (Ultra Nintendo)
-
*On the screen, the opening gameplay segment of Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon is playing, while in the bottom left corner, a young woman is shown on a webcam streaming the footage.*
Pilar Sandoval: Now that the opening scenes are out of the way, it's time to see what we can actually do. Looks like I'm controlling Erick, and there's Dona and Creel, and we're going to see just what's happening in this jungle. We've got to find our friends, that much I know.
*Erick walks around on the screen with Dona and Creel following him. The characters casually converse with one another, while exploring this opening jungle segment. There's some loot in a small chest behind Erick that Pilar eventually notices.*
Pilar: A treasure chest, wouldn't be a pirate game without a treasure chest! I love how he's commenting on these chests as we go up to it, it seems like every treasure we find is going to open up some new dialogue. This is so fun so far.
*Pilar continues exploring, listening to the dialogue and occasionally laughing whenever someone, usually Dona, says something snarky.*
Pilar: I love Dona! She's a sass master. Hold on, I'm just going to stop and not move and see what happens.
*Sure enough, Dona makes a sarcastic remark directed at Erick. Creel defends him, and Dona insults Creel.*
Pilar: *snickering* Okay, this is really amazing. I remember when Sonic would get impatient too whenever you'd stop moving, but then if you waited long enough he'd just jump off the stage and die, and that wouldn't be fun. At least here nobody's dying.
*Pilar continues to explore the jungle, finding a couple more treasures and making snarky comments on her own about the dialogue, marveling at the graphics and enjoying herself greatly.*
Pilar: There's a waterfall. Can I get soaked? Can I get soaked? We have to find out if we can get soaked.
*She takes Erick, Dona, and Creel over and makes them stand under the waterfall. Dona seems annoyed but Erick is enjoying himself, and Creel is just laughing. Dona actually walks away from the waterfall and lets the two guys stand under there laughing at each other.*
Pilar: *laughing* Cute wet guys, I'm not gonna do anything, I'm just gonna stand here and let you both keep getting soaked.
*Dona notices something and tells Creel and Erick to come over. Pilar keeps them under the waterfall, and Dona gets impatient with them but doesn't move from where she's standing.*
Pilar: I guess I should go over there but I don't want to stop soaking these guys! Maybe they'll catch a cold, is the game that realistic? Dona looks so pissed off over there! Okay, I'll go see what she wants.
*Later on, Pilar gets into her first swordfight of the game, with a rival group of pirates. Dona and Creel are fighting on their own, while Pilar is controlling Erick against the pirate leader.*
Pilar: I'm winning, right? I better be winning.
*Pilar wins the fight fairly easily, and the three protagonists hold the rival pirate crew at swordpoint.*
Pilar: Oh, they don't kill them huh?
*Pilar just watches the cutscene play out, with Erick and the pirate leader negotiating a route to the hidden treasure on the island together. Later on, Erick and friends are exploring a cave when they run into more trouble, and this time, it's Victoria who shows up to save the day, swinging in on a rope and using her fencing sword to pin someone about to take out Erick.*
Pilar: WHOA! Victoria's cool. I remember the first game when she was just whiny and you had to save her, now she's badass!
-from PilarDeFlor's August 9, 2011 stream of Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon on Okuma
-
Pilar Sandoval, AKA PilarDeFlor, is a 21 year old game streamer living in Mexico City. She's become the fifth most popular streamer on Okuma and its most popular female streamer, and plays a mix of modern and classic games, with the classic games sprinkled between big current releases.
"I try to get through at least two new games a month," says Sandoval, explaining her stream schedule and how she maximizes the number and types of games she plays. "If a game's short and I have enough time, I'll stream something older. Usually that'll be one of my old favorites, but sometimes it'll be something I've never played before."
Sandoval has gained a wide range of fans, both male and female, with her audience skewing slightly female but her streams also attracting plenty of male viewers as well. She tries her best to appeal to the widest audience possible, playing games in almost every genre, ranging from modern action titles to FPS games to RPGs and sports.
"I'll usually play one sports game a year, which is usually FIFA, but sometimes I'll mix it up with a game like Madden," says Sandoval. "Of course, American football's not very popular here, so I had to learn the rules as I went, which made for an interesting streaming experience."
The popularity of international streamers is rising rapidly, and while many streamers in places like Japan and France stream games in their own languages, others, like Sandoval, choose to stream in English. The choices rests primarily on what type of audience the streamer wants to attract, and what games they play.
"If I was doing MMOs primarily, I'd probably be streaming in Spanish, but with the variety of games I do on my channel, I feel English is best to get the biggest audience possible. Most of my friends do speak it, so they're able to follow my streams pretty easily. Sometimes I'll do a Spanish stream on occasion, I actually have a separate channel just for those."
With streaming increasing in popularity, some producers and performers have been able to make a living on streaming games. Sandoval, who attends university in Mexico City, thinks that might be a possibility if her viewership continues to increase, but she's expecting to take on a regular job once she graduates, which will likely cut into her stream time.
"Maybe the best of both worlds would be taking on a less demanding job while also making some money from streaming. If I start a web business like I'd like to do, I could potentially make the two jobs work together in harmony. Otherwise, I'll need to manage my time to be able to keep up a good schedule. I hope I can keep streaming for a long time, because I really enjoy it."
-from an article on Kotaku, posted on August 18, 2011
-
Angry Video Game Nerd: Now, I don't normally do this, but my wife's new show is about to premiere soon and it's all about fairy tale characters. So I thought I'd do an episode dedicated exclusively to fairytale games.
*The Nerd grabs a copy of Fairytale for Ultra Nintendo off the shelf.*
AVGN: Wait, no, this game's great. *tosses it aside* I need a shitty one.
*He picks up a copy of Cinderella's Adventures for the Super Nintendo CD.*
AVGN: There we go. Cinderella's Adventures is a game mixing 2-D platforming and live action cutscenes. Yeah, you know where this is going. It came out in early 1994 for the Super Nintendo CD, right around the same time that The Secret Of Monkey Island came out. You play as Cinderella. Not the Disney Cinderella, who also got her own game on the Sega Genesis but it was way less shitty than this. This game is terrible.
*A cutscene shows an actress playing Cinderella running across a field looking for some kind of magic rock.*
AVGN: You go all over the land looking for magic items. Not your magic slipper, but things like magic flowers, magic books, and magic rocks, so that your fairy godmother can make a magic dress for you. Yeah, that's right, the fairy godmother can't do jack shit for Cinderella unless she brings her a bunch of rocks! What a load of crap. And these items aren't easy to find, oh no. They're hidden. Not cleverly hidden behind obvious scenery, but hidden in the background, which is colored exactly the same as the magic items! You've got to tiptoe back and forth bending over in random spots looking for these things, while rats try to crawl up your ass! And you can't kill the rats, unless you find a stick. But the stick takes forever to kill the rats!
*In the game, Cinderella is shown swinging her stick at the rats over and over again, finally killing them on the fifth blow.*
AVGN: Hey, wait a minute. Didn't the rats help Cinderella in the Disney movie? And now she's trying to murder them! And don't get me started on the cutscenes. They're awful!
