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The old Ultima IV map and manual sit my top drawer. I look at them occasionally in hopes of getting that momentary flash of feeling it gives me. But I know that I can neverrecapture is the feeling of first playing Ultima IV. For a kid of the 80's, it was unlike anything that I had ever experienced.
While widely regarded as a classic, to me it's the THE BEST GAME EVER for a few reasons:
- Revolutionary storytelling: Ultima IV was one of the first games to feature a complex moral and ethical system, requiring players to make choices based on principles like compassion, honesty, and valor. This emphasis on character development was groundbreaking and set a new standard for RPGs.
- Seemingly endless open-world exploration: The game world was vast. It offered players a freedom to explore that had really never been available to anyone. You could interact with NPCs in a pretty conversational way, discover hidden treasures, and fight on the high seas. It really required thinking and creativity on the players part to problem-solve on their own.
- Innovative game mechanics: Ultima IV introduced many innovative features, including an in-game journal, a virtue system that impacted gameplay, and non-linear quest progression. These mechanics helped make the game more engaging and immersive than previous RPGs. Ultima IV defined the RPG genre for several eras.
- The Apple IIe: I played it on my friends Apple IIe. That machine alone was magic. The color, the smell, the sounds - all of it it was an experience.
While Fortune's Gate is not Britannia, it was one of the first fantasy world's I ever explored and thus serves a touchstone. I highly encourage young fantasy enthusiasts to play it. You can check it out on GOG here: https://www.gog.com/game/ultima_4.
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