Introduction

Introduction
After a troubling vision, the Avatar returns to Britannia only to be framed for kidnapping a baron's daughter. Now he must once again traverse the Stygian Abyss, this time to clear his name and unravel a sinister series of events that have been set in motion. There is no hope of escape until the deed is done. However, the Abyss has changed. A man called Lord Cabirus tried to establish a colony bound to the 8 virtues, but the grand experiment died with him. Some say he died of natural causes. Others whisper of foul deeds and poison. Either way, the remaining denizens of the Abyss are all prisoners now, the various races constantly bickering among one another.

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, developed by Blue Sky (Looking Glass Studios) and released in 1992, was the first fully 3D open world RPG adventure ever created (I think). If you were born after the mid 80's, it's probably safe to think of it as your dad's Skyrim. It's the game that inspired the Wolfenstein 3D engine.

It's my understanding that while this game is only loosely tied to the rest of the Ultima series, the game takes place sometime between Ultima 6 and 7.

If you want to play the game for yourself, you can pick up UU and UU2 on GOG, both in the same package.

About the Playthrough
I've played through the vast majority of the game once, and I've seen an LP that someone else did, so I have some familiarity with the game. I definitely don't remember much of the details, so I'll use a guide to keep things moving if necessary. I'm going to read aloud most all the stuff that NPC's blurp at us. Not going to try to do voices, but some voices may happen just due to the way some of these goofy bastards talk. It's not quite Canterbury Tales, but there's a lot of "dost this" and "canst that" going on, among other things.
Now that I've absolved myself of all sin with that qualifier

, I must admit that I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to Ultima lore. I've played through a bit of 3 and 4 and read the Memoirs of Cabirus that came with the game, so I know a thing or two about a thing or two, but that's about it. If you have any lore bombs related to Underworld that stem from other games or the Ultima universe, feel free to share. It's something I'd like to know more about. It's my intent to at least create a bonus video after a couple episodes, relaying some of what's in the Memoirs so the story has some additional context.

Our version of the avatar will be Wyndal, the Shepherd. Weapon of choice? His mighty fist of virtue!

Episodes

Sound Test (Audio gets updated from MS GS Wavetable Synth to Roland CM-32L emulation from Ep 6 on)

Series Playlist

The Let's Play Archive

Ultima Underworld

by rojovision

Introduction

Episodes