>>2729547Because the Ultima series wasn't made by its combat/gameplay, which was usually pedestrian, or its overall messages, which were usually puerile, or even the dialog, which was decent, but hardly amazing tier.
What really made the Ultima series Ultima was the worldbuilding, especially from 5 and onward. You had shopkeepers who didn't sell stuff adventurers used. You had NPCs who lived according to scheudles, and worried about more than just the Big Bad Evil, but about the crops and the taxes and that blister they had on their foot. Sure, you had some limitations, but Ultima was the first computer game I played which could mimic a tabletop RPG in terms of worldbuilding.
U9's world? Flat. Stale, boring. Everyone acts like they have a lobotomy due to Columns, except even when you turn them off, they're still retarded. People make decisions that make absolutely no fucking sense.
>Hey, the volcano erupted and destroyed our town. Let's rebuild it INSIDE THE VOLCANO!Or remember the museum in Britain? The one that used to house the runes? How they were stolen some 20 years ago? Are you seriously fucking telling me that nobody cleaned the fucking glass off the fucking floor in all that time?
Ultima 9 felt like a videogame. And the Ultima series was founded on making Britannia feel like a real world and not just a fantasy adventure created for your benefit.