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NES Works #108: Ultima Exodus (Patreon)

Published:
2023-08-23 13:10:49
Imported:
2024-04
Tags:

Content

1989 is off to a rip-roaring start already. Between Tecmo Bowl and Ultima: Exodus, that's a couple of really big titles hitting early on in the year. Well done, people who made video games for NES. You're doing us proud. Did us proud. Whatever.

Anyway, this episode is pretty lengthy for a video about a single title, so I'll let it speak for itself. Thanks and good night.

Files

More like "Alpha Genesis," am I right??: Ultima: Exodus | NES Works 108

The NES receives its first proper RPG—a port of one of the original foundational pillars of the genre—after almost two years of games that borrowed mechanics and concepts from this one. Ultima: Exodus rightly earned its reputation as a formative masterpiece on home computers in the early ’80s, though here at the end of the decade in a revamped console-friendly format sitting amongst games that distill its ideas into breezy, accessible, action-driven experiences... it does feel slightly out of place. It also doesn't help that Phantasy Star (which boils down to "Ultima, except awesome") had shipped just a few months earlier on Master System. Still, you can see the seeds of America's eventual console RPG love taking shape here... even if that love would take a decade to become requited. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available now, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister.

Comments

Colbin Erdahl

I had a very near spit take at “nude topiary”. This is a caution to those who attempt to drink while watching. Beware the understated Mr. Parish’s dry humor.

Aaron Schafer

I loved this game so, so much. I'm trying to remember where I first encountered the ideas of experience points and levels and such, because I don't recall being at all confused by this game, despite it being so impenetrable in so many ways. My friend Mike and I started playing DnD somewhere around this time, I think, but Ultima may have come first? I just don't remember. Was Simon's Quest earlier than this? I know I played Zelda II before Exodus, and probably Simon's Quest as well, I believe. Dragon Warrior also; I had at least a fair amount of understanding of how level progression works before I jumped into this. Still, this was the first proper character creation/party building system I think I remember from a video game, and I spent hours (usually on a rental cartridge), just making different characters and putting them together. I did the same thing a couple years later with the NES version of the Bard's Tale, another weird FCI conversion that I fell head over heels in love with. Exodus also has a kickass soundtrack still.