The coolest thing is that if you beat this game, Richard Garriott, the writer, enjoys being notified of your accomplishment. Meanwhile there's an overall grand finale ritual that you go around collecting all the pieces for while you become the avatar. Donate blood at the doctor to boost sacrifice or give alms to the poor for compassion. Escape a fight (walking off the screen ends the battle) and lose the virtue of justice. For instance, pay the blind less than her asking price for her wares and you lose the virtue of honesty. You accomplish this by talking to inhabitants, meditating at shrines, and how you act. The object of this game is to train a hero, the Avatar, by learning and demonstrating mastery of eight virtuous character traits: compassion, courage, honesty, humility, spirituality, sacrifice, honor and justice. This game trains your moral character in a unique way you will never experience elsewhere. If you are interested in knowing how Lord British came up with the idea of the eight virtues, be sure to read CD Mag's interview in the Related Links section below.
one that has sadly been lost after Ultima VII.Ī classic in every sense of the word-and three cheers to Joshua Steele who makes gamers' return to Britannia all the more worthwhile. With numerous innovations, intriguing gameplay, and a great story, Ultima IV remains one of few RPGs that truly deserves to be called "timeless." With ideas that are still fresh even today, it is arguably the best representation of the true Ultima spirit.
Ultima IV was also the first game in the series that allows NPCs to join your party: it introduces the mythical Iolo the Bard, Dupre the Paladin, and Shamino the Ranger-characters that will feature prominently in later games. Of course, you need to have done enough good deeds in all eight virtues to finish the game. There are many dungeons to explore, monsters to kill, and even a "Holy Grail" final objective that requires you to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom to complete your transformation into Avatarhood. In addition to this very original and intriguing approach to gameplay, Ultima IV still has plenty of traditional RPG elements. More or less all your actions are evaluated in terms of virtue, and it is this "morality check" that makes the game so intriguing. On the other hand, ignoble behavior that are typical in most other RPGs, such as backstabbing fleeing monsters or picking up things that don't belong to you, will decrease the corresponding virtues. The game world is deep enough that various activities, such as tipping beggars or allowing wounded monsters to run away, would increase the virtues (compassion in this example). This means, for the first time, that you will do good deeds simply because it is a "right thing to do" rather than to get some physical reward in return. This meant upholding the "eight virtues," and basically trying to become a better person. Instead of building up your character by accumulating combat experience in order to face the big evil foozle, your goal in Ultima IV is to become the Avatar, a spiritual leader for the people of Britannia. My most favorite game in the Ultima series, the fourth game in the saga features a greatly improved version of Ultima III engine, with color graphics and better character interaction (for the first time, you can now have actual conversations with NPCs).īut what really makes Ultima IV revolutionary is its radical departure from any other RPG made before- or since. If you are a newbie who has never played the game before, then read on for my review.
Adds command keys to Reload the last saved game and Exit to the OS." In other words, it adds enough pizzazz to lure the faithful back to Britannia )ĭie-hard fans can stop reading this review now and download the file below (be sure to read the Technical Notes first, though).
The patch replaces the tileset, font, game, and cutscene graphics, as well as correcting several conversation bugs within the original. Ultima IV to 256 color graphics with MIDI support. Long hailed as one of the best RPGs ever created, Richard Garriott's revolutionary classic Ultima IV: Quest of The Avatar gets a great facelift with this excellent VGA graphics and MIDI patch by Joshua Steele, a die-hard fan of the series.įrom the official site, the patch ".