Ultima IX: ASCENSION

You have ascended from being a normal human to a higher level of existance. You have achieved an almost divine power by integrating the essence of the four powerful elemental Titans into your being. You're almost ready to face the Guardian in final battle. Anxiously, you enter the black gate exposed before you. You walk into a new, unknown, plane and travel through a gigantic hall lined with huge marble columns. Finally, you find your way back to Britannia. Pagan is left behind you once and for all. You have escaped the Guardian's prison.
You gasp in horror upon your return to Britannia. Gone are the beautiful, wide open plains and dense, lifegiving forests. Before you lies a dull rock world, a completely cloud-covered heavy sky hanging over you. As you gaze helplessly across this nightmarish landscape, your eyes fall upon a strange rock formation carved out of a mountain. It is a strange sigil, which you guess belongs to the Guardian. You are too late. The Guardian obviously succeded in his evil intent to stall you in Pagan long enough for him to lay Britannia before his feet. At first you feel overcome, but frenzy grows steadily in your mind. The Guardian will pay for this. Your mind is set. You will achieve the further ascension necessary to oppose the Guardian and then make him regret he ever heard of you and Britannia!

Origin is currently in the process of creating this third and final part of the third Ultima trilogy. Once finished, the Ultima "trilogy of trilogies" will be complete. Rumours abound that this part will conclude the saga of Britannia and the Avatar. It will not be the last game in the series, though. The storylines for Ultima X and XI have already been written, actually.
Ultima fans have very great expectations on this game, as Origin has come forward with many vivid promises about its greatness as a concludor of the Ultima series as we know it. Lots of new features will be added.
Origin also plans to make up for the, in some circles, slightly impopular Ultima VIII. Old Ultima fans were quite disappointed to see their favourite RPG-series slowly turn into an action-arcade game. New players were quite dazzled by the performance and gameplay of Ultima VIII, though. In Ultima IX, Origin will try to please the old Ultima-veterans by further emphasizing the RPG atmosphere of the game, as well as the Ultima rookies by bringing the game technology to an entirely new level of excellence. Part of the program to go back to the earlier Ultima-atmosphere is the renaissance of the eight virtues. They will play an important role in Ultima IX, like they did in Ultima IV, and understanding and practising them will be vital for the completion of the game. Ultima IX is, shortly, one game with potential.