*The live action Cinderella is shown begging with her fairy godmother to go to the ball, but the fairy godmother refuses. The acting is terrible, neither of the actresses are showing any emotion whatsoever.*
AVGN: The actress playing Cinderella is acting like she's buying something from the store. And the actress playing the fairy godmother looks half asleep! Maybe she's just drunk. I know I would be if I was in this game. *takes a big swig of Rolling Rock*
-from the Angry Video Game episode "Once Upon A Nerd", uploaded on September 30, 2011
-
As Videocean And Okuma Prepare For Streamer Bidding War, Mark Cuban Launches Televised Talent Search
With game streaming hotter than ever on the web's three biggest platforms for streamed video content, Videocean, Youtube, and Okuma, Mark Cuban is hoping to get the jump on his rivals. He's hosting a show coming to ABC this fall titled "Gamer Wars: The Search For The Next Youtube Sensation". In it, Cuban and a panel of judges from across the internet and gaming world will be judging thousands of hopefuls, who will be narrowed down to six. These six will become the first stars of Youtube's brand new game streaming service, as well as the members of Cuban's professional gaming team, which will compete in professional tournaments that will be live-streamed on the website. The reality show isn't quite the first of its kind (G4 has aired similar shows in the past), but will be the first to be aired before such a large audience, and the first to propose such a big prize: $2,000,000 split amongst the six winners up-front (around $200,000 each after taxes), and the promise of tournament prize winnings and a share of sponsorship and ad revenue in the future depending on their success. While Cuban hopes to get out ahead of Videocean and Okuma by making his talent famous first, the other two sites are hoping to sign already existing talent to exclusive deals in what's expected to be the first online streaming bidding war. With both sites launching exclusive channels later this year, they're hoping to sign already popular game streamers to sponsorship deals in the hopes of keeping talent off their rival channels. Most of the web's major game streamers such as Markiplier, Phenom, and DropZoneGamer post their content to more than one website, with Markiplier posting his newest videos simultaneously to Okuma, Youtube, and Videocean, and DropZoneGamer posting videos to his personal website first before uploading it to the major video channels two days later. Now, both Okuma and Videocean are offering cash up front to some of their most popular content creators, and while it's not just game streamers receiving these offers, they're a top priority for these sites. So far, we've not heard of any content creator signing up for an exclusive deal yet, and it's likely that NDAs cover these deals so that the websites can reveal their exclusive content all at once at a later date. We'll likely begin hearing about these deals in November or December, right around the time the first season of Cuban's show will be wrapping up.
-from an article on Tubehound, posted on September 14, 2011
-
*A young man with a dark brown beard is shown playing the new Blackheart game, Bring Down Savage Maestro, as he discusses a topic with his viewers. On the screen, Messiah is sneaking up to a guard before knocking him out with a kick to the back of the head.*
DropZoneGamer: So, I didn't take Okuma's money. I'm not taking anybody's money. They offered me $50,000, but I'm not taking it. And you say, "well Drop Zone, why didn't you take the money? It's not like any of those sites charge anything to watch your videos, so it's not like people wouldn't get to see them if you posted exclusively on Okuma or wherever". And the reason is this, it's because one, they wanted me to play certain games, which I think is bullshit, I'll play the games I want to play. And the second reason is, I'll be honest, $50,000 isn't enough. I mean, if they had dangled more in front of me, and I won't say how much more, but $50,000 isn't nearly enough. I'm not going to bullshit you guys, I'm not somebody that doesn't have a price. At some point, you know, it's like The Godfather, an offer you can't refuse, right? But in this case, yeah, I refused that offer. I make a lot more than that just hosting my content on my website. Just my website, I make more than $50,000 a year from, not to mention the ad revenue I take in from Videocean. Videocean, by the way, is my preferred site, and they didn't even offer me anything.
*Messiah snipes a couple of guards, then drops down and grabs another guard from behind, but instead of killing her, just takes her hostage and slowly drags her down the hallway while interrogating her.*
DropZoneGamer: I'll be honest with you, I don't like where this is going. I feel like these channels are getting to become more like TV channels, where you'll only see certain things on certain channels, and you're going to have content cordoned off, and THEN they'll start charging. That's another thing, if I took Okuma's money, and then all of a sudden they put up a paywall, I've got no control over that. I don't think they're gonna do that for a while, but it's coming. Videocean too, and probably Youtube eventually since Mark Cuban bought it. I like Mark Cuban, but he didn't get to be a billionaire giving stuff out for free. C'mon.
*Messiah, still holding the guard, stops for a moment, and DropZoneGamer finds that just by pressing a button, he can make her continuously reassure the guard, saying "I'm not going to hurt you" over and over again. He has a chuckle at this, and then makes his point.*
DropZoneGamer: Okay, first off, this game kinda sucks. Secondly, this is a good metaphor for the relationship between these big websites and people like me. Messiah here represents Okuma, just constantly promising that she's not gonna hurt me, over and over again. But how the hell am I supposed to know that if I'm the guard? You're wrenching my arm behind my back, you've got a gun on me, what am I supposed to believe here? ...you know what, actually, I'd probably trust Messiah more than I'd trust these websites, because at least she's shown that she doesn't like to hurt people who aren't a threat to her. These websites are more like Sadira. She might look sweet and pretty from afar, but turn your back on her and she'll beat you to within an inch of your life, then shoot you for good measure. ...I dunno, I mean, I'm sure a lot of my buddies will be taking the money. Me, I don't need it, but I'm kinda lucky. A lot of people will take that quick money and that's fine, but it's not for me.
*Messiah just knocks out the guard and goes through a door.*
DropZoneGamer: Speaking of Sadira, when do we get to go back to her? Feels like I've been Messiah for like an hour now. *sighs* Yeah, this isn't as good as Contract so far, I'm sorry to say.
-from a DropZoneGamer video, posted on September 27, 2011
AeroTheZealousOne
Monthly Donor
Good old AVGN playing terrible games and getting drunk while doing so. Did I ever tell you that you capture the personalities of OTL figures perfectly in your writing? If not, this worldbuilding aspect is one of my favorite things about this TL.
Dear God this is almost prophetic.
Holy fishpaste, I didn't think you'd cover Games Done Quick in this timeline, but I really like what you did with it. Will future TTL GDQ events be documented as the timeline progresses as well?
It didn't go 4 seasons ITTL, but it did do a bit better than it did IOTL, good enough to get a sort of series finale.
She's the one who sold Okuma, she doesn't own it anymore. She's working on different kinds of tech and is continuing to do stuff with blockchain. She does own a decent amount of Google stock, which comprises a sizable fraction of her multi-billion dollar fortune, but she doesn't have any say in the company itself.
Are you talking about Jacksepticeye? He might still show up ITTL as a gaming Youtuber, or he might end up doing something else. Still hasn't been determined yet.
It certainly does still exist ITTL, and though I won't cover it comprehensibly, I'll try to touch on from time to time what games are frequently featured. There's one GDQ moment in particular I'll be discussing.
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As a quick aside, the next update will cover Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon. I'm going to go ahead and reveal the new series cast (remember, this is a Naughty Dog game in the style of Uncharted/The Last Of Us, so they'll be doing voiceover AND motion capture work):
Erick: Luke Mitchell (new to the role)
Dona: Carolina Ravassa (new to the role)
Victoria: Esme Bianco (new to the role)
Creel: Jeffrey Pierce (new to the role)
Albert: Phil Lamarr (reprising from previous games)
Jack: Joseph Haro (new to the role)
McKenna: Johanna Braddy (reprising from a previous game)
IIRC, at this point IOTL Jack was in college doing music, so he may go that route.
Hey, he'd make a good drummer for a band like System of a Down ITTL.
Perfectly-timed, sadly:
https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_N...as-body-pulled-from-East-River/7721561530160/
F.
https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_N...as-body-pulled-from-East-River/7721561530160/
F.
