Ultima™ IV: Quest of the Avatar

Ultima IV is a very unique game in terms of its main goal. In a way you're meant to take something out of this experience into your own life and the eight virtues are actually cobining into a really good code of morality. The gameplay has of course aged, so it's not very sophisticated, but it plays overall very well despite this. Its core is timeless though and this is what truly matters.

Ultima IV is IMHO one of, if not the best classic RPG of the 1980s for any platform. GOG offers this game for free so you really don't have anything to lose. There is not any hand-holding to speak of in this game though and you really need to read the downloadable PDF versions of the command reference, the Book of History and the Spell Book to know how to play and what's going on. Other than what is in the books, everything you need to know in this game you will have to discover for yourself. You accomplish this by talking to the characters that populate the various towns and settlements. The coversation system is very simple though and you won't get the information you need until you know exactly what you need to say to someone. Also there are plenty of characters that are simply there for window dressing that don't have any useful information. You will need to keep very detailed notes for yourself. There isn't any in-game journal or anything to remind you of what a character said about a topic or where to go to find something. I like to turn off full-screen mode and keep a notepad window open and just note down what characters say that I think might be important later. The game itself may be very simple in terms of graphics, sound and interface but the story itself is very deep. There are a lot of sub-quests and tasks that must be completed to reach the final end to the game. Each one of these feels like a true accomplishment and rewards you enough to keep on playing. Perhaps I'm looking at this game through the lens of nostalgia but I've had a great time revisiting Ultima IV.

Absolutely loved this game. All the ground breaking things that were put into this game made it. * Interactive NPCs * Open world. I spent a lot more time on the surface exploring and traveling than in previous games. * Non linear. You have to complete various tasks and solve various riddles, but you can do these in almost any order. * Tasks are given out very naturally and organically * Different cities and towns add much more reason to visit and explore. Towns in previous ultima games were very similar and boring. * Spell ingredients. You have to prepare spells beforehand and ensure you watch your supplies * Actions have consequences. No more slaughtering everyone in the town, stealing all their money and leaving the town only to reenter it with everyone respawned and happy to see you. While I had no issues and enjoyed the nostalgia, you should be aware of technological limitations * Dialogs are short * You _will_ need to keep notes. The game will not keep track of hints or tasks you are trying to complete * You will need to RTFM. Things like keyboard commands, spell ingredients and dialog options are listed in the manual and not in the game. A final note. This game really is about the journey and discovering what you need to do. Enjoy the journey and those moments when you figure out the problems. Do not use guides or you really will spoil the joy of this game.

Archaic, simple, morally even simplistic, still eminently replayable. Maybe the most balanced Ultima, game-wise? The XP and gold rewards are reasonably generous, though reaching level 8 with all companions could be a chore Item hunting is hard to rate, since I know the game too well. Not too bad? Things like buying reagents in small doses and always paying honestly to get an eighth is a bit silly, but it is simple and understandable, and never TOO grindy. The monsters are a lot easier than in most other Ultimas. Anything up to Balrons in small numbers is not so bad - even if the party just has basic armor and nothing but slings and crossbows. The combat system is simple and breezy - Ultima V combat system was "nicer" but takes a lot more time. There are some subtleties to it, too - the humble level 1 Shepherd is, on the face of it, the worst pick as the Avatar - but it turns out to be perhaps the optimal choice from the point of view of finishing the game with a minimum of fuss and boring grinding. Starting from level 1 means you end up close to all 50s in stats with nary an Orb needed, and since the items and quests give XP to the Avatar, reaching level 8 requires requires only maybe 1000 combat XP - far better that your companions be the main combat XP collectors with their magic wands and axes and high-falutin' spells. So relying on your companions instead of becoming a demigod yourself (like in Baldur's Gate) has its advantages - something quite in keeping with the idea of the game. I wonder if this designed, or just an emergent property of the game. The MS-DOS version here looks and definitely sounds a bit worse than the old home computers did. I don't miss the disk loading times, and DOSBox has a few benefits of course: can speed up the simulation to get the moons into the right alignment quickly. Can run it non full screen to make notes. No more "where did I leave the balloon and the ships"...

Up front admission: I played this game for the first time as a teen in the 80s. This review has references to that perspective as well as my perspective of today. Ultima IV is not a great game for the modern youthful player who is used to games that challenge the reflexes more than the mind. Ultima IV doesn't have built-in cheats/hints available and there's only one level of play: difficult. You will need to take notes (I pretty well filled a 60 page spiral bound notebook with notes as a teen) and refer to them frequently as there is a lot of back and forth searching, talking, and then going someplace else to talk to someone you've talked to before, but now you know what you really need to ask them. The story is complex and interesting, and there are cameo appearances from real world people even if modern players may not get the references. The game can be a grind as one wanders the expansive world and the dungeons, but even if it can be tedious at times there's often a purpose to the grind as you hunt objects needed for the many quests required for the game, and some that aren't required but are just curiosities (and possibly an artifact of great evil...) One of the great challenges of the game is the moral code that is required for the main character to be successful. One has to act in ways that represent the eight virtues to attain the status of avatar needed for game completion. This was one of the first instances where the character's behavior really drove the progress of the game. Previously in the earlier Ultima games one could murderhobo their way through countryside and cities both, with nary a negative impact. It occasionally made for a good way of venting frustration after an annoying day at work or school, but in Ultima IV it would set you back hours and hours of gameplay. And no restoring from previous saves either. Ultima was one of the best and most challenging games of its day, and is one I still play for fun. Absolutely worth buying.