Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

My favorite of the Ultima series, and my favorite CRPG of all. Personally, I like the look of the original C64 release the most, with its high resolution and "solid" colors within each 16x16 pixel tile.

I never stopped loving this RPG. Way ahead of its time with music, combat, and depth.

Best RPG of all time? Hands down the best 8 bit RPG with staggering depth and complexity. Packaging also needs a mention as this was incredible with multiple books, rules and a cloth map. The only games that really improved on this are subsequent Ultima games and the Baldurs Gate/Divinity games. Utterly essential, just make sure you have a pen and notebook handy.

Just started playing the remastered version - it is so awesome!

I prefer the master system version purely because I am a joystick/pad jockey and hate reaching for the keyboard.

This is still the ultimate version though and anyone wanting to get into it should seek out the remastered edition (v2. 2) as it has many bugs fixed and improved graphics.

The one RPG to rule them all. My #1 favorite game of all time.

I'm sorry about the Final Fantasy comment, I was referring to how people revere the first FF game on the NES, when there were way more advanced RPGs on the home computers of the time, and this is one of them.

Screw Final Fantasy, this is a REAL man's RPG!

Second best (after Ultima V) C64 game I've ever had and played. The simple graphics and music give this game good atmosphere, somehow scaery.

Probably my favourite C64 game of all time. Maybe of all platforms. Many reasons. You have to strive to be good. It was always so tempting to give the blind woman 2gp for all those reagents. Also, the game is completely non-linear. If you want to can get a boat and head to the Abyss right from the start! You'd get killed on the way but at least you could try if you wanted. Too many RPGs nowadays would just have an old man blocking you and saying "You are not yet ready. " Most RPGs are too linear nowadays.

To Kresner and everyone: If you have Neverwinter Nights there is a module called Avatarship that is a complete remake of Ultima IV. I haven't played it but google "Ultima IV remake" to find it.

It took me years to end this astonishing game. What I liked more about it is that you don't need to kill a "BIG VILLIAN". Needs lots of patience to solve it: conversations, good behaving, etc. If there's a 3D version, I would be glad to get it (I know there's like a graphic update for windows, but not the same).

Astounding. That's all I can say. This game stole months of my life, on Master System and C64. After my battery back up died in my MS cart I got the C64 version and loved it to death... The ability to type in anything you please makes so much more sense with the Abyss and everything! A Brilliant, brilliant game. Very good.

Wasted a whole summer (literally) of my life playing this game !!! Man I even lost my first girl friend as I was so addicted to this game in the summer of 85 that I spent no time with her... Haha but man it was worth it.. What a game!!!
I still regret not being able to finish this game... My character has a zillion points (and thats without any text editing!)

I played this game from age 12 to age 17. Sad to say I had a pirated copy, but hey, I was 12, I didn't know it was illegal. Had no map, no instrcutions, no idea what to do, but was hooked in 5 minutes. Played for over a year before I ever tried to start making progess, just liked killing monsters. Filled a legal pad with notes and conversation records. After days of trial and error, I figured out all the spells. Had to navigate the Abyss about 10 times before I got the right answer, but loved every minute of it. This was one of the first games I ever played on a computer of any kind, after this, everything else was a letdown.

This was a brilliant game - but now the PC version had had an update for modern PC's with both graphics and sound and works with the original game, so download the free PC Ultima iv, look for the update and re-live on your PC this great game, looking and sounding and playing better! - Or stick with the C64 version in emulation if you prefer! I don't mind if you don't!

I never understand rules in this game... But It was so addictive... A real experience indeed

This was more like another dimension than a game. The introduction / character creation sequence cleverly transitioned the player into the fantasy world of Britannia. A wholly consuming experience, despite (or perhapse because of) the flat, but colourful tile graphics.

Back in the 80s this was more than just a game, it was a life altering experience. You were forced to experience the eight virtues and were probably made into a better person in the real world for it. Nothing has ever compared to this game.

I played this game in high school so much I had a notebook filled with notes and maps and such. Probably the best computer RPG ever made. The music is so cool.. It should be orchestrated.

Lots of fond memories playing this game. Its a classic.

WOW! Talk about returning to the roots! An excellent game that kept me up late during high-school. I think my parents were going to have me committed, however. Two words for those of you that don't want to spend an eternity working on stats - 'Hex-Editor'.

Superb game as the others have highlighted. My only beef was the immense amount of note-taking required to complete the game. You have to talk to everybody, write down who and where they are, what they tell you, and check back later when you have gotten topics from other people. First time through I was told to ask Joe about the Horn, and when I finally found him a month or two later, he replied "Who sent you?" Arrghhhh!

Great storyline, some clever gags here and there, plus of course the "Dale Carnegie" objective of self-improvement in eight different attributes.

One of the greatest computer games of all time and how wonderful it is that the 64 gets the best version of it. How unique, brave and profound this game is in that the purpose of the game is basically to become a well-rounded individual. With that subject matter the game could have been sunk by preachiness but instead Richard Garriot pulls it off in a big, big way. What a work of genius this game is. It is a true classic, 10/10.

IMO this edges Civilization as the greatest video game of all time. I got to the bottom of the abyss and made a mistake while typing the answer to the codex -- no backspace allowed! I watched helplessly as I was forced to hit enter and return to the top of the abyss... An entire day wasted.