Poor guy, was maybe too much spotlight-seacher but still. That is how depression work, always a silent killer
Summer 2011 (Part 8) - Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon is an action/adventure game for the Nintendo Sapphire, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony. The game, while maintaining all previous continuity, character development, and plot from the previous 15 years of games in the series, is considered a "reboot" from a gameplay/presentation perspective, as it takes the action/adventure/open-ended gameplay of previous titles and adapts it toward a more modern, cinematic style reminiscent of OTL's Uncharted and The Last Of Us games, with full motion captured character animations and a more closed style of gameplay with defined set pieces and in-game dialogue/cutscenes. Despite these presentation changes, Horizon maintains some series staples, including side/optional missions (to a lesser degree than previous games), upgrade-able equipment, and a more hack-and-slashy kind of combat system than OTL's Uncharted (which is more attuned toward gunplay). Though Horizon does feature firearms, they're somewhat less accurate/powerful than the modern firearms featured in Naughty Dog's OTL games, and melee remains the preferred form of combat for protagonists and enemies alike. Players can hunt for upgrades, both temporary and permanent, as well as equipment that can be found for characters such as improved swords and some form of body armor. The game's not a full action-RPG, but it does have RPG elements, and each of the game's seven playable characters has their own equipment loadout, stats, and equippable items. Combat itself is a mix of hack-and-slash action and the context-sensitive, cinematic combat of the OTL Uncharted series, with quick reactions being key to finishing combat more quickly. However, it's possible to brute-force through even if one's timing is bad, depending on the character's equipment and the player's skill with the actual moves. Some characters, like Creel and Albert, are more brute-force characters, while Victoria requires speed and precision, and characters like Erick and Dona are more jack-of-all-trade types. The younger characters, Jack and McKenna, are more "specialty" fighters, with McKenna being a somewhat more technical Victoria, and Jack relying on firearms and traps, playing like a niche character and requiring probably more skill than any of the others to play. While the narrative and presentation is structured like an OTL Uncharted game, the player still has some degree of choice in what characters to use and what missions to undertake. The game features 24 "chapters" in all in its main story, though the main story can be expanded up to 33 chapters via accessing certain sub-chapters. Three of the main story chapters can also be replaced with alternate main chapters, and though the game has a single defined ending, up to nine scenes can be added to the ending depending on the player's progress through the game. Missions can also be completed in different ways, which opens up more dialogue, treasure, and equipment, and scores "points" toward ending segments. The player is encouraged to explore thoroughly, both to earn more treasure and to access more dialogue. Enemy encounters aren't as scripted as they are in OTL's Uncharted (it's possible to encounter a lot less enemies than one would in that game), but there usually is at least one scripted encounter with hostiles in each chapter. There are also less puzzles than in OTL Uncharted (or TTL's Mystic, for that matter), meaning that the game truly is based primarily on exploration and combat. In addition to land-based missions, there are also ship-to-ship combat sequences, though there are only a few in the game (no more than five total), and all but a couple end fairly quickly, with the combat scenes being more to show off the game's cinematic prowess than to impede the player's progress in any meaningful way. The game also features a series first: an online multiplayer combat mode, featuring deathmatch and team battles, including capture the flag. Multiplayer mode has improved firearm mechanics, but also has a heavy emphasis on melee, and plays quite similar to the multiplayer in OTL's Uncharted games.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon features fully motion-captured acting, similar to Naughty Dog's OTL games. This necessitated a near full-recast of the series' main characters. With more than a decade having passed since the events of the original game, the main characters are significantly older and more mature than their original incarnations (Erick/Dona/Victoria/Creel, who started in their late teens/early 20s, are now all in their early 30s/mid 30s, while Jack and McKenna, who were adolescents when the series began, are now in their early/mid 20s, and Albert, who started in his 30s, is now in his late 40s). The casting and characterization reflects more than a decade worth of character development. Though the main characters are Erick and Dona (with Victoria and Creel playing major roles and Albert/Jack/McKenna more side characters), each of the main seven gets their time to shine, headlining at least two chapters out of the total 36.
Erick: Still the ship's "captain", the young, bold adventurer of the original game has become a seasoned pirate and seafarer. He married Dona between the events of Bermuda Triangle and Horizon, and his relationship with her plays a major role in the game. Though he's still not as brave and brash as his better half, he's frequently the one to lead the charge on missions, and drives the events of the game more than any other character. He's played by Luke Mitchell.
Dona: Co-captain of the Venture in all but name, Dona has matured quite a bit in the decade that she's been sailing with her companions. While not quite as reckless as she originally was, she's still not afraid to charge in and get physical, and also knows the most about the world and the destinations that the ship finds itself. Still doesn't suffer fools very well but loves Erick and has learned to put up with his more immature moments. She's played by Carolina Ravassa.
Victoria: Having gone from pampered spoiled brat to seasoned seafarer, Victoria still has a bit of her more refined tastes and aristocratic snootiness, but she's now also quite generous and brave, and won't hesitate to put a boot on the face of anyone who'd dare question her skills. Quite skilled in sciences, but also very good with a blade and a pistol, Victoria now searches for her true purpose and for love (and though she'd had numerous flings with Creel, she doesn't think she wants to settle down with him). She's played by Esme Bianco (who also plays Luma in Mystic).
Creel: While still a bit of a party animal and prone at times to drunkenness, Erick's best buddy has matured as well, and has almost taken on a sort of parental role on the ship (though Albert is still the oldest and most mature). He still has Erick's back and he's the most loyal friend one could possibly have, though that doesn't mean he won't get into some occasional trouble (an issue addressed repeatedly in the game when he royally screws up). Creel is played by Jeffrey Pierce.
Albert: Albert has changed the least of the people on the Venture's crew, likely due to being the oldest when the events of the series began. He has been able to cast out his old demons and has settled into a sort of fatherly role on the ship, though he still occasionally laments Annette (his ghostly love interest from Bermuda Triangle). He now tries to be a protector to the rest of his friends, though he's starting to get a little old for it and it becomes an issue later on. He's played by Phil Lamarr.
Jack: Now a young man and a career pirate, Jack is starting to have doubts about whether or not he wishes to stay on the Venture or settle down. He loves his friends (particularly McKenna, his love interest for pretty much the entire series), but when he discovers members of his family (not the ones that died on the shipwreck, but his mom's sister and her family), he becomes torn between his lifelong vocation and his new ambitions. He's played by Joseph Haro.
McKenna: Unlike Jack, McKenna wants to stay a pirate her whole life. Pirating and thieving is all she knows, and when she learns Jack might not want to stay on the Venture, she sees it as somewhat of a betrayal, leading to conflict between the two of them. She also thinks she might be ready to take over leadership from her lifelong idol (and big sister surrogate) Dona, and the relationship between the two is thoroughly explored in the game. She's played by Johanna Braddy.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon begins with a quiet sequence in which it's explained that the crew of the Venture has become the most wanted pirate crew on the high seas for a crime that remains unnamed, at least during the intro. It's peaceful and it introduces the main characters, but then we get an attempted boarding during a storm, and a dramatic sequence in which the Venture finds itself marooned on a jungle island. Erick, Dona, and Creel are separated from the rest of the crew, and the first mission has them gathering supplies to repair the ship while Victoria, Albert, Jack, and McKenna stay onboard. The three are repeatedly attacked by crews from the ship that wrecked them (which also got wrecked itself), but they manage to get through it okay until they end up surrounded and have to be bailed out by Victoria, who explains that the ship got attacked and that Albert, Jack, and McKenna were able to find a settlement on the island (which isn't deserted but is actually its own small territory) and are attempting to negotiate for supplies. The four make it to the settlement, which is run by a hardnosed governor and former pirate captain named Shanker, who knows how high the bounty is for the Venture's crew, but doesn't believe in cooperation with the authorities, so he's allowing them to leave if they do some jobs for him. Dona is reluctant to help, but Erick wants off the island and agrees. The crew splits up again, which ultimately leads to only four of them getting off the island: Victoria, Creel, Albert, and Jack. Erick is taken captive by Shanker, while Dona and McKenna are almost taken but they stow away on another ship leaving the island. Albert takes command of the Venture as the crew searches for their missing comrades, while Victoria decides to blow off her duties, leading even Creel to question her dedication (and to refuse when she offers to get drunk with him). Meanwhile, Jack decides he doesn't want any more of the pirate life, and this is compounded after the Venture lands at a port of call where Melissa, Jack's aunt, is living. Meanwhile, Erick is able to escape his captivity just before Dona and McKenna would have reached him, and Dona, despite wrecking Shanker's entire operation, is somewhat badly wounded, forcing McKenna to take care of her. Erick manages to make it back to the port where most of the others are staying, after fighting his way through crews of skeleton soldiers and a dedicated naval squadron to get there. While Jack's aunt Melissa turns out to be a very good person, her employer, a cruel and powerful governess named Madam Villiers, is not, and she eventually has Albert, Creel, Jack, and Melissa and her husband taken captive (while Victoria is out getting drunk). Villiers is connected not only to the naval forces seeking to catch the crew of the Venture, but also has connections to a voodoo priestess named Sana, who is connected to the crime that the crew of the Venture committed to become the most wanted crew on the high seas. Sana happens to be Albert's daughter, separated from him when the two were sold into slavery twenty years before, and is being used by Villiers to conjure up zombies and skeletons intended to kill people on the high seas and depopulate various islands around the ocean, freeing them up to be bought out by Villiers who will then be able to raise an army of both the living and the dead to take over the seas. Meanwhile, Shanker, who is connected to Villiers, is still attempting to catch the crew of the Venture, and while he ostensibly works for Villiers, he also has his own agenda. By about halfway through the main story, all of these main conflicts have been set up, and the rest of the game is spent with the crew of the Venture attempting to stop Shanker and Villiers from executing their plan (while Albert also tries to free his daughter Sana from Villiers' control).
