Ultima™ 9: Ascension

Ultima IX is very much the exemple of a game judged by what it isn't instead of what it is. Sure some aspects can be considered as dissapointing compared to Ultima VII, but it was such an improvement overs VIII that it isn't a contest. Sure some aspects mentionned in previews where cut, but why should that be an issue ? More importantly, it can’t be stressed enough, is that for all its issues and cuts in content and gameplay, Ultima IX was truly a groundbreaking game. It was the first seamless 3D RPG, and offered graphics amongst the best of its time. It was amongst the first RPG to offer full speech, in a time where most role playing games offered at best a couple of voiced lines per characters. And even if it wasn’t quite on the level of an Ultima VII, it was more interactive than any 3D game from the late ’90 and pushed world simulation to a level rarely seen since. It even normalized many design tropes that have become the norm nowadays and yet were derided at the time : from the third person over the shoulder view, the shortcut toolbar, or even things as mundane as using food as healing items. It also had a wonderful world building with a sense of verticality that puts to shame most modern games It was basically way ahead of its time, and to be blunt still ahead of most RPGs games that are still being released today. Now, some would argue that this does not suffice to make a good game, which is a good point. But while this does not been Ultima IX’s flaws should be overlooked, it is important never to forget its accomplishments and how it paved the way for classics such as Gothic. It also has a very fun gameplay, the best dungeons in the entire series, fantastic music, a wonderful atmosphere and a nice story about the Virtues where you fight for Britannia's soul and a fitting end to the series. It's also a great game for newcomer so if you never played an Ultima, look up Ultima IX you won't be dissapointed.

When Ultima IX came out in late 1999 it created a huge shitstorm because it contained a lot of bugs an was poorly optimized for that times hardware. EA wanted it out before christmas no matter what. A few patches later it ran pretty good on a Pentium III 500 with a Voodoo 3 card. I've never played any other Ultima game before so I can't judge it as a part of the series. To me it's just the most lovely and adventurous opel world RPG of the eraly days of 3D games. The places are handmade and you can just run around for hours, explore hidden caves and stuff. It doesn't have that generic look of the hundereds of places in Skyrim, for example. There's no interactive map, no quest marker and the quests are just noticed in a hand written journal. You have to listen carefully to NPCs and explore the world. In this way you really get sucked into it. I love it.

My first and last thought about Utima IX is: WOW! When this game has been published first it was absolutely outstanding: - A complete world without any loading screen - You can go everywhere. If you see a mountain in the distance, you can climb onto its summit. - No unnatural borders like in all other games at that time - Breathtaking graphics which only high-end PC where able to display I played it for hours and hours because there was just so much to discover. In a way Ultima IX is a little similar to the latest Elder Scrolls games: Moderate Story but a world which invites you to discover. Ultima IX is my personal best game of all times because it lets you play the game the way you like. To all those who never played it, give it a try, it's worth it.

To start off this game is very different from the previous Ultima games, so it makes sense why some fans are not a huge fan of the game. The game launched filled with bugs and glitches. That aside, the game now is perfectly fine, not perfect but for an early 3D RPG it's pretty darn solid, open world, a bunch of items to collect, secrets to find, puzzle dungeons to solve. If it wasn't called Ultima and was just given a skin from another game people would probably hate it WAY less. I've seen people complain the game is linear? It's about as linear as a Zelda game, open world but there is generally an order you have to do things in (dungeons and such). The first time I played the game I was just stoked there was already secret doors and areas to get EVERYWHERE, tutorial? secret areas, starting town? secret rooms, secret treasures, rinse repeat for the rest of the game, it's great. Overall I would say give the game a chance, the GOG version is almost completely bug-free (not 100% but still) It has awkward controls but all Ultima games have weird controls, it's just a sign of their age. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that the game relies on being part of the Ultima series too much, there are definitely points you are probably going to have to use google to solve if you aren't a long time series veteran (an issue with EVERY Ultima game, they just assume you've played everything in the series)

U9 for me was always superior to other open world games. This is why: - Better controls (especially in comparison to Gothic) - Great voice acting - Interesting, thoughtful story and missions - The best exploring, only a few dungeons but 100times better than the thousands of dungeons from other rpgs - While there's no automap, you don't need it as the landscape is unique and you can navigate through it easliy - No thousands of kilometres to walk but a smaller and exciting world (the different landscapes change faster, so it's not so dull) - roughly 36 spells - that's not much but you'll need basically all of them and you'll need to find out which one to use when - more interesting battle system than in other open world rpgs - you need to carry different sorts of weapons for different enemies - it's fun and funny, the game does not take itself too serious and does not try to pretend that it's a simulation - it's truly a fantasy game whereas in other open world rpgs you have the feeling it's a medieval simulation with spells and monsters thrown in for good measure Make sure that if you play U9 you save often (i'm now in Ambrosia and had two crashes so far, also in the beginning your char is weak and you can die fast from enemies attacks)