By far the best game ever created for the Commodore 64, and the best game released in the 1980s. To this day, Ultima 4 is my second favourite computer game of all time, second only to Baldur's Gate 2 (It only took almost 20 years for a game to beat Ultima 4).

To this day, the goals of this game, to become a virtuous human instead of just killing a boss character at the end of the game, remains one of the most unique gameplay achievements in the history of computer gaming. If Richard Garriot has something to smile about when his professional gamemaking career is over, it is this game.

Ultima 4, has to be the best one out of the whole Ultima series. The graphics were detailed just enough so you can use the rest with your imagination, the music is another story, wonderful themes where you and what you were doing. 10/10, only downside to this was leaving then re-entering towns, as the citivens have a very short memory, and you could create choas all over again.

I used to watch my brother play it when I was 16 and I could tell it was something different because it was
the most watched game I've watched ever.

The Ultima serie is the best series of RPG games ever made. I played them all... From Exodus to the last one on PC, Ascension.

Err.. @Murple down below.. Your talking about Ultima 5.. This window is for comments on Ultima 4 only!

What was seriously cool was when I accidentally swapped disks and put in the dungeon disk rather than the Britannia disk. Rather than give an error, itd keep on loading, using the wrong icon mapping... Youd find yourself in a bizarre alternate universe of unlimited treasure chests, boats floating in fire, randomly roaming Lord Britishes, etc. Not only amusing but a great way to get free stuff.

This game, as Harlequin stated, has also changed my life. To this day I've never had as much fun with a game as I have with Ultima IV. I used to play it in highschool and today, almost 20 years later, I will load this game us just to listen to the music and be reminded how much fun it was to play.

Disagree with mmm! From below, the Sega master system doesn't have a keyboard, cutting down conversations. Never play the console Ultimas!... Those RPGs should have always stayed on a PC

I played the Sega master system version. Go try it with an emulator!! It plays much faster. Battles are less frustrating, conversations work without typing...

The best conversion of U4, definitely.

Ultima 4 was a milestone and unique to this day for the simple reason in that it doesn't have the typical Evil Bad Guy (tm) or anything like that. The point of the game is to become a well rounded Avatar and in doing so, you role play becoming more spiritual, more honest, more humble, more truthful, etc... And lemme tell ya, it's way more interesting to do that than kill your 1, 000 orc. Definately a RPG to base all others on.

I bought this game! It was quite fantastic. It took me months of playing.

This game ruined 2 summers of my life!!! Man oh man was it adddictive! Best game ever on the c64.. (mind you I just recently got UltimaV and VI :-)

ATTEN Ultima 4 Lovers: If u own the ECA (Electronic Cracking Association) Crack of Ultima 4. Get rid of it! Its contains Bugs (Iolo wont join your party, and Dungeon bugs )witch prevents you from completing this game. The plain ECA Cracked version has been spread everywhere on the net and theres an Ultima4-Good. Zip file in Arnold where everything seems to working OK with this file. Go delete your Plain ECA Version and grab the modified ECA Version (the last 3 disks are the originals), and then it works fine.

This is one damn Classic Ultima fans would ever forget. The World (Britannia), Monsters, Merchants, the Towns, Villiages, Castles. Not to mention the well-designed 3D Dungeons! It has loads of useful spells. Great Weapons, and Armor. Just everything u could want in a RPG Game! And the music fits in this game perfectly. RPG Fans? If You missed then you have miss the best RPG the C64 has ever released!

A classic!!

I remember getting this game without the instructions or the maps and having to "start from scratch", by trying out commands, exploring the world, and even experimenting with regents to make spells!

My most memorable moment about the game was the one time that a friend and I made it to level 8 in the abyss. As you couldn't save the game when you were in dungeons, we left the game running for a couple of minutes and went outside to get some fresh air. In those 5 minutes, my mother came into the room, saw we left the computer on, and proceeded to flip the power switch! Boy, were we upset that day!

Ultima IV was enjoyable till begginning to end (lol but I never finished it, because of the Ultima 5 Release.
Perfect RPG Gameplay! Perfect graphics for the type of Game!
The most best and most memoriable of the whole Ultima Series! 10/10 !

This game changed my life.

Definitely a milestone in game development! This one had me hooked up for months.
Just because of this game I bought a second 1541 drive in order to reduce disk swapping. I still have the original box, complete with cloth map and manuals.
I still have all the notes and coloured maps I made while playing and I still remember the last word I typed in to solve the game. If anyone asks me "what was the best computer gaming experience you ever had?" I wont hesitate to answer "Ultima IV on the C64" and thats after more than 20 years of playing computer games.
In short: I love this game!

I probably played this more than any other game on the 64. Responsible for more bouts of 'flu' than anything else!

This is the game I compare all other CRPG's to. It just goes to show you don't need mind-numbing graphics to have a great RPG.

Gotta have one copy one of these days... :-)
It's juat a must !!!

Brilliant game... Excellent graphics and music... Loved playing it - the only annoying thing was the disk swapping. But hey, when the game is this good... Only Dungeon Master on the Amiga proved a better RPG.

Great. My number one game on CBM64. Along with "Lords of Midnight" the only game that keeps me away from bed until 7 a. M....

This was my best RPG off all time. Its had everything u could want from a RPG. And this was so playable, imaginative. Your freedom is here !

What can I say? I spent half my sophomore year of high school playing this... Excellent.

Built off of Ultima III with amazingly (at the time) detailed conversations. A must play for any serious CRPG fanatic, or ANY C64 RPG enthusiast.