We spent so many hours spent in Deluxe Paint creating the animations and scenery for this. Funny to see this still getting some play after so many years.
@@TheVerinen2 Well, It's been 3 month's since I've watched the 90 minute review, so I'm not sure which assumptions I'd be validating. Coming off of Bane (Wiz 6), where we had a limited color palette and just basic walls, floor ceiling for the entire game, we really wanted to push the boundaries on the sequel. VGA came in just as we released Bane. Open air, multiple environments, and using transparency in the scenery squares to create walls of vegetation and pathways overlaying the ground. Very basic stuff, but innovative at the time. We also used traditional onion skin animation for the characters, which we scanned and painted, which gave us a better look than just hand drawing on the computer. This was all before modern drawing tablets, obviously. We were hand dithering pixels with a mouse.
@@chrisappel7804 I consider the presentation and art style of this game to be the absolute peak of its kind, with the only other to rival it bring the original Baldur’s Gate. Certainly my feelings are heavily shaped by nostalgia, because the walls, the sky, vegetation &c imagery in this one evoke an indescribable and transcendent emotional response in me that is highly peculiar; something related to a childhood nightmare with a deep psychedelic and spiritual wonder. I can recall seeing this game and others from the era as a child (I would have been about 7 or 8 when this game released) at friends houses, older brothers and sisters who had PCs and the art style held me in absolute fascination even then, the only other art style to hold that kind of trance inducing power over me is that of the late medieval and early Renaissance alchemical and occult drawings and woodcut reliefs. But beyond my personal feelings I think the style has held up gorgeously to this day more so than a vast majority of the rest. It is really quite special, an astonishing accomplishment to be proud of.
@@BriteRory Thank you for the kind words, Rory. Of all the electronic gaming projects I worked on 90s, I think it is the most satisfying, and I am always surprised to find that it still has an audience.
@@chrisappel7804 I'm certain it always will have an audience, because it is timeless! But I can certainly understand why it should be surprising. There is a personal connection developed while playing this style of game (and this one, in particular) that simply does not exist with the more visually-comprehensive presentation that shortly afterwards replaced it as a perceived necessity. Add the map-making and hand-written journal and you are talking an entirely different level of gaming unknown to most people today, but that isn't a requirement for the kind of ingenious interface I'm describing. A game like Wizardry and several others of that general time period left just enough to the imagination, using text narration to silently engross the player, presenting you with only a rough approximation of an avatar through a paper doll or a sprite portrait, and likewise for the NPCs encountered, and those characters came to life in your mind the way they would in a book. My image of the Avatar, or of Gorion's Ward, &c is undoubtedly unlike every other players regardless of the adventures they have in common or their order. Everything about this approach is reminiscent of the early Dungeons & Dragons modules, like the original Greyhawk campaign, where just enough was detailed to establish a functional uniformity but so much was left to the individual DM to interpret for themselves, which is a practical but tempered brilliance in approach to the design that I find so much more preferable. To my thinking, this is precisely the aspect of these relatively earlier CRPGs that is fundamental to their timelessness and renewing audience but is nowhere to be found in the so-called CRPG Renaissance that caught on a few years ago and yet lingers. I feel that it is from the start a misguided effort, laudable as it may be in labor and intention, at capturing what is presumably perceived as nostalgia, but even at a basic level the works don't compare and its not only because it applies that modern ubiquitous fantasy art style so conforming to a consensus of manner lacking any unique distinctions, but also because absolutely everything possible is presented in such a visually and narratively exhaustive format that even in a sandbox environment every persons experiences and internal imagery of their characters are simulacra of that intended. Well, I apologize for going off on this tangent of unasked for criticism of more recent work, I just wish those games made in the spirit of the giants upon which they stand would actually be derivative effectively, honoring the artistic styles and overall aesthetics rather than just the angle of view. Your work is masterful here and I consider myself fortunate for having the opportunity to thank you directly.
Atmospheric evocative writing bordering on poetry. The old city beneath new city. Sunken temple with monks on drugs. Bungalow playhouse with rat thieves. Barracks with blunderbuss-wielding rhinos. This game became an indelible part of my life.
