Ultima™ 9: Ascension

It's a piece of history. What, you thought I was going to say something else there? Look, the problems with this game are well documented. As many have said, the story is a slap in the face to diehard fans of the series like me. There is a complete disregard for Ultima canon, and what should be a demi-god Avatar by this point acts like a wimpy doofus suffering from a severe case of amnesia. The game's development was a mess (for shame, EA) and some of the best ideas were cut during development. If you're looking for a satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest series of all time, you won't get it from this. And yet, I'm still buying this. Again. Why? Well, firstly because (like it or not) the collection is incomplete without it and, more importantly, because there are lessons to be learned here. To me Ultima IX is, itself, a metaphorical representation of an important theme that runs through the series. Just as the virtues can be misinterpreted and twisted into abominable counterfeits, this game mishandled and desecrated much of that which was good about Ultima in the first place. It stands as a testament to the ruination of games by poor design choice after poor design choice. And yet we've learned that, with enough effort, corruption can be purged and the fallen can be redeemed. The other reason I'm going to play this again is out of respect for the work of the tireless "dragon" community. Be sure to seek out 'Ultima Reconstruction' and find the many fan-made mods - most notably Grandor Dragon's dialogue patch. Ultima fans truly are some of the most committed fans ever, and so much effort has been put towards increasing the beauty, stability, and continuity of this game. Ultima has always been about abolishing evil and replacing it with good. Think of this as the continuation of the Avatar's work. Trust me, you'll have a much better experience.

The game retcons almost EVERYTHING in the other ultima games. Everything. Nothing makes sense. The game is bugged up the ass. The AI is worse than braindead. The hit detection is barely there. Back in the day, it would crash every couple of minutes. The cutscenes suck. The story sucks. The environments suck. The acting is worse than suck. The graphics were alright for the time, if you could get them to work. Nothing. Fricken. Works. And most of the game you're fighting giant bugs and rats. Wonderful. I hate this game. With a passion. It is the worst game I have played. If you're not a fan of Ultima, then you're buying a bland, boring, repetitive, and broken RPG that offers nothing to you. Spare yourself, don't buy this game.

good old game this but, english, english only english. i don't speak english and i can't buy this game. too hard put multilanguage games hu?

If you loved the Ultima games just avoid this. The plot seems to be written by a kindergartener who has never played a previous game in the series, the characters are flat and the game is bugridden. Avoid!

Of course Ultima 9 has a lot of flaws: messed up fighting mechanics, a relativly dull storyline, hardware-requirements that were beyond anything seen to the day of the release and so on. But still the game is great, simply because you feel like beeing part of this gorgeous world. And by gorgeous i mean that it's colourfull, well crafted and interesting in a way that you feel there is adventure waiting behind every next corner (which partly archieved by a very good quest design). Furthermore the graphics were great and the sound was top notch (and in a way both still are). I would still prefer this game to most modern role-playing games and my memories are positive ones (despite not-reacting dragons and ferocious rats).