Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar
From the Moby Games entry:
The fourth game in the now well-established Ultima series featured an improved game engine, with color graphics and better character interaction (you could now have actual conversations with NPCs). But what really makes Ultima IV shine is its radical departure from any other RPG made before or since in terms of the story and goal.
Instead of building up your character by any means possible in order to face the Ultimate Evil in a big bang up showdown, in Ultima IV you were trying to become the Avatar, a role model of sorts for the people of the land. This meant upholding the "eight virtues" and basically trying to become a better person. In most RPGs you chose to be a just/nice hero because the people you'd help would usually provide you with some nice equipment for your services, but in Ultima IV you helped people not for a reward or to advance the plot but simply because it was the "right thing to do". The game actually frowns on behavior that was typical of most other RPGs, such as backstabbing fleeing monsters or picking up everything that wasn't nailed down even if it didn't belong to you. The game keeps track of all your actions, so if you went about killing and looting like in most RPGs, you'd never finish the game.
This VERY different approach to the game's ultimate goal is what makes Ultima IV famous so many years later, and became the sort of design philosophy that made all the following Ultimas so unique in their genre.
Of course, the game still has plenty of traditional RPG elements such as dungeons to explore and hostile monsters to kill, as well as a typical final "Holy Grail" type quest where you had to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom to complete your transformation into Avatarhood.
In 1996 Computer Gaming World named Ultima IV as #2 on its Best Games of All Time list on the PC.
The game was released for free to the public. The original MS-DOS version is available on many sites, and a game engine recreation is now available for for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.
The fourth game in the now well-established Ultima series featured an improved game engine, with color graphics and better character interaction (you could now have actual conversations with NPCs). But what really makes Ultima IV shine is its radical departure from any other RPG made before or since in terms of the story and goal.
Instead of building up your character by any means possible in order to face the Ultimate Evil in a big bang up showdown, in Ultima IV you were trying to become the Avatar, a role model of sorts for the people of the land. This meant upholding the "eight virtues" and basically trying to become a better person. In most RPGs you chose to be a just/nice hero because the people you'd help would usually provide you with some nice equipment for your services, but in Ultima IV you helped people not for a reward or to advance the plot but simply because it was the "right thing to do". The game actually frowns on behavior that was typical of most other RPGs, such as backstabbing fleeing monsters or picking up everything that wasn't nailed down even if it didn't belong to you. The game keeps track of all your actions, so if you went about killing and looting like in most RPGs, you'd never finish the game.
This VERY different approach to the game's ultimate goal is what makes Ultima IV famous so many years later, and became the sort of design philosophy that made all the following Ultimas so unique in their genre.
Of course, the game still has plenty of traditional RPG elements such as dungeons to explore and hostile monsters to kill, as well as a typical final "Holy Grail" type quest where you had to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom to complete your transformation into Avatarhood.
In 1996 Computer Gaming World named Ultima IV as #2 on its Best Games of All Time list on the PC.
The game was released for free to the public. The original MS-DOS version is available on many sites, and a game engine recreation is now available for for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.
Publisher: None/Unknown
In some ways, it was a glimpse into a potential evolutionary branch of RPGs that never was to be. Well, at least not until now. Now we're content with branching dialogs that lead you to a "good ending" or a "bad ending." This game offered ten times the depth with only one ending.