Watching this video makes me think there really was a sweet spot in the late 90s and early 2000s in gaming. Productions weren't so small and as such having no multiple creative input; but they weren't so huge like now where there's TOO MUCH multiple creative input. By creative input I mean other voices stepping in saying "Well, that ain't such a good idea." Star Wars Episode 1 is of course a perfect example of too few, or just one, people having all the control. Old games are good examples of how a tiny design team really do make poor choices in game design because they can't outside their own bubble and knowledge of the product they're making. Games are now completely the oppositive extreme where it's obvious there's always someone else chipping in "Oh but someone who's utterly clueless about this won't know what to do." at every point in game design, completely forgetting that a player will, and frankly should be expected to learn as they progress. These days people seem to forget that buying a game isn't a license to have access to everything in the game at will-- because that would be like buying a chess board and expecting that entitles the person to win every time they play. It's nonsensical and is completely against the very definition of what a game is. I hope the success of indie games that hark back to older elements will influence big developers, in at least allowing options to make the game more traditional or immersive (an example being survival modes in Bethesda titles, which are optional). I would very much like to see options on removing those stupid quest markers that point the player to absolutely everything-- it would be a very simple thing as all they need to do is adequately point the player in the quest log.
Eww no it’s gorgeous as it is. I would love them to port it to consoles though, but keep it exactly as it is, just clean up any bugs like fixing the stats to work as intended
I'm writing this comment just to thank you for helping me discover my absolute favourite musical genre of all time with this video. Dungeon Synth has inspired me to make DS music of my own one day. Thank you so much and please keep up with what you're doing on this channel, it is a treasure on this plattform
I've played Wizardry 7 since it was first released (I was just a kid then too. Learning words like thaumaturgy and asphyxiation was interesting for sure). It has remained my favourite game through all these years for the reasons you've mentioned. I hope someday someone will remake it, even just a fan remake. It still oozes with potential, but the amount of time it takes to roll a Lord or (god forbid) and Fairy Ninja is insane and the amount of time spent resting in likewise mind boggling. It's very rough around the edges but it is just so amazing that I keep coming back again and again. I speed through New City fast as anything because I'm just so used to the layout after playing the game so many times with so many parties since the 90's. I never beat it though. I came close once but I thought that I needed a specific map to get to H'Jen Ra (that H'Jen Ra had). Whenever I play again, I'm going to have to use a cheat or something because I'm not going to sit forever trying to get a fairy ninja and some Lords. I'm also not about resting for hours on end. The music, like you said, is pretty much non-existent. It's something I actually never thought about and I think that in a way the lack of any BGM really helps make the world feel lonely.; especially in New City. Though the DOS version had some fantastic music that would play when you would sleep and I'm really disappointed that this wasn't carried over to the Gold version (seriously, wtf??). A slight correction though. You do in fact regain HP when you rest..... it's just veeeeerrrrrryyyyy slooooooww. It's only a few points per rest, but if your HP is just a few points from being topped off, you may see it fully replenish while resting.
I still remember how this game ended for me around 30 years ago. Around hour 3-5 I picked up a bomb item that seemed to do the same thing one of the spells I later learned some kind of firebomb. At hour 15ish I think it was I was on the ropes and my mage was out of mana when I checked my inventory and there it was an attack item so I used it and won the fight. I did not think it was important as I had a spell that do the same thing. Lo and behold I reach some spider cave covered in web I needed to use to bomb to clear the way to progress the main quest line. Spell did not work only the item which turned out to be a key quest item. This kind of thing shows the difference to the games today. Never ended up finishing that game as when I got around it it would not run on any of my computers. 2 days ago I happened to read that I was part of a steam sale and I picked it up all three games 6-7-8 for under $5 and I'm trying once again.
(23:40) You regain health by resting but at a very slow rate. Having a high vitality helps a little. There are some items like the ankh of healing, amulet of healing, elven bow, diamond ring or gown of divine mail that can help you with regeneration.
Mike, I loved your Wizardry 8 review, but this one might be even better. In spite of its rough edges, Wizardry 7 is a gem that in so many ways has never been topped. The game just oozes personality and flavor -- this was clearly no homogenized, focus-group-tested, corporate product! Although I know that as fans of Old School RPGs like this we're a niche audience, the fact that nearly 10,000 people have watched at least part of your 1.5-hour review of a 30-year-old game indicates to me that there is still a market for games like these. Wizardry 7 immerses me in a way that a modern RPG like, say, Witcher 3 just can't. The wide-open world, sense of danger and adventure, high level of challenge, and complex yet infinitely customizable systems keep me coming back decade after decade. I know that the IP rights to Wizardry are a muddle, but I would love it if an indie developer would create a remake of this game along the lines of the Bard's Tale remaster. One can always hope... P.S. If you take requests, I would love to see you review Wizardry 6!
