Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar



Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is the fourth game in the series, and the first installment of the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy. It was published and released in 1985 by Origin for the Apple II, C64, IBM-PCand Atari-8bit. Ports for the Amiga and Atari ST with some enhanced graphics followed 1988, for the NES and Sega Master System ports were released in 1990.

The game had become much more complex and deep with this installment, compared to Ultima III. The people of Britannia now can talk, and have many interesting conversations with the player. The puzzles have become more complex, and quite a lot of information has to be gathered to solve the game. Cities, castles and dungeons were now much more detailed, as well the wilderness. The number of items has risen as well. The party now was expanded to eight. The graphics and music had only improved a little, but that was because of the technical limitations of the time. But the prime point was the story, where the player had to follow the path of virtue to win. No longer the unlawful behaviour of the early games! Instead, the player had to prove that he/she is a good guy. The whole system of virtues in the game, made it a totally new experience.

Ultima IV was a sensation in 1985. When was there a RPG, where you have to improve yourself? It sold very good and inspired many developers with its very unusual story and goals in the game, so far away from standard formulars.

Coming with the game
The release of Ultima III included these things with the game:
 * The Book "The History of Britannia".
 * The Book "The Booky of Mystic Wisdom".
 * A cloth map of Britannia.
 * A Metal Ankh.

Differences between the ports
There are quite a number of ports of Ultima IV, that are quite different.

The 8-bit ports for the Apple II, C64 and Atari-8bit were basically the same (althrough the 8bit lacked music and had fewer colors) in terms of graphics and music. The 16bit-ports for the PC, Atari ST and Amiga were quite different. While the overworld graphics looked the same, introducion and dungeons looked better on the Amiga and Atari ST. Also the PC lacked the mouse support of these ports and the music was also missing.

The NES port has the same problems as the port of Ultima III, althrough this time, the graphics aren't as childish as the last time (Nintendo's strange policies are still clearly seen in them). The port for the Sega Master System is on the other hand is suprisingly accurate and has good graphics and sound, only the limitations on the talking with the people are sad.

The Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

With the end of the Triad of Evil, a new age has begun for Sosaria, which now is Britannia. In the now united kingdow, the people search for the spiritual enlightenment, after all material needs are fulfilled. But there is one thing still missing. A role-model, who can show the people how to apply the new 8 virtues practically into their lives. The people need this paragon of virtue.... this Avatar.

The Player again plays the Stranger, but this time his/her goal is not to destroy some kind of big evil. Instead the path of Virtue has to be gone, and a virtuous life led. Together with 7 companions, the Stranger manages to master all of the eight Virtues by talking to the people, meditating at shrines and living the virtues as a good example. Recovering a number of important artifacts as well as the Key of Three Parts while on the quest, the party then descends into the dephs of the Abyss, searching for the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. At the end, the Codex is found, and after a series of questions asked by the Codex in relation to the Virtues, it sees the Stranger as fitting to become the Avatar, the hero of Britannia and defender of Virtue.

Spoilers end here.

Trivia

 * A good part of the reason for the change in direction in the series in this installments were letters from angry parents. They complained to Richard Garriott that the earlier games said that it was ok to kill and steal. This made Garriott think and in the end invent the virtues.
 * First apperance of the 8 Virtues and Britannia.
 * The only Ultima that is Freeware!
 * Richard Garriott himself sees it as the best part of the series, a little before Ultima VII.
 * One of the few RPGs, where there is no big evil to destroy at all. There still only exist few of these (this can be chalked up to not much imagination of the developers...)

Upgrades
Ultima IV looks somewhat dated by now, with its 16-color EGA graphics, and IBM PC port has no music at all (a shame!). Thankfully, this now no longer is the case. A Upgrade Patch not only lifts the graphics to 256 color VGA, but also adds the missing music, a frame limiter, hotkeys and several other fixes and extras! This makes it the best port of the game in terms of presentation and playability ever created.