The second half of the game begins with a series of rescue/reuniting missions, which starts with Victoria regretting her decision to abandon her friends and her ship and using her funds to doll herself up nicely for Creel (she intends to propose to him). She shows up to the Venture all dressed up in a beautiful white dress, only to be attacked by a horde of pirates working for Shanker. In earlier games, this would have ended with Victoria getting captured and thrown in a prison somewhere, but she's ready for action and takes out several of Shanker's pirates before successfully threatening one of them to tell her where her friends are being kept. Meanwhile, Erick arrives and is able to reunite with Jack (who has escaped from captivity), and the two battle their way to rescue their friends, while Victoria ends up saving Creel and Albert is able to get free and reunite with Sana, but she (under Villiers' control) nearly kills him until Erick intervenes, leading to an intense fight with Erick and Albert battling zombies and skeleton pirates. Though the five heroes are able to liberate the port, Villiers and Sana get away while Shanker is nowhere to be found. In fact, Shanker ends up finding McKenna, who is unable to fight him off, but is rescued by Dona, still wounded but able to fight back. In her wounded state, however, she's unable to defeat Shanker, and she is taken prisoner, as Shanker hopes to use Dona to lure out Erick and kill the both of them once and for all. McKenna is left stranded on a deserted island, but she is able to make a raft for herself and takes to the seas, hoping to reunite with her friends to save Dona. The next few chapters mainly concern rescuing Dona. McKenna is able to reunite with her friends fairly quickly, returning in a dramatic moment in which she saves Jack and meets his aunt and uncle for the first time (Melissa likes McKenna right away, leading to some funny interactions between the two of them that rather embarrass Jack while also making McKenna understand his point of view about wanting to settle down). Events culminate in a mission that sees Erick and Dona both forced to fight their way to each other as their friends battle it out with skeletons, zombies, multiple navies, and Shanker in a massive multi-ship battle. Eventually, Erick and Dona reunite, kissing passionately on the deck of the Venture as the battle continues to rage around them, and then immediately battling enemies back to back with one another (it's very reminiscent of Will and Elizabeth's battle scenes from OTL's At World's End, and the closest thing we get to that ITTL). We also learn about the crime that the Venture crew committed to become the most wanted pirates on the high seas: the destruction of a port city, which burned to the ground and which nearly all the residents died. Obviously, the crew wasn't responsible for this (as it turns out, Shanker was primarily the one responsible), but Albert bears some responsibility because he could have prevented it if he hadn't been trying to save Sana, who was in the middle of being forced to conduct the ritual that led to the port's destruction. While this segment is expected to end in a battle against either Shanker or Villiers, neither of those things happen. Instead, Shanker betrays Villiers, killing her and severing her link to Sana. He now has command over the skeleton and zombie crews, and orders them to slaughter all the remaining naval sailors present before turning them on the Venture crew. Jack's uncle sacrifices himself to save everyone, ramming a burning ship into Shanker's ship and damaging it enough to allow the Venture to get away with the seven main characters, Melissa, Sana, and a few survivors (including defectors from Shanker's crew, some of Villiers' attendants, and a few naval sailors and soldiers).
After a series of cutscenes in which Jack and Melissa mourn, Albert and Sana commiserate over their shared responsibility for the destruction of the port one year ago, and some of the other characters deal with various issues that have come up over the course of the game, the player is given free reign over the Venture for the final few chapters, which involve tracking down Shanker before he can unleash his undead army on the largest port city in the world. There's an opportunity for a few side chapters here to develop some other characters (and perhaps earn more ending segments), but ultimately, the final four chapters consist of an epic sea battle against Shanker's fleet, another epic battle in the midst of a city, and finally, the exploration of an ancient ruin to hunt down and defeat Shanker before he's able to use a kidnapped Sana to make himself into a death god. The final battle has segments in which the player will control all of the seven main characters for at least some part of the fight, but it's Erick who deals the finishing blow, defeating Shanker for good. The ending has a sequence in which it looks like Albert is going to sacrifice himself, but he makes it out alive, and the ending is a happy one. The ending itself, which sees the bounty on the crew canceled, has the Venture's crew agreeing to part ways, with Erick and Dona leaving to start a family, Victoria going back home to her family, Creel going off on his own adventures (but eventually finding Victoria and reuniting with her), Albert spending time with Sana, and Jack and McKenna returning to Melissa's home to spend time with her. Depending on how many ending segments the player has earned, some of these segments are expanded a bit, but no matter what, the player at least gets a little bit of each character's ending. Finally, Erick and Dona are shown returning to the Venture after a year, now with a newborn baby. They're about to sail the world together with their new child, only for Albert to return. He explains that Sana went to find her own purpose, but that he'll visit her one day, and asks to return to the ship. Next, Victoria shows up, along with Creel (though Victoria still doesn't have a ring, implying that the two of them still aren't formally together). Just as the ship departs, we see that McKenna has snuck on board, in a wedding dress, and then she reveals that Jack is with her (dressed in nice wedding clothes). She says that the two want to be pirates again for their honeymoon, but it's implied that they're there to stay, as Melissa shows up to wave them off, along with other characters the group has met along the way. The Venture sails off into the horizon, showing Erick and Dona kissing passionately one last time and holding their baby.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon receives universal acclaim at the time of its release. Not only is the game considered even better than 2008's Mythic, its reception is quite similar to the one received by Uncharted 2: Among Thieves IOTL: it's considered an immediate front-runner for game of the year and a new standard-bearer for cinematic presentation. The graphics, gameplay, voice acting, musical score (which, like OTL's Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, is performed by Hans Zimmer), and storyline are all extremely highly praised, and the game lives up to all the hype and then some, considered by many to be the best video game since 2008's SimSociety. Sales are through the roof at the time of the game's release, topping a million in its first week and remaining consistently strong throughout the rest of the year, becoming the best selling game in the series before the end of 2011. Nintendo, Sony, and Naughty Dog's gamble pays off massively, rewarding Nintendo's faith in Naughty Dog and ensuring that the company will remain one of the most important second party developers in the industry for years to come.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon is an action/adventure game for the Nintendo Sapphire, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony. The game, while maintaining all previous continuity, character development, and plot from the previous 15 years of games in the series, is considered a "reboot" from a gameplay/presentation perspective, as it takes the action/adventure/open-ended gameplay of previous titles and adapts it toward a more modern, cinematic style reminiscent of OTL's Uncharted and The Last Of Us games, with full motion captured character animations and a more closed style of gameplay with defined set pieces and in-game dialogue/cutscenes. Despite these presentation changes, Horizon maintains some series staples, including side/optional missions (to a lesser degree than previous games), upgrade-able equipment, and a more hack-and-slashy kind of combat system than OTL's Uncharted (which is more attuned toward gunplay). Though Horizon does feature firearms, they're somewhat less accurate/powerful than the modern firearms featured in Naughty Dog's OTL games, and melee remains the preferred form of combat for protagonists and enemies alike. Players can hunt for upgrades, both temporary and permanent, as well as equipment that can be found for characters such as improved swords and some form of body armor. The game's not a full action-RPG, but it does have RPG elements, and each of the game's seven playable characters has their own equipment loadout, stats, and equippable items. Combat itself is a mix of hack-and-slash action and the context-sensitive, cinematic combat of the OTL Uncharted series, with quick reactions being key to finishing combat more quickly. However, it's possible to brute-force through even if one's timing is bad, depending on the character's equipment and the player's skill with the actual moves. Some characters, like Creel and Albert, are more brute-force characters, while Victoria requires speed and precision, and characters like Erick and Dona are more jack-of-all-trade types. The younger characters, Jack and McKenna, are more "specialty" fighters, with McKenna being a somewhat more technical Victoria, and Jack relying on firearms and traps, playing like a niche character and requiring probably more skill than any of the others to play. While the narrative and presentation is structured like an OTL Uncharted game, the player still has some degree of choice in what characters to use and what missions to undertake. The game features 24 "chapters" in all in its main story, though the main story can be expanded up to 33 chapters via accessing certain sub-chapters. Three of the main story chapters can also be replaced with alternate main chapters, and though the game has a single defined ending, up to nine scenes can be added to the ending depending on the player's progress through the game. Missions can also be completed in different ways, which opens up more dialogue, treasure, and equipment, and scores "points" toward ending segments. The player is encouraged to explore thoroughly, both to earn more treasure and to access more dialogue. Enemy encounters aren't as scripted as they are in OTL's Uncharted (it's possible to encounter a lot less enemies than one would in that game), but there usually is at least one scripted encounter with hostiles in each chapter. There are also less puzzles than in OTL Uncharted (or TTL's Mystic, for that matter), meaning that the game truly is based primarily on exploration and combat. In addition to land-based missions, there are also ship-to-ship combat sequences, though there are only a few in the game (no more than five total), and all but a couple end fairly quickly, with the combat scenes being more to show off the game's cinematic prowess than to impede the player's progress in any meaningful way. The game also features a series first: an online multiplayer combat mode, featuring deathmatch and team battles, including capture the flag. Multiplayer mode has improved firearm mechanics, but also has a heavy emphasis on melee, and plays quite similar to the multiplayer in OTL's Uncharted games.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon features fully motion-captured acting, similar to Naughty Dog's OTL games. This necessitated a near full-recast of the series' main characters. With more than a decade having passed since the events of the original game, the main characters are significantly older and more mature than their original incarnations (Erick/Dona/Victoria/Creel, who started in their late teens/early 20s, are now all in their early 30s/mid 30s, while Jack and McKenna, who were adolescents when the series began, are now in their early/mid 20s, and Albert, who started in his 30s, is now in his late 40s). The casting and characterization reflects more than a decade worth of character development. Though the main characters are Erick and Dona (with Victoria and Creel playing major roles and Albert/Jack/McKenna more side characters), each of the main seven gets their time to shine, headlining at least two chapters out of the total 36.