Thank you for the fantastic overview of the game's strengths and weaknesses! I agree that this is one of the greatest RPGs ever made, and come back to play it every few years. Something I learned recently was that the "Weaken" and "Slow" spells are often effective against some very strong creatures (including some Gorrors) and can stack if you cast them multiple times. "Weaken", for example, makes enemies more susceptible to spells such as "Lifesteal", and "Slow" makes enemies less effective as fighters. You can spend a few rounds weakening enemies, and eventually kill stronger enemies such as Gorrors with spells (depending on resistances) or critical strikes. What is different from Wizardry 8 is that in Wizardry 6 and 7, even spells of the same element rely on different resistances so even enemies like Gorrors are going to be susceptible to certain spells. For example, "Weaken" is considered Magic, "Paralysis" is considered Paralysis, "Deep Freeze" is considered Cold, "Nuclear Blast" is considered Fire, "Dazzling Lights" is considered Light, "Lifesteal" is considered Lifeforce, and so on. Also, you mentioned having to put points in swimming, but there is a practice pool in Munkharama where you can swim without risk of drowning no matter what your Swimming Skill is. It still costs stamina to use, but can save valuable skill points in the early levels if you train here until you have enough swimming to not drown in other water. I usually go to Orkogre Castle first after New City because the enemy encounters are not as difficult as other cities and you don't need swimming or climbing, then I head to Munkharama next.
Tagging onto this, in the bowels of Munkharama there is a fountain on a wall only reachable by swimming. However, once you have enough swimming skill to reach the fountain without drowning, you can quickly train your swimming to 100 by swimming a couple of squares away and back to fountain->drink to regain stamina and just keep doing this until skill is 100 on every character. Basically nobody should ever finish Munkharama without having 100 swimming on all chars.
Still my favorite RPG of all time. I picked it up when it came out having no idea what it was, and was immediately hooked. I still haven't finished it, but this time around I am going to finally do it. I finished Wizardry 6 and transferred my party (along with a couple good weapons) into 7 and with notebook in hand I've begun again, this time outside the Tower of Dane, which is where my Wizardry 6 ending plopped me.
Thank you very much for doing this video. I have played this game for more than 20 years and it is really a special game which changed my life. Glad I found this. As a thank you I can reveal that the maximum character level you can achieve is 3589. After that your experience points are subtracted not added.
The lack of an automap does hurt this - and many DOS games. Ultima Underworld has an excellent automap for example, which makes it much more enjoyable to play. A map mod, like you said, makes thid game so much more playable
I know this comment is old but, there is an automap? If you start a new game you unfortunately don't begin with one, but it is to be found near to where the game begins, and by raising a character's Mapping skill, will increase the amount of detail automatically recorded and displayed. It takes a second or two longer to access than the one in Ultima Underworld, but it is functionally similar (minus the player annotation).
@@BriteRory Only problem is, there's no way to continuously view map. Each time you want to view map you have to tediously click "use item" followed by clicking on character followed by scrolling down to map kit and selecting, and clicking confirmation button. I still LOVE this game, but using a map is VERY tedious.
Thank you for the in-depth, detailed review. This is truly a brilliant channel. Would love to see you revisit some other classics provided time allows. :)
I can't believe I'm only just today discovering your channel. This review is remarkably well put together, with each subject flowing into one another in a very natural-seeming progression. I found myself unable to stop listening and completely drawn in, which so rarely happens. And as I watched I saw previews for some of your other videos, the first of which is a Dark Sun campaign setting guide, by far my favorite AD&D setting. I feel so fortunate to have encountered your work!
I remember picking this one up as soon as it was released, never heard of the series but the box looked interesting. 26 years later, this is still my favourite PC game of all time. Every time through is different in some way, it was a living breathing world that even now is still impressive. Few games have NPCs who have their own agendas, alliances and can live in the same world and complete quests before you do and have to negotiate or kill them to get the quest items, and then deal with the consequences of pissing of their friends. Absolute genius.
Seriously awesome review. One thing you missed that I think could have been worth a quick mention 1) The armor / weapons had a ridiculous amount of historical accuracy. For example most games call chainmail pants “chainmail leggings” but here it’s chausses, which was what they called them back in the Middle Ages. Same goes for cuir, solleret, chamois, hosen, etc - a ton of stuff. Weapons, likewise, are often very obscure but existed in history. (Zweihander, poignard, baselard, raven’s bill.) There was even a difference between a slash and a thrust. You never saw any other 90s RPG get this real. Even as a young teen I thought that was a really nice touch and added a kind of authentic, elegant vibe. Someone really did their research. It was also ahead of its time in this regard as recently, realistic medieval arms and armor is trending hugely.
I'm 47 and i missed the boat on these games. I remember seeing a classmates older brothers Amiga game collection and always being fascinated by the D&D box art. I recently purchased "Forgotten Realms" in Steam and it feels great owning even though i haven't tried playing 'em yet.
