Ultima™ 9: Ascension

Once upon a time, in the mythical land of late '90s PC gaming, a brighteyed lad opened a glorious cardboard box containing a cloth map, some cards, a manual thicker than most modern novels, and a disk that promised adventure. What did I get?.... Bugged to hell. Save file corrupted faster than my hope. Cheesy voice acting that could peel paint. Perfection. So here I am again, voluntarily launching myself headfirst into the digital dumpster fire that is Ultima IX: Ascension. The controls feel like someone mapped them during a seance. Combat? Like wrestling a baguette underwater. Dialogue? Voiced by what I assume were the devs' cousins after a couple of pints. And yet… I’m here. Smiling. Because despite the jank, the chaos, and Lord British talking like he just woke up from a nap he started in 1994, this game had heart. The world felt alive. You could pick up objects! Objects!! Back then that was black magic. And when it worked (rare, sacred moments), it was majestic. Like watching a unicorn gallop through a swamp of bad framerate. This was supposed to be the epic finale to a legendary RPG saga. And in many ways… it was. Just not for the reasons anyone intended. It was ambitious. It was a mess. It was the last hurrah of the pre-modern era, a monument to a time when devs swung for the stars and occasionally hit themselves in the face. In summary: Cloth map: 10/10 Save system: why Voice acting: gloriously awful Controls: invented in a dream Heart :way more than most AAA titles today Would I recommend it? Absolutely. If you want to laugh, cry, and question your life choices Ultima IX delivers. Now if you'll excuse me, I’m off to get stuck on a rock texture for the fifth time today.

First of all, this Game has some major flaws (for people who loved the entire Ultima Series). So, why do I give 4 stars? Easy: The mechanics of the game are done really nice and for a game at this age, you are quite free to explore the world and leave the path hints guide you. If you look at the game as a completely independent game, you will have a lot of fun with it and the story. At this price, everyone should have a try on his own on this game if he likes it or not. It you are into Roleplaying Games with a lot of freedom in character development, this is absolutely the game for you.

I’ve a different opinion than those die hard fans of this game, from the time it was produced, this game is a breakthru seriously. Look at Diablo III now, I think Ultima 9 is better. If we’re asked is there any comment, I’d like to see wood chopping, house decoration, fishing etc working in it, I would like to live in that world, it’s small but compact, and content enough to avoid you getting bored. Now Skyrim and other 3D rpg games now are bored and dried to dead if you asked me. I’m actually a fans of Ultima too, I bought the Ultima collection and I played all of the sequel! From a game developer POV I’ll say the hardest point to make a game interesting is to make it live, Lord British and his team did that, and I can felt it, just he’s too ambitious. I played UO and SotA later, I can hardly find the same feeling again from Ultima 9. It’s 2019 and I still pick up and play the game again, regardless the bugs, it’s fun and I loved most of it, it’s an artwork!

As someone just posted on this forum : Ultima IX is very much the exemple of a game judged by what it isn't instead of what it is. I am a veteran player from the early Ultima games (started with 3rd one in early 80s). At the time of this game release I did not have the PC to make it run it was also plagued by bugs. But I could play it later when all was fixed like this release and god, what an adventure : yes this IS a great RPG game, with nice lore, great graphics (for the time) and still decent. I had memorable moments in this games (some for being used to the Avatar lore, most due the the game itself). So do NOT listen to the haters and get the chance to play one of the greatest rpg of all time and also under rated one.

The game was released during a period when video game transitioning from 2.5D sprites to fully functional 3D graphics. From technical standpoint, you got all the classics clunky and tank control. Beside it's easy to miss important stuff and objects in-game. Personally i never comfortable with KB+M, so the mouse only movement works in my favour (hold the right mouse button and slide your mouse to move your avatar). Though you can still use arrows to move your avatar. The GOG version also comes with nGlide pre-installed. You can choose your desirable resolution from nGlide launcher. Although the game does have low polygon count, the higher resolution ensures compatibility with modern desktop monitor. If you able to look past that the game is actually pretty charming and enjoyable. It have pretty decent writings and most of the dialogues are fully voiced. Get it during sales and try it with an open mind.