Erick: Still the ship's "captain", the young, bold adventurer of the original game has become a seasoned pirate and seafarer. He married Dona between the events of Bermuda Triangle and Horizon, and his relationship with her plays a major role in the game. Though he's still not as brave and brash as his better half, he's frequently the one to lead the charge on missions, and drives the events of the game more than any other character. He's played by Luke Mitchell.
Dona: Co-captain of the Venture in all but name, Dona has matured quite a bit in the decade that she's been sailing with her companions. While not quite as reckless as she originally was, she's still not afraid to charge in and get physical, and also knows the most about the world and the destinations that the ship finds itself. Still doesn't suffer fools very well but loves Erick and has learned to put up with his more immature moments. She's played by Carolina Ravassa.
Victoria: Having gone from pampered spoiled brat to seasoned seafarer, Victoria still has a bit of her more refined tastes and aristocratic snootiness, but she's now also quite generous and brave, and won't hesitate to put a boot on the face of anyone who'd dare question her skills. Quite skilled in sciences, but also very good with a blade and a pistol, Victoria now searches for her true purpose and for love (and though she'd had numerous flings with Creel, she doesn't think she wants to settle down with him). She's played by Esme Bianco (who also plays Luma in Mystic).
Creel: While still a bit of a party animal and prone at times to drunkenness, Erick's best buddy has matured as well, and has almost taken on a sort of parental role on the ship (though Albert is still the oldest and most mature). He still has Erick's back and he's the most loyal friend one could possibly have, though that doesn't mean he won't get into some occasional trouble (an issue addressed repeatedly in the game when he royally screws up). Creel is played by Jeffrey Pierce.
Albert: Albert has changed the least of the people on the Venture's crew, likely due to being the oldest when the events of the series began. He has been able to cast out his old demons and has settled into a sort of fatherly role on the ship, though he still occasionally laments Annette (his ghostly love interest from Bermuda Triangle). He now tries to be a protector to the rest of his friends, though he's starting to get a little old for it and it becomes an issue later on. He's played by Phil Lamarr.
Jack: Now a young man and a career pirate, Jack is starting to have doubts about whether or not he wishes to stay on the Venture or settle down. He loves his friends (particularly McKenna, his love interest for pretty much the entire series), but when he discovers members of his family (not the ones that died on the shipwreck, but his mom's sister and her family), he becomes torn between his lifelong vocation and his new ambitions. He's played by Joseph Haro.
McKenna: Unlike Jack, McKenna wants to stay a pirate her whole life. Pirating and thieving is all she knows, and when she learns Jack might not want to stay on the Venture, she sees it as somewhat of a betrayal, leading to conflict between the two of them. She also thinks she might be ready to take over leadership from her lifelong idol (and big sister surrogate) Dona, and the relationship between the two is thoroughly explored in the game. She's played by Johanna Braddy.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon begins with a quiet sequence in which it's explained that the crew of the Venture has become the most wanted pirate crew on the high seas for a crime that remains unnamed, at least during the intro. It's peaceful and it introduces the main characters, but then we get an attempted boarding during a storm, and a dramatic sequence in which the Venture finds itself marooned on a jungle island. Erick, Dona, and Creel are separated from the rest of the crew, and the first mission has them gathering supplies to repair the ship while Victoria, Albert, Jack, and McKenna stay onboard. The three are repeatedly attacked by crews from the ship that wrecked them (which also got wrecked itself), but they manage to get through it okay until they end up surrounded and have to be bailed out by Victoria, who explains that the ship got attacked and that Albert, Jack, and McKenna were able to find a settlement on the island (which isn't deserted but is actually its own small territory) and are attempting to negotiate for supplies. The four make it to the settlement, which is run by a hardnosed governor and former pirate captain named Shanker, who knows how high the bounty is for the Venture's crew, but doesn't believe in cooperation with the authorities, so he's allowing them to leave if they do some jobs for him. Dona is reluctant to help, but Erick wants off the island and agrees. The crew splits up again, which ultimately leads to only four of them getting off the island: Victoria, Creel, Albert, and Jack. Erick is taken captive by Shanker, while Dona and McKenna are almost taken but they stow away on another ship leaving the island. Albert takes command of the Venture as the crew searches for their missing comrades, while Victoria decides to blow off her duties, leading even Creel to question her dedication (and to refuse when she offers to get drunk with him). Meanwhile, Jack decides he doesn't want any more of the pirate life, and this is compounded after the Venture lands at a port of call where Melissa, Jack's aunt, is living. Meanwhile, Erick is able to escape his captivity just before Dona and McKenna would have reached him, and Dona, despite wrecking Shanker's entire operation, is somewhat badly wounded, forcing McKenna to take care of her. Erick manages to make it back to the port where most of the others are staying, after fighting his way through crews of skeleton soldiers and a dedicated naval squadron to get there. While Jack's aunt Melissa turns out to be a very good person, her employer, a cruel and powerful governess named Madam Villiers, is not, and she eventually has Albert, Creel, Jack, and Melissa and her husband taken captive (while Victoria is out getting drunk). Villiers is connected not only to the naval forces seeking to catch the crew of the Venture, but also has connections to a voodoo priestess named Sana, who is connected to the crime that the crew of the Venture committed to become the most wanted crew on the high seas. Sana happens to be Albert's daughter, separated from him when the two were sold into slavery twenty years before, and is being used by Villiers to conjure up zombies and skeletons intended to kill people on the high seas and depopulate various islands around the ocean, freeing them up to be bought out by Villiers who will then be able to raise an army of both the living and the dead to take over the seas. Meanwhile, Shanker, who is connected to Villiers, is still attempting to catch the crew of the Venture, and while he ostensibly works for Villiers, he also has his own agenda. By about halfway through the main story, all of these main conflicts have been set up, and the rest of the game is spent with the crew of the Venture attempting to stop Shanker and Villiers from executing their plan (while Albert also tries to free his daughter Sana from Villiers' control).