I got Wizardry bundle (6,7 and 8) because of your reviews of this and 8. I really liked your in-depth look into these. I have to check out your channel otherwise too.
[ 43:19 ] This is far more poetic, and way better written, than any "modern" Netflix or Amazon fantasy show. Truly outstanding writing, first-class Fantasy literature and entertainment. It had passion, depth, meaning and beauty. Also, it portrayed and championed deep values and beautiful ideas, which now seem forever lost... (when one thinks of abominations such as Amazon's Rings of Power or Netflix's The Witcher, etc etc)
Just circling back 9 months later to leave another comment, this is an incredible review my friend. Don’t give up the quest, you deserve enormous TH-cam success.
I really like your reviews, they got me to pick this up on GOG. What I played of it has been cool, though as you get older it's so hard to commit to possibly wasting time getting lost for months on end without a guide. At the same time you kind of want that from these games. So I've settled on playing a bit of it but having no ambition to complete it. To be fair there were lots of games I wouldn't have been able to complete back in the day anyway and this would definitely be one of them. In some ways I kind of like never finishing stuff, like old games such as Angband, it feels like they are so vast you just dip in. Unfortunately the Gold version of Wizardry IIV has resolution issues, changing to DOS version I ran into trouble saving probably cos I'm a Dosbox noob.
Hey dude, I randomly saw this video and a couple of your other retrospectives on these old games I had never known about. I must say your retrospectives are fascinating and I really enjoyed how your passion for these games really shine out of your videos. Keep it up!
@@michaelsnow1 Might I ask what the music is that's playing from 1:17:30 to the end? I really like how it sounds. I imagine it's license free, I just can't seem to find it where you've listed the music and such.
I want to get into this game, but there's just way, WAY too many red flags. Punishing difficulty? I can endure it. Esoteric gameplay? Annoying, but I can figure it out eventually. Randomized stats on level up? That is a cardinal sin but again, I could overlook it. But getting attacked AT THE INNS?! No, that is utterly unacceptable. I might even be okay with that, if not for everything else. This game just sounds horrible; not challenging but downright abusive. Still, lots of cool ideas. Thank you for making the review. Edit: just got to the Status Effects portion. Fuck this game. Edit: learned about the "load stone". Fuck this game, and everyone who made it.
It was survivable with the relatively new introduction of "save anywhere" to the genre. Anything bad happens? Reload. It may not seem satisfying, but it did make dealing with all the bullshit possible.
How I stumble across this video the way I stumbled across Wiz7! I was starting middle school and in a foreign land when Wiz series came into my life. I knew limited English words at the time and oh how I studied my English dictionary hard to be able to understand the game. Good 'ol times~
I always found the idea of a first person yet, party based rpg weird and beyond antiquated but your deep dives are making me actually want to try some of these out.
Dude, you are amazing in these types of videos, love the way you analyze games, especially rpg games, keep the great content and i would love if you do more DnD type game reviews
Another one I need to finish, as I never did back in the day (having a bad habit of game jumping). I remember how some reviews made fun of the digitized actors and their wigs. xD
Well done man. I'm impressed at how in depth you were able to deliver this review without anything that I would consider a spoiler. My only experience with Wizardry is Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom, the SNES release. I loved that game, but never finished it. Although my party was extremely powerful, to the point where I could traverse the Pit levels for hours at a time and effortlessly kill hoards of Pit Fiends, I never did piece together what I needed to complete the game. I've been thinking of revisiting it as an adult and decided to look up reviews. That's how I found your channel.
Sometimes if you get poisoned but you beat the boss and want to save it, you could heal yourself while running ALL TH e wAy back to new city and you can drink the water in the church to heal any poison.
The first RPG I was exposed to was Wizardry 3, but I ended up going the Dragon Warrior/Final Fantasy route as I was just too young and impatient to get far in computer dungeon crawlers. I did buy Wizardry 6-8 a few years ago during a Steam sale. Legend of Grimlock resparked my interest in old school dungeon crawlers, and your videos have really encouraged me to actually install and give Wizardry 7 & 8 a shot.
I had this way back when, I must have been 12 or so. I was really excited to get this game and had to spend like a week playing with the extended memory setting in dos to get it to work. Then finally tried to play it and found myself giving up cause I couldn’t figure out what I was suppose to be doing and got completely lost. Tried a number of times with different parties but never made it far :/ And after watching this video, I see why I never managed to make much progress.
When you realize the song that's is playing is "Holy Forest" from "King's Field IV"... Nice choice dude. My favorite was "Mansion of the Howling Winds".
