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Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
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Free on GOG RPG 1985 Origin Systems

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Richard Garriott's 1985 role-playing landmark: a game where the goal isn't to kill a villain, but to become a better person.

There is no great evil left in Britannia. Instead, you are asked to become the Avatar, a living example of the eight virtues, from honesty and compassion to humility. The game watches how you behave, and remembers.

Offered free by GOG and the rights holders.

Screenshots

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About the game

Britannia is a big open world of towns, dungeons and seas. You talk to its people by typing questions, and they teach you what each virtue means and where to look next.

Steal from a shop or run from a fight you should have stayed in, and your virtue drops. It was one of the first games to make your moral choices the heart of play.

History

Designed by Richard Garriott and released by Origin Systems in 1985, first for the Apple II and then for the Commodore 64, DOS and other computers. It was described as sixteen times larger than Ultima III.

In 2011 Ultima IV was made free on GOG, to promote the online game Ultima Forever. It has stayed free there since.

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Ways to play

GOG.com Ready-to-play DOS version for modern computers
Free Open

Extras

Only official, legal extras. We never link to scanned manuals or unofficial downloads.

Official extras on GOG Buying the GOG version also gets you these extras, free to download from your GOG library:
Manual Map Cluebook Spellbook Interview with Richard Garriott Reference card Lorebook
See it on GOG
More from Origin Systems See every Origin Systems game in the library. Games by Origin Systems
Read more History, development and reception on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Search Wikipedia

Reviews

What the critics said. Scores are as published; summaries are our own. Follow the links to read the full reviews.