The second half of the game begins with a series of rescue/reuniting missions, which starts with Victoria regretting her decision to abandon her friends and her ship and using her funds to doll herself up nicely for Creel (she intends to propose to him). She shows up to the Venture all dressed up in a beautiful white dress, only to be attacked by a horde of pirates working for Shanker. In earlier games, this would have ended with Victoria getting captured and thrown in a prison somewhere, but she's ready for action and takes out several of Shanker's pirates before successfully threatening one of them to tell her where her friends are being kept. Meanwhile, Erick arrives and is able to reunite with Jack (who has escaped from captivity), and the two battle their way to rescue their friends, while Victoria ends up saving Creel and Albert is able to get free and reunite with Sana, but she (under Villiers' control) nearly kills him until Erick intervenes, leading to an intense fight with Erick and Albert battling zombies and skeleton pirates. Though the five heroes are able to liberate the port, Villiers and Sana get away while Shanker is nowhere to be found. In fact, Shanker ends up finding McKenna, who is unable to fight him off, but is rescued by Dona, still wounded but able to fight back. In her wounded state, however, she's unable to defeat Shanker, and she is taken prisoner, as Shanker hopes to use Dona to lure out Erick and kill the both of them once and for all. McKenna is left stranded on a deserted island, but she is able to make a raft for herself and takes to the seas, hoping to reunite with her friends to save Dona. The next few chapters mainly concern rescuing Dona. McKenna is able to reunite with her friends fairly quickly, returning in a dramatic moment in which she saves Jack and meets his aunt and uncle for the first time (Melissa likes McKenna right away, leading to some funny interactions between the two of them that rather embarrass Jack while also making McKenna understand his point of view about wanting to settle down). Events culminate in a mission that sees Erick and Dona both forced to fight their way to each other as their friends battle it out with skeletons, zombies, multiple navies, and Shanker in a massive multi-ship battle. Eventually, Erick and Dona reunite, kissing passionately on the deck of the Venture as the battle continues to rage around them, and then immediately battling enemies back to back with one another (it's very reminiscent of Will and Elizabeth's battle scenes from OTL's At World's End, and the closest thing we get to that ITTL). We also learn about the crime that the Venture crew committed to become the most wanted pirates on the high seas: the destruction of a port city, which burned to the ground and which nearly all the residents died. Obviously, the crew wasn't responsible for this (as it turns out, Shanker was primarily the one responsible), but Albert bears some responsibility because he could have prevented it if he hadn't been trying to save Sana, who was in the middle of being forced to conduct the ritual that led to the port's destruction. While this segment is expected to end in a battle against either Shanker or Villiers, neither of those things happen. Instead, Shanker betrays Villiers, killing her and severing her link to Sana. He now has command over the skeleton and zombie crews, and orders them to slaughter all the remaining naval sailors present before turning them on the Venture crew. Jack's uncle sacrifices himself to save everyone, ramming a burning ship into Shanker's ship and damaging it enough to allow the Venture to get away with the seven main characters, Melissa, Sana, and a few survivors (including defectors from Shanker's crew, some of Villiers' attendants, and a few naval sailors and soldiers).
After a series of cutscenes in which Jack and Melissa mourn, Albert and Sana commiserate over their shared responsibility for the destruction of the port one year ago, and some of the other characters deal with various issues that have come up over the course of the game, the player is given free reign over the Venture for the final few chapters, which involve tracking down Shanker before he can unleash his undead army on the largest port city in the world. There's an opportunity for a few side chapters here to develop some other characters (and perhaps earn more ending segments), but ultimately, the final four chapters consist of an epic sea battle against Shanker's fleet, another epic battle in the midst of a city, and finally, the exploration of an ancient ruin to hunt down and defeat Shanker before he's able to use a kidnapped Sana to make himself into a death god. The final battle has segments in which the player will control all of the seven main characters for at least some part of the fight, but it's Erick who deals the finishing blow, defeating Shanker for good. The ending has a sequence in which it looks like Albert is going to sacrifice himself, but he makes it out alive, and the ending is a happy one. The ending itself, which sees the bounty on the crew canceled, has the Venture's crew agreeing to part ways, with Erick and Dona leaving to start a family, Victoria going back home to her family, Creel going off on his own adventures (but eventually finding Victoria and reuniting with her), Albert spending time with Sana, and Jack and McKenna returning to Melissa's home to spend time with her. Depending on how many ending segments the player has earned, some of these segments are expanded a bit, but no matter what, the player at least gets a little bit of each character's ending. Finally, Erick and Dona are shown returning to the Venture after a year, now with a newborn baby. They're about to sail the world together with their new child, only for Albert to return. He explains that Sana went to find her own purpose, but that he'll visit her one day, and asks to return to the ship. Next, Victoria shows up, along with Creel (though Victoria still doesn't have a ring, implying that the two of them still aren't formally together). Just as the ship departs, we see that McKenna has snuck on board, in a wedding dress, and then she reveals that Jack is with her (dressed in nice wedding clothes). She says that the two want to be pirates again for their honeymoon, but it's implied that they're there to stay, as Melissa shows up to wave them off, along with other characters the group has met along the way. The Venture sails off into the horizon, showing Erick and Dona kissing passionately one last time and holding their baby.
Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon receives universal acclaim at the time of its release. Not only is the game considered even better than 2008's Mythic, its reception is quite similar to the one received by Uncharted 2: Among Thieves IOTL: it's considered an immediate front-runner for game of the year and a new standard-bearer for cinematic presentation. The graphics, gameplay, voice acting, musical score (which, like OTL's Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, is performed by Hans Zimmer), and storyline are all extremely highly praised, and the game lives up to all the hype and then some, considered by many to be the best video game since 2008's SimSociety. Sales are through the roof at the time of the game's release, topping a million in its first week and remaining consistently strong throughout the rest of the year, becoming the best selling game in the series before the end of 2011. Nintendo, Sony, and Naughty Dog's gamble pays off massively, rewarding Nintendo's faith in Naughty Dog and ensuring that the company will remain one of the most important second party developers in the industry for years to come.
Here's a question I've been meaning to ask: does Google still buy YouTube ITTL's 2006 or is that butterflied away/replaced with the Okuma purchase?
Correct. Google bought Okuma, and Mark Cuban (via Lycos, which is still going ITTL, though it's more of a web hosting/social media portal than a search engine) bought Youtube.
Oh, does anyone have any thoughts on Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon? I know quite a few people were looking forward to it ^_^
Oh, does anyone have any thoughts on Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon? I know quite a few people were looking forward to it ^_^
Summer 2011 (Part 9) - Ultima XI
Ultima XI: The Wages Of Sin
Ultima XI: The Wages Of Sin is a WRPG published by Electronic Arts. Helmed by Richard Garriott, Ultima IX is a single player adventure, rather than the single player/online hybrid that was Ultima X. The game takes place in a realm different from the Britannia of previous titles, a realm known as Darkhold, a realm where sin and vice reign supreme. While the conflict between virtue and vice was thoroughly explored in Ultima X, this game sees the Avatar encouraged to indulge freely in vice, rather than attempting to maintain balance between the two. Darkhold is a realm where people take what they wish, where the strong exploit the weak, and where sin is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Prostitutes roam every street corner, gambling is abundant, and people look the other way whenever robbers and brigands steal from the people (or for that matter, when their victims take revenge). The main player character is a male adult referred to as the Avatar (the same as in other games), and while this Avatar starts out as an upholder of virtue who is horrified by the vice he sees in his wake, eventually he grows accustomed to it and freely indulges in it (as much as the player allows him to do so). Engaging in temptation is well rewarded: the player can grow quite powerful simply by stealing money and items from people too weak to fight back, engaging in corrupt activities will allow the Avatar to gain power and property, and rather than taking a single wife as many RPGs of this nature allow, the Avatar is able to take numerous concubines (and the game rewards the player for this via lots of fanservice and cheesecake). The eight vices from Ultima X make an appearance in this game as well, but they've been twisted into "positive" mirrors of themselves:
Deceit -> Creativity
Hatred -> Focus
Cowardice -> Cunning
Corruption -> Acumen
Greed -> Desire
Ruthlessness -> Determination
Decadence -> Indulgence
Pride -> Pride (Pride remains the same but rather than labeled as a vice, it's considered positive to be proud of one's accomplishments and strength)
For much of the game, Ultima XI makes the player feel good for their greedy actions. They're able to dominate enemies in combat, accumulate lots of treasure and money, and generally have more fun than if they tried to play in a virtuous way. However, there are hidden, subtle consequences for the player's actions. It's very difficult to make friends in this game (and most of the ones you do make will backstab you). With few exceptions, if the Avatar takes on concubines, the concubines despise them, and despite being outwardly happy, it's easy for the player to see that they're not happy. Townsfolk will fear the Avatar the more powerful they become, and even animals shrink away from them. Also, with more and more sins committed, the player will notice a growing darkness in the world, a darkness that causes areas to become more treacherous and enemies to become more dangerous. The more corrupt the Avatar becomes, the bleaker a place Darkhold becomes (and it was already bleak to begin with). As for combat, it's a more advanced form of the combat from Ultima X, with battles taking on a more strategic element than in other WRPGs. Cover is generally important, as is a good defense, though a powerful, sinful Avatar will be able to pretty much crush enemies without needing to go on the defensive very much. There's a wide variety of weaponry in the game, including swords, maces, axes, bows, and even firearms, and magic is also an important element in the game, both offensively and defensively. The combat's not hack and slash by any means, and moves at somewhat of a slow pace compared to other JRPGs. The world of Darkhold is quite massive, and though the map's not the biggest of its generation, it's quite sizable with plenty of things for the player to do and a wide range of cities to explore. The game features a full cast of voice actors, most of them British (and thus mostly unrecognizable to most OTL fans who live in North America, though a few would be familiar to fans of OTL's Xenoblade games which were also dubbed in Britain). The most famous actor with a voice role in the game is Tom Hiddleston, who voices the game's primary antagonist, Death (who remains unnamed for most of the game until the big reveal toward the end of the main storyline). There are a few Los Angeles area actors as well, with a few recognizable names like Paul Eiding and Vanessa Marshall among the cast. The graphics of Ultima XI are considered fairly good for the genre, with good character detail and plenty of background detail, and a wide variety of environments. The game looks quite good on the Sapphire and Xbox 2, but a powerful PC rig can make the game look even better.