King's Field is one of those games series I've always wanted to play but never have for whatever reason. Wizardry 7 is also one of those but I just bought it to play for the first time. Finally.
@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 Always look for a class and race guide, it is not mandatory to have the best combinations to the game but it is a good method of avoiding frustration in the most difficult parts of it. If you are interested in Kings Field the fourth title of the series at PS2 is a good starting point, not so clunk as the first games of the series plus if you have a PS2 or a emulator like PCSX2 you can also play "Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land", that game in my opinion is a mix of Wizardry and Kings Field. And like Michael Snow said SAVE OFTEN!
@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 It may seem a little like cheating but make sure to install the mod that lets you have an automap. It makes orienting yourself 1000 times easier.
I really appreciate that you put that kings field song as the background music for a large majority of this video. It kept tugging at my nostalgia strings and made me pay closer attention to what this game offered. It seems to offer so much id be a fool not to play it! I will probably be putting on the kingsfield soundtracks while I'm playing it as well because it really seemed to fit it very well! Awesome video liked, subbed and appreciated!
The Create Life spell of Alchemists at high level will summon a Godzylli or Bloodwyrm, the former has 1025 to 1480 hp, causing issues for even the best bosses.
i really hate the time limit in this game (the npcs taking the maps before you reach them), it makes things really stressful and won't allow for proper grinding if you get stuck in the difficult fights
What a magnificent masterpiece of a game, and you did such a fantastic job capturing it with your video. Very in depth and interesting. This game has such a great concept of atmosphere like you've said. Very gloomy, sad, and lonely. You feel like aliens in an unknown world, struggling to get power and a footing into the world. You start fighting bugs, plants, and birds, and eventually gain enough strength to fight dragons, demons, and giant sea monsters. It's a wonderful feeling to look back at the end of the adventure and realize how much you have done and how truly your characters have grown in their own rights. Thank you for reviewing this masterpiece, it was an honour to watch your video.
I remember my neighbor installing this game on my first ever PC and I ended up having to play the game 3 different times before I could actually finish it. The first time was just playing it because it was new and fun. Eventually I decided to start over since I knew how to really play the game correctly but I got so far into the game and realized I was missing all kind of things including certain keys needed to finish the game. The third time I bought a hint guide and really enjoyed taking my time with the game, knowing I wasn't missing anything. Such a very long game to play besides playing 3 times. It has so much endless amounts of combat and, like you mentioned, there are wasted spells or moves during the fights as the creature you were trying to fight ended up dying and it was just a wasted move. I did play Wizardry 8 too but I began to tinker with the Might & Magic series which I really enjoyed I bit more!
Never beat the game but spent tens of hours in and having a tremendous time, despite all the fights that became fairly tedious and annoying over time. Nevertheless, your review revived the urge to give another try after years.
Your voice is so good for this you are great man. Also i like the mapping part of the crpg dungeon crawlers it's like a little part of the game that you can touch :)
I love games like this for their aid in the creation of all modern rpgs, the Japanese liked our Ultima and Wizardry so they started doing their own and they did it so well everyone thought all rpgs started over there. 😊 Guardia?? I loved their Queen Marle and that spikey haired ginger.
This game was all about the story, the items just complemented it. In games now, the items are the most important thing and the goal of the game is to get the best items to be the most powerful. I prefer story driven games over item driven ones.
This game definitely sounds more like a test of the player's patience rather than a test of intelligence. However, it does look like a fun game to watch somebody else play.
Well, technically this is true because the overwhelming majority of the game is spent in combat, which doesn't overly stress the intellect and is mastered primarily by study of the mechanics and class changing, after very much practice. But the game is both overall and in its very many aspects enigmatic, much of which involves inference and concentration to resolve. Going into this game without guidance, even after having read the well-elaborated manual and fully understanding the interconnected systems at play, is I would argue one of the most challenging video game experiences to be found, and by far one of the most rewarding.
The only Wizardry game I have played through to completion is on the ps2. Wizardry tale of the Forsaken land. I still have it and still play it occasionally
There are 8 American/Canadian Wizardry games, and 39 Japanese ones... I think any given person is statistically more likely to have played one of the latter, especially considering that they were console games, unlike the PC exclusive mainline entries
I know this video is very old, but the idea with actions always being cast is that each turn isnt happening linearly with each characters action, it's all at once. So your samurai killed that monster the second before the wizards spell finally goes off. The wizard is already casting the spell and already drained their energy.
Lol the variety of enemies is hilarious, I’m watching and it’s like “dragons, wererats, goblins.. the Dallas cowboys cheerleaders happily flying cherry red hover bikes..”
