Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar

This multiplayer RPG is hot in more ways than one.

An overwhelming experience, and one of the most complete RPG on iOS. One of the games that at least should be tried.

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar delivers a compelling adventure, with lots of quests and basic touch controls.

Ultima Forever’s stripped-down approach to dungeon-delving might alienate more hardcore fans, but the satisfyingly simple battles and the amount of content on offer make it worth a trip to Britannia.

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar is a fun online hack 'n slash that unfortunately lets its monetization play too big of a role in the game.

If all of this makes Ultima Forever sound like a mixed bag, that’s because it is. While the Mythic team deserves a pat on the back for the effort it made to restore the Ultima brand to relevancy, the end result is something that still leaves you wanting, at least a little bit.

Significant technical issues currently hamper an otherwise strong title that represents as much a love letter to Ultima as it does a new way of freemium RPG design.

Ironically in reaching out to revive Ultima, EA have missed out on two of its virtues: humility and compassion. Ultima Forever is a very fine casual MMO for your mobile device. The adventure is crisp, enjoyable, and interesting - but that cash shop really lets it down in the end.

There is nothing of Ultima's original spirit in this Quest For Avatar. If you can survive to a (light) pay-to-win economy, network problems and technical issues, you may find a good RPG which can be played alone or with your friends.

Beyond the bugs and pesky purchases, Ultima Forever is actually a pretty solid touch RPG.

For a free-to-play game, Ultima Forever isn't bad at all, and adventurers with a good online connection won't want to miss out on the chance to play alongside friends. Between technical bugs, the complete lack of an off-line mode, and the need to pay for premium items though, it might just take you forever to really get into the game's many charms.

For optimal enjoyment of Ultima Forever, it’s best to play on an iPhone 5. Party members may still lag out and disappear, but you’ll have less frame issues. For the freemium price, I’m all on board for this Ultima MMO. When I’m in a solid party, I can’t put this game down. There’s too much to do and tons of reasons to go back into old dungeons and farm for better loot. Hopefully, with subsequent patches the frame issues will slowly disappear.

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar shows promise in its expansive world and character progression, but a pay-to-win economy and connection problems keep this from being the return to Britannia fans have been hoping for.

Ultima's character has been corrupted and trammelled into a grotesque parody of itself in Ultima Forever. This game is a desecration.

Ultima Forever is not only an act of treason for this series. It's an act of treason for every single good concept the family of free-to-play games knows. It's so bad, it's saddening, unbelievably boring and empty and technically just on a level that in no way justifies it's shameful performance.