The game begins with the Avatar finding himself in Darkhold and making his way to one of the game's largest cities, where he learns first hand just how far this realm has fallen. Sin and vice and corruption have overtaken everything, and the only friendly face is a mysterious man dressed in a fancy black robe who offers to help the Avatar out by setting him up with an apartment and some basic equipment, and encouraging him to indulge. This man turns out to be Death, but for the moment, he calls himself merely a friend, and says that the Avatar is free to do anything he wishes. This man is a frequent visitor to the Avatar throughout the game, appearing in both main missions and side missions, and he'll often encourage the Avatar (and through him, the player) to indulge in vice and whatever they want to do. The game subtly leads the Avatar down the path of corruption, but it IS possible (albeit not always fun) to play as a virtuous character even with all the temptation. It will be a slog and a grind to do so: characters will often refuse the Avatar's help, you'll be forced into fetch quests with few, if any rewards, and a lot of so-called allies will betray you. However, if going down the virtuous path, there IS light in the darkness: some characters will give true thanks, it IS possible to earn good treasure for doing good deeds (albeit very difficult to do so), and even Death will come to subtly respect the Avatar even while showing increased annoyance. However, most players will go down the path of corruption, and for good reason: It's quite fun. There are lots of fun quests on this path, rewards will come quickly and easily, there's lots of fun gambling mini-games, there's plenty of fanservice... the path of sin is an easy one and Death will encourage the player the entire time, often participating in sinful activities with him. The game's main quest involves usurping a corrupt king, and via the sinful path, it's possible to do this quite early into the game, as early as a third of the way through with all the high-level equipment and enabling allies the Avatar can earn. However... at a point in the main quest, either before the defeat of the king or after (depending on how many missions total have been completed), the other shoe will drop. Death will reveal his true face, and if the player has been indulging in sin and vice the entire game, Death will be EXTREMELY powerful. In fact, the game can somewhat be compared to OTL's Undertale, in that, in the Genocide path through the game, the player is eventually forced into an incredibly difficult boss battle at the end. If the player commits enough sin and vice, then by the time it's time to face off with Death, Death will be almost as difficult to beat, and the player will be called out for pretty much every sin they've committed throughout the game (the final fourth of the game is essentially a series of "punishment" missions forcing the Avatar to account for their actions). On the path of virtue, the final few missions are quite straight-forward, the player must battle Death and the evil king, but it's at a normal level of difficulty, and most players will also have made a few good friends by this point, making this path quite rewarding in the end. On the vice path through the game, however, the player will have a much more difficult time with the final series of missions. Despite all this, it's still possible to kill Death and assume one's place as the corrupt ruler of Darkhold. The Avatar is forever corrupted and will never return to Britannia, but depending on the player's actions, the Avatar is still enjoying his life as the corrupt dark king. On the virtuous path, the Avatar has saved Darkhold, and while the realm will have a VERY long road to recovery, it will eventually overcome the hardships that befell it during its corruption. The Avatar, depending on their actions, will either remain in Darkhold to uphold the virtues they have brought to the land, or will return to Britannia, comforted in knowing that they have restored virtue and a proper ruler to the throne. It's possible to achieve a satisfying ending on either the virtue or vice path through the game, and though the final boss fight is EXTREMELY hard, playing the game like a corrupt, genocidal Grand Theft Auto protagonist and ruling Darkhold for eternity as essentially a Slaaneshi prince can be just as, if not more satisfying than returning to Britannia as savior of the realm.
Ultima XI: The Wages Of Sin is released on August 16, 2011 for the Nintendo Sapphire, Microsoft Xbox 2, PC, and Macintosh. Reviews are generally excellent, averaging in the high 8s, though it's not quite the game of the year frontrunner some expected it to be. The game is praised for its unique morality system compared to previous games in the series and Richard Garriott's willingness to take risks with his formula. The game does court some controversy for its sexual content, which isn't quite on the level of the harshest OTL games like God Of War or Grand Theft Auto, but is still harsher than normal for the Ultima series and turns off some longtime players. Other longtime players find fault with the game's willingness to reward sinful conduct and not require the player to eventually uphold the Eight Virtues, even if it does punish them harshly for their sins. The game's voice acting is praised for the most part, with Tom Hiddleston's performance as Death given the highest marks. Released into an extremely crowded August featuring several highly anticipated exclusives and multiplatform games, Ultima XI still manages to find a strong sales footing, selling over half a million copies amongst its console and PC platforms in its first week of release, the best launch in the series to date (even beating out Ultima X which was considered a moderate hit). With Ultima still going strong as one of the most popular WRPG franchises in gaming, Electronic Arts is happy to fund Richard Garriott's next foray into the world of Britannia, and he would choose to work on his biggest project yet: the long awaited sequel to the classic MMORPG Ultima Online. Ultima Online was still chugging along after nearly 15 years of release, and Garriott had come up with many ideas for the game. He'd intended to release a sequel in the early 2000s, but development on the final Saturn Ultima and what would eventually become Ultima X took up all the possible development time for a sequel. Now, he wanted to finish what he started, and with MMORPGs more popular than ever, now seemed like the best time to begin development. Ultima Online 2 wouldn't even be announced until the first of the eighth generation systems had hit the market, but it would soon become one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of all time, and Garriott hoped it would elevate his franchise to the pinnacle of the industry, a spot it hadn't enjoyed in more than twenty years.