Really fantastic video. Have you played Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar? Would love to hear your thoughts on it though I know that tackling these games is quite the task.
@@michaelsnow1 it should since it was originally Wizardry 8. It was the version being developed by a Australian company that was scrapped so one of the guys on the team took or kept the code and finished it.
I’ve been playing through Wizardry Gaiden on the Game Boy with a party of all Hobbits, and I’ve learned that magic users are ESSENTIAL. My two fighters are mostly useful for taking hits, while my one mage owns ALL of the DPS. My two priests keep everyone alive and have a high level nuke spell they can each use once, plus summoning. And to be clear, the Hobbit fighters don’t do small DPS because they are Hobbits, because weapon damage is entirely dependent on the weapon’s attack roll. Spells just do more damage than most weapons and can hit multiple targets most of the time. Meanwhile, my one thief, bless her feet, does basically no damage ever, but you NEED a thief to disarm traps in Gaiden. NEED. She is un-ironically the most important party member, because she is the only reason the party can get any loot after fights.
Sorry, nothing beats Wizardry 1. These other games were very good, but prior to Wiz1, there was nothing. I was there, I played what came before, from Zork to Ulysses and the Golden Fleece. Wizardry changed everything. It was as seminal in the 80s as Doom was in the 90s. And I'm replaying Wizardry 1 right now, they just remastered it, and it STILL is an excellent game.
Amazing review. It was indeed hard game but well worth the journey. Double rewarding if you import your Wiz6 team to Wiz7, then Wiz8 only to be rewarded with another "import save" option... 46:58 that sounds like Mansion of Howling Winds, from King's Field 4, amazing old RPG for PS2, it was FROM Soft game. Before they started Soul series they did a lot o first person games, some of them with RPG elements.
plugged in my old crt monitor for this game on steam, it looks so good. I went and got some hot fries, potato sticks and mountain dew for nostalgia sake
1:09:10 That's nice to know, one of my biggest off puts when it comes to these games is the navigation. I just don't do well with segmented squares that all look similar that snap together. Having a map for me in those games really helps. Sure some people might complain that you aren't drawing it but that's not how maps work anyway, you don't draw out the new city you just moved to, unless I'm in uncharted lands I want my map.
The hide in shadows is one of the biggest exploits. You can cast spells while remaining in the shadows, unlike attacking with melee which takes you out of shadows. You can also rest to recover stamina. If your party is all in shadows, enemies can't do anything against you. Spells cast at your entire party almost never hit those in shadows and they can't target those in shadows with spells that target only that individual. For example, you can go up against a tough enemy, put everyone into shadows, then cast spells at it while it stands there doing nothing, although it can run away which is annoying. Another exploit is to keep picking a new class when you hit level 15 to 20. You can get your spell points into the hundreds or thousands that way, get every skill and spell available up to maximum, and your health keeps going up.
In my teens I put dozens of hours into this game and still never finished it but oh boy did I love it. I also shamelessly ripped of the Helazoids and Vi Dominia for my TTRPG campaign and I'm not sorry!
(5:20) That'd be (really) cool though; a Dungeon Crawler actually set in Medieval Europe. Or in the (Wild)West or in the eehm (Far)East, something that's unique to the (DC) setting, heck even the Savannah would do :p I think.
I want to agree but I don't. I've been playing video/computer games since 1978.....yeah, I know. I started playing both the original Wizardry and Ultima games on the Apple ][. And played most (not all) of those games through their series. Trust me, I always liked Wizardry better than Ultima. Until 1992 when Wizardry VII was released. Oh don't get me wrong, I love this game. But that same year Ultima Underground came out and that changed everything. The story and interaction in Wizardry VII is fantastic. But it's still pretty much Wizardry. They didn't break the mold, they just modified it. But Underworld was ground-breaking. It was so vastly different than any other Ultima game (that's why most Ultima fans hated it), it was unlike any other rpg period. Think about it....Underworld truly was the grandfather of modern rpgs with it's movement alone. It certainly influenced Elder Scrolls and Doom. And although Doom wasn't an RPG, it was certainly one of the most popular games on DOS. There wasn't the limited movement of a grid system like Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, and so many other games that kept that same model for years afterward. So there's a huge difference between "greatest" and just your favorite.
This review makes me a bit sad. I WANT to like this game. I want to like playing it. The races and classes, the exploration of an unknown world, the sheer customisation... But good lord. The combat goes on and on, its clunky, repetitive, tedious, unforgiving, extremely easy to get lost and killed in your sleep, and ultimately way more than I can get through before getting bored and fed up. I still have saves backed up somewhere from my last attempt. Maybe I just need to accept that this is a mammoth task and I'm not able to commit enough to fully enjoy it.
