ncarty97: If people want to play it, then gog should bring it, but its the one ultima I won't be buying here. I've rehashed this here before, but I bought it new, and was unable to play it due to the system requirements. A few years later I got it going again, but didn't have time. Finally about 3 years ago I loaded it up and played through it 'for closure' on the series.
At first, it wasn't bad (was using the unofficial patch plus community dialogue mod). Different for sure, but not horrible. But the world seemed empty and almost a card board cutout. The thing I have always enjoyed about RPG's was the immersion. That you feel a apart of the world, the characters in your party or in the world. Instead, I felt lonely. And eventually (I particularly remember visiting Trinsic the first time) I began to feel angry.
By the time I finished the game, and I forced myself to do so, I was in a bad mood before, after and during the game. It simply was not enjoyable. Yet I pressed on, hoping for some payoff at the end that would give me that closure I was seeking. Instead, the ending left me wanting.
I ended up reloading Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 literally as soon as I finished U9 and playing them through, just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
Its a shame too. Even as a non party based game, U9 could have been great. For the time the graphics were amazing (and to this day I have not seen a sunset done better), and the story could have been intriguing and interesting (Bob White plot anyone?). Instead it's like they developed the base technology then said "Ok just throw some stuff in there so we can get it to market." (Which they did to some extend).
It's sad that such a monumental series ended not with a bang, but a whimper.
I agree with you about the immersion factor being one of the best parts of Ultima, and a part that was sadly missing after The Black Gate. The Black Gate really was the pinnacle of immersion, since it felt like you were in a living and breathing world, it was mostly non-linear, you could complete the tasks in many possible orders, and people all had their own schedules. In Serpent Isle they still kind of had those schedules, but Serpent Isle really was where the immersion left the series.
While I love the entire UVII set, SI is very linear (you can't go where you like until very late in the game) and the characters seem more like actors. SI is like a giant stage play with you acting out your role with a group of other actors who appear on the stage when they are needed, and disappear "backstage" when they are not. Of course in VIII they tried to give schedules back to characters and make them seem alive, but most of the "interaction" was clicking on things to attack or clicking on characters to speak. The Avatar, he with the tin can permanently stuck to his head, is not even able to sit in chairs or use anything but a very limited group of objects. Yes, he can play darts, but he can't even use a chair. He can take objects, but most of them are useless.
In IX, while the Avatar can now sit in chairs (yay) and even bake bread, the people of Britannia do not have their own schedules, and all the shops have been magically turned into 24 hour convenience stores. Yes, shopkeepers own beds, but they never use them. This shows the game probably should have had a much higher level of interactivity, but the game was obviously rushed out the door long before it was finished.
Also, the world is the size of a small theme park. That also takes away from the enjoyment of the game.
