Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is perhaps the most influential Western role-playing game in history. With an ingenious character-creation system, excellent music, an emphasis on the player’s overall actions rather than body count, and an open structure, Ultima IV remains a great game despite the dated graphics.
The player assumes the role of the “avatar,” a person from our world who is whisked away to a new one known as “Britannia.” Later games would show that the current Britannia was once connected to the Sosaria from Ultima III; however, at the time of release, Britannia stood as a brand-new environment.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is perhaps the most influential Western role-playing game in history. With an ingenious character-creation system, excellent music, an emphasis on the player’s overall actions rather than body count, and an open structure, Ultima IV remains a great game despite the dated graphics.
The player assumes the role of the “avatar,” a person from our world who is whisked away to a new one known as “Britannia.” Later games would show that the current Britannia was once connected to the Sosaria from Ultima III; however, at the time of release, Britannia stood as a brand-new environment.
The Avatar’s actions determine whether the player will be able to finish the game. With eight Virtues one must adhere too, a stray keyboard stroke can hamper your
progress in the game (Hint: don’t run from battles.). The player must give blood and money, fight valiantly, and be honest in conversational replies in order to earn “eighths” of virtue; only when all eight have been earned can the player finish the game.
Add to this a “meditation system” in order to earn eighths- the player must find the proper rune, learn the mantra, and eventually collect the stone which relates to every virtue- and you have a game which requires as much attention to detail as any other released since.
The overworld is very large for a game from this era; the C64 version required 4 5 ¼ floppy disks to play. Each town in the game relates directly to one of the eight virtues, and the dungeons themselves are rudimentary first-person experiences; similar to the three previous instalments of Ultima. However, inside each dungeon are “rooms”- overhead-perspective areas that hold many of the game’s primary puzzles and loot.
The party system differs from Ultima III in that the only character created by the player is that of the Avatar, who is assigned a class based on the answers given at the beginning of the game. Every other party member is recruited as the game progresses, making finding the appropriate party members one of the primary quests of the game. (This author spent a good 3 hours trying to find Katrina in Magincia; save yourself the trouble and head due south from the spawn point.)
Try this game; you can’t go wrong, especially since it is legal to download and play. Lord British would continue to make great Ultimas all the way up to Ultima VII; however, the first real rush and excitement I had from a CRPG was from this one right here. It still holds up well in terms of gameplay; and the C64 version still sports the best music of all the versions. I wish you well as you “Journey Onward.”