You talked about how you can’t heal your health by resting. You totally can but at later levels, when you have more health, it just takes FOREVER. When I went back to play this game again for nostalgia, I used an emulator that let you jack up the game speed so a full rest would take less than 5 seconds. The I would rest about 20 times in a row. Yes, you would get those random battles but you could usually gain more from the rest than you lost from the random battles that happened from time to time. Also, the mana pool on your ninja was terrible and you regain it in one rest. So rest, ninja heals someone, rest, ninja heals someone, repeat. So when you leveled up you got more points in magic skills.
We spent so many hours spent in Deluxe Paint creating the animations and scenery for this. Funny to see this still getting some play after so many years.
@@TheVerinen2 Well, It's been 3 month's since I've watched the 90 minute review, so I'm not sure which assumptions I'd be validating. Coming off of Bane (Wiz 6), where we had a limited color palette and just basic walls, floor ceiling for the entire game, we really wanted to push the boundaries on the sequel. VGA came in just as we released Bane. Open air, multiple environments, and using transparency in the scenery squares to create walls of vegetation and pathways overlaying the ground. Very basic stuff, but innovative at the time. We also used traditional onion skin animation for the characters, which we scanned and painted, which gave us a better look than just hand drawing on the computer. This was all before modern drawing tablets, obviously. We were hand dithering pixels with a mouse.
@@chrisappel7804 I consider the presentation and art style of this game to be the absolute peak of its kind, with the only other to rival it bring the original Baldur’s Gate. Certainly my feelings are heavily shaped by nostalgia, because the walls, the sky, vegetation &c imagery in this one evoke an indescribable and transcendent emotional response in me that is highly peculiar; something related to a childhood nightmare with a deep psychedelic and spiritual wonder. I can recall seeing this game and others from the era as a child (I would have been about 7 or 8 when this game released) at friends houses, older brothers and sisters who had PCs and the art style held me in absolute fascination even then, the only other art style to hold that kind of trance inducing power over me is that of the late medieval and early Renaissance alchemical and occult drawings and woodcut reliefs. But beyond my personal feelings I think the style has held up gorgeously to this day more so than a vast majority of the rest. It is really quite special, an astonishing accomplishment to be proud of.
@@BriteRory Thank you for the kind words, Rory. Of all the electronic gaming projects I worked on 90s, I think it is the most satisfying, and I am always surprised to find that it still has an audience.
@@chrisappel7804 I'm certain it always will have an audience, because it is timeless! But I can certainly understand why it should be surprising. There is a personal connection developed while playing this style of game (and this one, in particular) that simply does not exist with the more visually-comprehensive presentation that shortly afterwards replaced it as a perceived necessity. Add the map-making and hand-written journal and you are talking an entirely different level of gaming unknown to most people today, but that isn't a requirement for the kind of ingenious interface I'm describing. A game like Wizardry and several others of that general time period left just enough to the imagination, using text narration to silently engross the player, presenting you with only a rough approximation of an avatar through a paper doll or a sprite portrait, and likewise for the NPCs encountered, and those characters came to life in your mind the way they would in a book. My image of the Avatar, or of Gorion's Ward, &c is undoubtedly unlike every other players regardless of the adventures they have in common or their order. Everything about this approach is reminiscent of the early Dungeons & Dragons modules, like the original Greyhawk campaign, where just enough was detailed to establish a functional uniformity but so much was left to the individual DM to interpret for themselves, which is a practical but tempered brilliance in approach to the design that I find so much more preferable. To my thinking, this is precisely the aspect of these relatively earlier CRPGs that is fundamental to their timelessness and renewing audience but is nowhere to be found in the so-called CRPG Renaissance that caught on a few years ago and yet lingers. I feel that it is from the start a misguided effort, laudable as it may be in labor and intention, at capturing what is presumably perceived as nostalgia, but even at a basic level the works don't compare and its not only because it applies that modern ubiquitous fantasy art style so conforming to a consensus of manner lacking any unique distinctions, but also because absolutely everything possible is presented in such a visually and narratively exhaustive format that even in a sandbox environment every persons experiences and internal imagery of their characters are simulacra of that intended. Well, I apologize for going off on this tangent of unasked for criticism of more recent work, I just wish those games made in the spirit of the giants upon which they stand would actually be derivative effectively, honoring the artistic styles and overall aesthetics rather than just the angle of view. Your work is masterful here and I consider myself fortunate for having the opportunity to thank you directly.
I look forward to digging up old games like this just as much, if not more than I look forward to new releases, art is forever.
