Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Now Ultima IV really takes things to a whole new level.

The best way to think of Ultima IV is not as an RPG, where you go around and fight monsters for experience and gold(although that is present). It really isn't. It's more like a LucasArts adventure game where you just go around places and talk to people.

That's really the fascinating thing about Ultima IV, and it also goes a long way to give meaning to the heroic struggles usually present in RPGs and give it a virtue system inspired by(but not based on) Hinduist philosophy. The virutes themselves, Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality and Humility, are penned by Lord British himself. You, the hero, are meant to travel around the world and talk to various people to learn about the eight virtues. Each of the towns symbolises one of the virtues and carries with them a recruitable character, plenty of key items or terms you need later in your quest, and a whole lot of hints you really need to get a notebook for and keep a detailed journal. Playing and figuring out the clues in this game is seriously impossible without commiting to memory every single trivial detail said by the NPCs. Being virtuous in this game is no laughing matter either, as you are expected to enact on these virtues seriously if you mean to finish the game. That means you can't attack NPCs, you can't rob houses or castles, and you can't slaughter animals(who are by definition innocent and non-evil), and breaking these pursuits carries significant penalty.

This very peaceful and exploratory style of play is really pleasant, and I wish all of the game were like that, but the endgame indeed does expect you to combat, and here the many frustrations of old Ultima games, and old RPGs in general, reveal themselves: You will be beset by random encounters that are annoying(especially in the early game, when you just want to travel from city to city). You will have to grind a lot for experience and gold, you need to keep a food supply, and you need many reagants to hols prepared magic spells. Grinding and leveling is even tougher in this game more than any previous Ultima titles because you also have this added duty of not being able to kill certain opponents, some others that will flee before you can reap the experience benefits, and the whole postulate that this game is mostly about peaceful exploration, not fighting. By the time you get ready to brave the dungeons, you will be inadequately prepared, and it shows how jarring this juxtaposition in intent is. Indeed the combat feels like it was an afterthought, and I wish Richard Garriot had the forethought and bravery to streamline or even ignore combat completely in the desisgn if he were to commit fully to an idea of a non-violent game. The endgame puzzles in the last dungeon are so brutal and obtuse that you need a walkthrough for it, and it's a shame, because the early part of the game goes like a breeze and is so sensible in comparison.



Ultima IV is originally made for the Apple II, and that's where I played it. The C64 is also a very faithful port, featuring completely identical graphics and music. If you struggle with loading the Apple II version, the C64 port is a suitable replacement for it.

The DOS versions on the other hand are an iffy matter. It has slightly more colourful EGA graphics, but no music, not unless you use a fan patch. These fan patches can bump the graphics into (for my taste gaudy and artificial) VGA mode and also provide it music in the form of MIDI files. The songs are accurate, but sadly the MIDI renditions sound really awful to my ears, it's such a far cry from the fidelity of the Apple II music that it's a deal breaker not to play the DOS version. The dungeon segments are also a putrid and ugly green instead of the Apple's clear and thoughtful clay-brown.

The NES and Master System verisions are quite weird. The NES game was retooled from the ground-up and while considerably easier, is not an accurate portrayal of the original game at all. The Master System version is quite faithful, and even tons easier/streamlined in a lot of areas(Selectable dialogue trees, overhead view in dungeons, diagonal shooting!!!), and is considered the best way to play by many, which I can't contend.

I don't know about the Atari ST or the Amiga versions. Allegedly they should be very good, and I sure hope they are.

I wrote a quick play guide that will explain some of the nebulous questions when starting the game. Check it out in the Review Supplement underneath.