I mean, that’s one hell of a statement. I expected a severe lack of polish, but overall worse than Daikatana, for chrissakes?
lol it is not even close to Diakatana. Wow. Steam is so wonderful.
Looking for positive signs, someone in that steam thread compared it to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, saying it’s more like that than it is like classic UU, and that’s not what he paid for.
I really enjoyed Dark Messiah MM.
Going through the thread, it isn’t one person repeatedly shitposting, it’s multiples. That isn’t a good sign.
Well, we’ll see. I backed it years ago so I’m in regardless.
Technically, I guess it’s possible to be more disappointed in X than Y based on the level of excitement you had for one over the other, but whew! That statement is something.
Just the fact that the poster knew to cite those three titles means he knows his shit, he isn’t some kid.
Its closer to DM MOM than the original, and that is what we said we were building. Sadly it seems that was not communicated as clearly to some, and people expecting a redo of UU are not happy. That was never the plan, its not what we would have built back at LGS after Shock and Thief, and frankly we already built that game 20+ years ago. Maybe we should have just done a remastered for those people, but as designers that was not exactly something that made us happy. I’ll be glad to post- mortem post launch about some of the stuff, but not pre-launch. For a team of 10 it is what it is. Skyrim was never an option, and I think in some ways we put ourselves in an uncanny valley between - obviously indie 16-bit styles and AAA but didn’t hit it. As with any project hindsight is 20:20 and I can point to a zillion things we could have done better, or different or whatever. That said, there are things in there that I love- the magic system works really well for a small example. Granted I cant be objective at this point–too close–no sleep-- but it will be interesting if people beyond the ‘you didn’t make UU’ crowd get it or like it. The reality is you never know–if you think we knew at launch that Thief was any good…hah.
Already onto the next thing, but it will be interesting what people think- good or bad.
I haven’t played yet, but I refuse to believe that it’s worse than those 3 games. People love hyperbole
I tested Diakatana- it is not even close.
I had all three! The “cry-fecta” if you will
High-five! We survived!
I mean I don’t think he’s a kid necessarily but citing those games doesn’t impress me, in fact it makes me more suspicious of hyperbole.
I don’t think anyone was expecting a redo or remaster of UU. We expected a direct sequel, because that is pretty explicitly what the Kickstarter promised. We expected the same underpinning gameplay with (obviously) a hugely better presentation. All the integrated emergent systems and narrative NPC AI stuff looked really cool, but they were frosting on the cake, not the cake itself. It needs to feel like Underworld, tentatively exploring a huge dungeon. If you made that happen, everything else falls into place. Lack of polish will be forgiven, if post-release support is responsive.
I haven’t played any alphas or betas so I’m coming in cold, no pre judgment. Like, I think, many people in that Steam thread, we all desperately want to play that game.
Not a backer, have no real knowledge of the game beyond stuff I’ve read hear and elsewhere, and never really finished the UU games. But I like the concept of this game and the stated goal of being Dark Messiah-ish. So I will probably get it at some point, depending on what else is competing for my time/money.
Its closer to DM MOM than the original, and that is what we said we were building. Sadly it seems that was not communicated as clearly to some, and people expecting a redo of UU are not happy.
Some quotes from the Kickstarter page:
Join the original creators of Ultima Underworld on a quest to rekindle this legendary fantasy RPG series.
In 1992, Ultima Underworld changed the rules of what a fantasy RPG could be. It introduced the concept of 3D immersion, a player-authored experience, and an open-world to explore. It is among the all-time greatest PC RPG’s ever made. For two decades this legend has been hidden away in the deepest vaults of its publisher. The game’s original creators, who founded LookingGlass and also designed the classics System Shock and Thief , have at long-last unchained the franchise.
Backing the game grants you unprecedented front row access to the creation of the next epoch of this storied masterpiece.
And we were to supposed to read that and think “these devs are not really interested in UU’s antiquated open world gameplay mechanics anymore and want to make a mission-based successor to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic with no NPC dialogues where you replay the same six levels over and over again”?
The dialogue system was a key design element of the original UU, the Kickstarter updates talked at length about making dialogues even more dynamic and interesting, and now you’re releasing a game without any interactive dialogues at all. What’s up with that?
Obviously it was cut due to time or resources, I’m sure they cut a bunch of stuff. Ultimately, if you’ll excuse the expression, it needs to feel like UW1 did. And if they captured that, it’s all good.
I appreciate all the hard work Otherside has put into it, but it’s not entirely fair to refer to people who expected gameplay similar to UU as “those people.” Calling it “Underworld Ascendant,” and a spiritual successor to UU, a living environment, and interaction with various factions in the underworld, kind of sets those expectations, don’t you think? The references to UU are throughout, so it’s a little odd that now it’s being said that the design wasn’t properly communicated. Hmmm. Sounds like corporate-speak.
I’m sure there’s plenty of hyperbole out there and I don’t believe I’m one of those voices. I think I’m being quite fair in the assessment of my experience and deferring to it being a beta.
I might love this game. I sure have faith in the developers. But I think scolding backers because it was never meant to be a game that was already made “20+ years ago” is a little disingenuous and more than a little patronizing.
It isn’t a spiritual successor to UW. It is a direct sequel. The devs have clearly stated this.
Underworld Ascendant has ended up having very little to do with UU. I’d consider it neither a sequel nor a spiritual successor.
Well I haven’t played it yet so I can’t speak to that. If that’s the case the devs missed the mark entirely.