Re-Playing Wizardry 8 (8 years later)

RopeDrink · 08-04-2013 12:16pm #1

I don't know what possessed me to reinstall this game... It's as old as the hills now but for some reason I figured I'd give it a bash... And not regretting it one bit.

Does anyone else remember the series?

I have fond memories of it absorbing so much of my time almost a decade ago and even now with it's shoddy 3D graphics and old-school RPG style gameplay it's still addictive as the first time I got into it.

Currently made a party I'm happy with (Took about three party creations and varied length of gameplay with each one to decide I wanted to delete them and start over until I have what I'm using now) - The possibilities are quite high and always room for improvement which adds to the addiction of it.

Naturally my chaotic hobbit rogue is my favourite... Nothing funnier than having him detect a trap, notify the group that he found said trap, then scream in a wavering psychotic voice that he's curious as to what would happen if he "PULLS THIS THING HERE!"

Combat can be a slog but enjoyable nonetheless.

Going to throw up some videos to my YouTube channel for nostalgia reasons once I get a bit deeper into the story (And boy it's quite a loooooong story as far as gameplay is concerned).

I hope I'm not the only one who enjoyed this old gem back in it's day.

Wondering where there any further installments to the Wizardry series after VIII? I'm sure there have been but I've a feeling they'd have different names or something, think SirTech or the company who made VIII went out of business or disappeared or something (Not aware of that story, either).

Anyways, I don't expect the thread to get much replies but if you've played the old series, feel free to comment - Curious to know who else dabbled in WVIII :pac:

Zulu · 08-04-2013 12:24pm

I'm new to RPG's - I think Fallout 3/Dragon Age were the first I played, but I've been gaming since Jet Set Willy, sooo....

Convince me (please), should I download and play this? (Your chaotic hobbit intrigues me...)

Glebee · 08-04-2013 12:36pm

I remember this when it came out. Got stuck very very early in the game and never went back.

ionapaul · 08-04-2013 12:45pm

Glebee wrote: »

I remember this when it came out. Got stuck very very early in the game and never went back.

Yep, played it when it came out, got stuck probably 20% of the way in and had to give up - remember finding an alien spaceship (is that a spoiler?) in the biggest town you get to and soon afterwards had nowhere left to go and just couldn't progress the story.

nesf · 08-04-2013 1:27pm

8 years later? I'm sorry for making you feel old Ropey but that game came out 12 years ago.

I know I owned it, I don't remember if I played it much though.

quarryman · 08-04-2013 2:27pm

Zulu wrote: »

I'm new to RPG's - I think Fallout 3/Dragon Age were the first I played, but I've been gaming since Jet Set Willy, sooo....

Convince me (please), should I download and play this? (Your chaotic hobbit intrigues me...)

If FO3 and Dragon Age are your yardstick then you might find W8 very hardcore. They are nothing alike. The best comparison would be something like Legend of Grimrock.

Similar to others, I remember playing it when it came out due to the glowing reviews but found it clunky and restrictive. Also, very difficult. Got stuck early on and never went back. Felt it was very over-rated tbh.

nesf · 08-04-2013 2:52pm

Zulu wrote: »

I'm new to RPG's - I think Fallout 3/Dragon Age were the first I played, but I've been gaming since Jet Set Willy, sooo....

Convince me (please), should I download and play this? (Your chaotic hobbit intrigues me...)

If you really feel the need to dip into older RPGs (join us!) then you might be better off trying Planescape or Baldur's Gate. They are *hard* but they are cheap on GoG.

Glebee · 08-04-2013 3:10pm

ionapaul wrote: »

Yep, played it when it came out, got stuck probably 20% of the way in and had to give up - remember finding an alien spaceship (is that a spoiler?) in the biggest town you get to and soon afterwards had nowhere left to go and just couldn't progress the story.

Sound like exactly the same place that I got stuck. Must have been before online hints/tips because I cant remember looking online for help..

Retr0gamer · 08-04-2013 5:16pm

RopeDrink wrote: »

Wondering where there any further installments to the Wizardry series after VIII? I'm sure there have been but I've a feeling they'd have different names or something, think SirTech or the company who made VIII went out of business or disappeared or something (Not aware of that story, either).

Wizardry died with Wizardry VIII in the west however in japan they ran with the series and there's been dozens of japanese wizardry games since. Also don't worry, they haven't been dumbed down into final fantasy, they are balls to the walls tough with permanent character death if you get unlucky and rerolling your team multiple times before you start. Some of them even made it the the West as well. Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls on the PS2 is superb and the PSN game I quite enjoyed.

There's plenty of Wizardry style games on the PSP and DS. The very best of them is the Etrian Odyssey series, I've played the first and it's probably one of the best games I've ever played. There's others as well like Unchained Blades and Dark Spire.

Tails142 · 08-04-2013 10:31pm

Do you ever get to see your own party in the scene?

Retr0gamer · 08-04-2013 11:19pm

RopeDrink wrote: »

Aye I didn't look too hard but I did stumble on some weird typical Jap anime style RPG's that looked similar and was hopeful that isn't where the series went - Not that I have anything against it, just it... Didn't seem anything like the older ones.

Trust me, they might have an anime artstyle but other than the art they are pure wizardry. What we call JRPGs are known to the japanese as light RPGs and stuff like Wizardry are known as real RPGs, we just never got any released here until Etrian Odyssey was a success. You should get over any prejudices you have because the japanese are doing amazing Wizardry clones that are very faithful to the original series and stuff like Etrian Odyssey I'd say are so much better.