Who even owns the I.P. now? Is it still Electronic Arts? I have just been thinking about how much I would love to have a new open world single player RPG set in the Ultima world.

Ooh absolutely, I would want nothing to do with Richard Garriott at this point. Between Shroud of the Avatar being a scam, and he is now involved with NFT's, just isn't worth the hassle. Avernum is a series I should absolutely play, and it's on sale right now!

You could also look into Nox Archaist, which feels a lot like Ultima 5 (though there are definitely some intentional design differences).

(Do note that Nox Archaist looks, sound, and plays like an Apple 2 game because it actually *is* an Apple 2 game.)

Why not give the massive demos a try too?

I'd suggest to try the fabulous Realms of Antiquity. A game developed by one single guy over years that runs on the ancient Ti-99/A4 homecomputer. What he achieved is a pure marvel, has its unique style but still reminded me a lot of good old Ultima. The exploration of the expansive open world and has many secrets and things to discover, the tactical battles are exquisite, the abundance of spells and magic is impressive, the cleverness of the quest design (some spanning the whole world) and the overall feeling of adventure was totally comparable to the best Ultimas in my opinion. Hands down: For me one of the best RPGs of all times. Why the heck it's not on GOG already befuzzles me. I was so excited about this game that after playing the digital version I decided to get one of the precious physical collector's editions (with the beautiful cloth map). I even got the floppies (which cost extra) even though I don't own and most probably will never own a Ti-99/A4 myself - just for the feeling of it I wanted the complete package.

Thanks for posting that. The graphics look almost like a clone of Ultima. Could be interesting!

Oh it is very interesting, let me assure you. I wouldn't describe it as a clone though - it has many of Ultima's strengths but is completely unique in other aspects. It's a massive game with a tremendous amount of content, which is very impressive given the severe limitations of the system. I played it for weeks and never got bored. It's also very accessible and player friendly. The 20 bucks may seem expensive to some but it's easily worth triple the price imho.

I was referring only to the graphics. It literally looks exactly like what I remember my playthrough of Ultima V on a C64 looked like!

I know what you mean, yes. It's the same traditional perspective and especially the main character (as long as you only control one character - otherwise the icon changes accordingly to 2-4 characters) looks similar to the one in C64 Ultima V. I still found the graphical design to feel rather unique though - the colors, the tiny animations, the creative design of the enemies, spells etc.

Have you checked Nox Archaist, which I just mentioned in this topic? It also looks and feels similar to Ultima V, and even runs on the same hardware.

I have it! I've played a few hours, need to set aside time to get more into it. That's the problem with RPGs, I really need a long stretch to just sit down and immerse myself, but sadly these days, those are hard to come by! Need to win the lottery so I can just game all day!

In regards to Nox Archaist I exactly know what you mean: I myself never really got into Nox Archaist because it demands much more involvement from me than I'm ready to give most of the time. I purchased the expensive collector's edition and really wanted to love the game but I never got into it - everything feels as it needs much time to get anything achieved, gameplay felt sluggish and slow and not very rewarding to me. Realms of Antiquity, which got released in the same time, was completely different as an experience for me: It feels both classic and fresh, the pacing is almost perfect, it's astonishingly accessible and you get into it almost immediately, stuff is happening all the time and at every place, controls are user friendly, you get rewarding experiences early on and everything is in a flow. That's what I miss with Nox Archaist, that flow feeling. And I tried to get into it for three times already. It makes me sad but maybe it's just not my kind of RPG.

Here are some comparisons between Ultima 5, Nox Archaist, and what I can gather about Realms of Antiquity (which I don't have and haven't played, but the manual can be found online):

Number of levels:
* U5: 8
* NA: 10
* RoA: 16

Character classes:
* U5: 4, with the only significant difference being maximum MP
* NA: None, but when you look at the way stat growth is handled, the stat requirements for equipment, and the starting stats of recruitable characters, there are really 4 classes, but differentiated in a more interesting fashion than in U5
* RoA: 9

Party formation:
* U5: Up to 6 characters. Main character is "created" through a series of questions that affect starting stats, and is of a special class.
* NA: Up to 6 characters IIRC. Main character is not special, other than being the only one who can have the "Other" gender.
* RoA: Up to 4 characters, with no way to dismiss them. You can start with 1 character who is of a special class, or with 1-4 characters of non-special classes.

Stat growth:
* U5: At level up, a random stat increases by 1; the randomness can be annoying, particularly since it's random whether the game lets you level up in the first place. Main character (only) can also get some one-time stat boosts from non-repeatable quests.
* NA: You gain 12 (IIRC) stat points at level up, which can be distributed as desired, though because of equipment and spell requirements, it really only makes sense to focus on a single stat.
* RoA: Stats increase through the use of rare consumables.

Skills:
* U5: No skill system.
* NA: Skills improve by use, in a deterministic manner similar to Elder Scrolls. There are no skills for magic, however.
* RoA: You get a skill point at level up, that you can use (along with money) to get training to increase a skill. (This is actually a lot like how Ultima 7 does stat increases.)

Enemy scaling:
* U5: Overworld enemies are the same strength world-wide (I don't know what makes stronger enemies appear on the map). However, dungeons and the underworld have their own encounter lists, and dungeon rooms provide special battles with hand-placed enemies, obstacles, and puzzles.
* NA: Enemy scaling is area based. If you go too far from the start too early, the enemies will be unmanageable. Some fixed encounters (some repeatable), but nothing like U5's dungeon rooms.
* RoA: ?

By the way, another game worth checking out might be SKALD: Against the Black Priory. The game hasn't been released yet, but a demo, which I haven't yet tried, has been.


Forgot another important point of comparison.

Spells:
* U5: You effectively automatically know all spells, but you must first mix the proper reagents before you can cast the spell, and then you can only cast as many as you've mixed. Furthermore, your level must be high enough to cast the spell. Spells use MP, which is recovered when you rest.
* NA: Spells are learned from scrolls IIRC. To learn or cast a spell, you must have a high enough intelligence (which effectively translates to a level requirement). They use MP to cast.
* RoA: Spells are found in spellbooks. A character can only equip one at a time, and there's a small AP cost to switching. There doesn't appear to be any level requirements, and there's no MP, so spells cause fatigue instead.