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Box artwork for Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar.
Box artwork for Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Origin Systems, Sega
Year released1985
System(s)Commodore Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128, DOS, FM Towns, NEC PC-8801, Sega Master System, Sharp X1, Sharp X68000
Preceded byUltima III: Exodus
Followed byUltima V: Warriors of Destiny
SeriesUltima
Designer(s)Richard Garriott
Genre(s)Role-playing game
ModesSingle player
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Developer(s)Newtopia Planning
Publisher(s)Pony Canyon
Year released1987
System(s)NEC PC-9801, MSX2, Fujitsu FM-7
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Developer(s)Elite Systems
Publisher(s)Elite Systems
Year released2013
System(s)iOS
Neoseeker Related Pages
LinksUltima IV: Quest of the Avatar at PCGamingWikiUltima IV: Quest of the Avatar ChannelSearchSearch
This guide is for the original release. For the NES remake, see Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES).

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is the fourth in the series of Ultima computer role-playing games. It is the first in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, shifting the series from the hack and slash, dungeon crawl gameplay of its "Age of Darkness" predecessors towards an ethically-nuanced, story-driven approach. Ultima IV is different among role-playing games in that the game's story does not center on asking a player to overcome a tangible ultimate evil.

Story[edit | edit source]

After the defeat of each of the members of the triad of evil in the previous three Ultima games, the world of Sosaria underwent some radical changes in geography: three quarters of the world disappeared, continents rose and sunk, new cities were built to replace the ones that were lost. Eventually the world, now unified in Lord British's rule, was renamed Britannia. Lord British felt the people lacked purpose after their great struggles against the triad were over, and he was concerned with their spiritual well-being in this unfamiliar new age of relative peace, so he proclaimed the Quest of the Avatar: he needed someone to step forth and become the shining example for others to follow.

Versions[edit | edit source]

Note that the most advanced ports are different from the most popular one.

Original version 1985: Apple II
Most popular port 1987: MS-DOS
Most advanced ports 1988: Atari ST (& Amiga)[1]
1990: Master System
Remake 1989: NES
Other ports C64, Atari 8-bit
MSX, PC-8801, PC-9801, FM-Towns, FM-7, Sharp X1, Sharp X68000
Fan-made version 2001: upgrade patch for the MS-DOS port
  1. There is just one difference between these two ports: only the Atari ST allows to transfer a character from Ultima 4 to Ultima 5.

Table of Contents

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