Ultima XI: The Wages Of Sin is a WRPG published by Electronic Arts. Helmed by Richard Garriott, Ultima IX is a single player adventure, rather than the single player/online hybrid that was Ultima X. The game takes place in a realm different from the Britannia of previous titles, a realm known as Darkhold, a realm where sin and vice reign supreme. While the conflict between virtue and vice was thoroughly explored in Ultima X, this game sees the Avatar encouraged to indulge freely in vice, rather than attempting to maintain balance between the two. Darkhold is a realm where people take what they wish, where the strong exploit the weak, and where sin is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Prostitutes roam every street corner, gambling is abundant, and people look the other way whenever robbers and brigands steal from the people (or for that matter, when their victims take revenge). The main player character is a male adult referred to as the Avatar (the same as in other games), and while this Avatar starts out as an upholder of virtue who is horrified by the vice he sees in his wake, eventually he grows accustomed to it and freely indulges in it (as much as the player allows him to do so). Engaging in temptation is well rewarded: the player can grow quite powerful simply by stealing money and items from people too weak to fight back, engaging in corrupt activities will allow the Avatar to gain power and property, and rather than taking a single wife as many RPGs of this nature allow, the Avatar is able to take numerous concubines (and the game rewards the player for this via lots of fanservice and cheesecake). The eight vices from Ultima X make an appearance in this game as well, but they've been twisted into "positive" mirrors of themselves:
Deceit -> Creativity
Hatred -> Focus
Cowardice -> Cunning
Corruption -> Acumen
Greed -> Desire
Ruthlessness -> Determination
Decadence -> Indulgence
Pride -> Pride (Pride remains the same but rather than labeled as a vice, it's considered positive to be proud of one's accomplishments and strength)
For much of the game, Ultima XI makes the player feel good for their greedy actions. They're able to dominate enemies in combat, accumulate lots of treasure and money, and generally have more fun than if they tried to play in a virtuous way. However, there are hidden, subtle consequences for the player's actions. It's very difficult to make friends in this game (and most of the ones you do make will backstab you). With few exceptions, if the Avatar takes on concubines, the concubines despise them, and despite being outwardly happy, it's easy for the player to see that they're not happy. Townsfolk will fear the Avatar the more powerful they become, and even animals shrink away from them. Also, with more and more sins committed, the player will notice a growing darkness in the world, a darkness that causes areas to become more treacherous and enemies to become more dangerous. The more corrupt the Avatar becomes, the bleaker a place Darkhold becomes (and it was already bleak to begin with). As for combat, it's a more advanced form of the combat from Ultima X, with battles taking on a more strategic element than in other WRPGs. Cover is generally important, as is a good defense, though a powerful, sinful Avatar will be able to pretty much crush enemies without needing to go on the defensive very much. There's a wide variety of weaponry in the game, including swords, maces, axes, bows, and even firearms, and magic is also an important element in the game, both offensively and defensively. The combat's not hack and slash by any means, and moves at somewhat of a slow pace compared to other JRPGs. The world of Darkhold is quite massive, and though the map's not the biggest of its generation, it's quite sizable with plenty of things for the player to do and a wide range of cities to explore. The game features a full cast of voice actors, most of them British (and thus mostly unrecognizable to most OTL fans who live in North America, though a few would be familiar to fans of OTL's Xenoblade games which were also dubbed in Britain). The most famous actor with a voice role in the game is Tom Hiddleston, who voices the game's primary antagonist, Death (who remains unnamed for most of the game until the big reveal toward the end of the main storyline). There are a few Los Angeles area actors as well, with a few recognizable names like Paul Eiding and Vanessa Marshall among the cast. The graphics of Ultima XI are considered fairly good for the genre, with good character detail and plenty of background detail, and a wide variety of environments. The game looks quite good on the Sapphire and Xbox 2, but a powerful PC rig can make the game look even better.
The game begins with the Avatar finding himself in Darkhold and making his way to one of the game's largest cities, where he learns first hand just how far this realm has fallen. Sin and vice and corruption have overtaken everything, and the only friendly face is a mysterious man dressed in a fancy black robe who offers to help the Avatar out by setting him up with an apartment and some basic equipment, and encouraging him to indulge. This man turns out to be Death, but for the moment, he calls himself merely a friend, and says that the Avatar is free to do anything he wishes. This man is a frequent visitor to the Avatar throughout the game, appearing in both main missions and side missions, and he'll often encourage the Avatar (and through him, the player) to indulge in vice and whatever they want to do. The game subtly leads the Avatar down the path of corruption, but it IS possible (albeit not always fun) to play as a virtuous character even with all the temptation. It will be a slog and a grind to do so: characters will often refuse the Avatar's help, you'll be forced into fetch quests with few, if any rewards, and a lot of so-called allies will betray you. However, if going down the virtuous path, there IS light in the darkness: some characters will give true thanks, it IS possible to earn good treasure for doing good deeds (albeit very difficult to do so), and even Death will come to subtly respect the Avatar even while showing increased annoyance. However, most players will go down the path of corruption, and for good reason: It's quite fun. There are lots of fun quests on this path, rewards will come quickly and easily, there's lots of fun gambling mini-games, there's plenty of fanservice... the path of sin is an easy one and Death will encourage the player the entire time, often participating in sinful activities with him. The game's main quest involves usurping a corrupt king, and via the sinful path, it's possible to do this quite early into the game, as early as a third of the way through with all the high-level equipment and enabling allies the Avatar can earn. However... at a point in the main quest, either before the defeat of the king or after (depending on how many missions total have been completed), the other shoe will drop. Death will reveal his true face, and if the player has been indulging in sin and vice the entire game, Death will be EXTREMELY powerful. In fact, the game can somewhat be compared to OTL's Undertale, in that, in the Genocide path through the game, the player is eventually forced into an incredibly difficult boss battle at the end. If the player commits enough sin and vice, then by the time it's time to face off with Death, Death will be almost as difficult to beat, and the player will be called out for pretty much every sin they've committed throughout the game (the final fourth of the game is essentially a series of "punishment" missions forcing the Avatar to account for their actions). On the path of virtue, the final few missions are quite straight-forward, the player must battle Death and the evil king, but it's at a normal level of difficulty, and most players will also have made a few good friends by this point, making this path quite rewarding in the end. On the vice path through the game, however, the player will have a much more difficult time with the final series of missions. Despite all this, it's still possible to kill Death and assume one's place as the corrupt ruler of Darkhold. The Avatar is forever corrupted and will never return to Britannia, but depending on the player's actions, the Avatar is still enjoying his life as the corrupt dark king. On the virtuous path, the Avatar has saved Darkhold, and while the realm will have a VERY long road to recovery, it will eventually overcome the hardships that befell it during its corruption. The Avatar, depending on their actions, will either remain in Darkhold to uphold the virtues they have brought to the land, or will return to Britannia, comforted in knowing that they have restored virtue and a proper ruler to the throne. It's possible to achieve a satisfying ending on either the virtue or vice path through the game, and though the final boss fight is EXTREMELY hard, playing the game like a corrupt, genocidal Grand Theft Auto protagonist and ruling Darkhold for eternity as essentially a Slaaneshi prince can be just as, if not more satisfying than returning to Britannia as savior of the realm.
Ultima XI: The Wages Of Sin is released on August 16, 2011 for the Nintendo Sapphire, Microsoft Xbox 2, PC, and Macintosh. Reviews are generally excellent, averaging in the high 8s, though it's not quite the game of the year frontrunner some expected it to be. The game is praised for its unique morality system compared to previous games in the series and Richard Garriott's willingness to take risks with his formula. The game does court some controversy for its sexual content, which isn't quite on the level of the harshest OTL games like God Of War or Grand Theft Auto, but is still harsher than normal for the Ultima series and turns off some longtime players. Other longtime players find fault with the game's willingness to reward sinful conduct and not require the player to eventually uphold the Eight Virtues, even if it does punish them harshly for their sins. The game's voice acting is praised for the most part, with Tom Hiddleston's performance as Death given the highest marks. Released into an extremely crowded August featuring several highly anticipated exclusives and multiplatform games, Ultima XI still manages to find a strong sales footing, selling over half a million copies amongst its console and PC platforms in its first week of release, the best launch in the series to date (even beating out Ultima X which was considered a moderate hit). With Ultima still going strong as one of the most popular WRPG franchises in gaming, Electronic Arts is happy to fund Richard Garriott's next foray into the world of Britannia, and he would choose to work on his biggest project yet: the long awaited sequel to the classic MMORPG Ultima Online. Ultima Online was still chugging along after nearly 15 years of release, and Garriott had come up with many ideas for the game. He'd intended to release a sequel in the early 2000s, but development on the final Saturn Ultima and what would eventually become Ultima X took up all the possible development time for a sequel. Now, he wanted to finish what he started, and with MMORPGs more popular than ever, now seemed like the best time to begin development. Ultima Online 2 wouldn't even be announced until the first of the eighth generation systems had hit the market, but it would soon become one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of all time, and Garriott hoped it would elevate his franchise to the pinnacle of the industry, a spot it hadn't enjoyed in more than twenty years.
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