Atmospheric evocative writing bordering on poetry. The old city beneath new city. Sunken temple with monks on drugs. Bungalow playhouse with rat thieves. Barracks with blunderbuss-wielding rhinos. This game became an indelible part of my life.
Watching this video makes me think there really was a sweet spot in the late 90s and early 2000s in gaming. Productions weren't so small and as such having no multiple creative input; but they weren't so huge like now where there's TOO MUCH multiple creative input. By creative input I mean other voices stepping in saying "Well, that ain't such a good idea." Star Wars Episode 1 is of course a perfect example of too few, or just one, people having all the control. Old games are good examples of how a tiny design team really do make poor choices in game design because they can't outside their own bubble and knowledge of the product they're making.
Games are now completely the oppositive extreme where it's obvious there's always someone else chipping in "Oh but someone who's utterly clueless about this won't know what to do." at every point in game design, completely forgetting that a player will, and frankly should be expected to learn as they progress. These days people seem to forget that buying a game isn't a license to have access to everything in the game at will-- because that would be like buying a chess board and expecting that entitles the person to win every time they play. It's nonsensical and is completely against the very definition of what a game is.
I hope the success of indie games that hark back to older elements will influence big developers, in at least allowing options to make the game more traditional or immersive (an example being survival modes in Bethesda titles, which are optional). I would very much like to see options on removing those stupid quest markers that point the player to absolutely everything-- it would be a very simple thing as all they need to do is adequately point the player in the quest log.
This channel is a hidden gem. Love the in depth reviews!
It truly is a hidden gem, I just found it, and it's gorgeous.
This game deserves a remastered edition for 2021.
Not remaster. Full rebuild. Something like the new system shock.
Btw great game.
Eww no it’s gorgeous as it is. I would love them to port it to consoles though, but keep it exactly as it is, just clean up any bugs like fixing the stats to work as intended
I'm writing this comment just to thank you for helping me discover my absolute favourite musical genre of all time with this video. Dungeon Synth has inspired me to make DS music of my own one day. Thank you so much and please keep up with what you're doing on this channel, it is a treasure on this plattform
A lot of FM synthesis!
I've played Wizardry 7 since it was first released (I was just a kid then too. Learning words like thaumaturgy and asphyxiation was interesting for sure). It has remained my favourite game through all these years for the reasons you've mentioned. I hope someday someone will remake it, even just a fan remake. It still oozes with potential, but the amount of time it takes to roll a Lord or (god forbid) and Fairy Ninja is insane and the amount of time spent resting in likewise mind boggling. It's very rough around the edges but it is just so amazing that I keep coming back again and again. I speed through New City fast as anything because I'm just so used to the layout after playing the game so many times with so many parties since the 90's. I never beat it though. I came close once but I thought that I needed a specific map to get to H'Jen Ra (that H'Jen Ra had). Whenever I play again, I'm going to have to use a cheat or something because I'm not going to sit forever trying to get a fairy ninja and some Lords. I'm also not about resting for hours on end.
The music, like you said, is pretty much non-existent. It's something I actually never thought about and I think that in a way the lack of any BGM really helps make the world feel lonely.; especially in New City. Though the DOS version had some fantastic music that would play when you would sleep and I'm really disappointed that this wasn't carried over to the Gold version (seriously, wtf??).
A slight correction though. You do in fact regain HP when you rest..... it's just veeeeerrrrrryyyyy slooooooww. It's only a few points per rest, but if your HP is just a few points from being topped off, you may see it fully replenish while resting.
Grimoire is the closest it gets to Wizardry 7 and currently Mystic Land is in development.
I still remember how this game ended for me around 30 years ago. Around hour 3-5 I picked up a bomb item that seemed to do the same thing one of the spells I later learned some kind of firebomb. At hour 15ish I think it was I was on the ropes and my mage was out of mana when I checked my inventory and there it was an attack item so I used it and won the fight. I did not think it was important as I had a spell that do the same thing. Lo and behold I reach some spider cave covered in web I needed to use to bomb to clear the way to progress the main quest line. Spell did not work only the item which turned out to be a key quest item. This kind of thing shows the difference to the games today. Never ended up finishing that game as when I got around it it would not run on any of my computers. 2 days ago I happened to read that I was part of a steam sale and I picked it up all three games 6-7-8 for under $5 and I'm trying once again.
I love how dynamic the battle sprites are in this!! Those fish!!!
Currently knee deep in Wiz 6, pushing to Wiz 7, the to 8.... Sooo many great Dos Rpgs on GOG..
God Bless Good Old Games! True Polish power ;)
(23:40)
You regain health by resting but at a very slow rate. Having a high vitality helps a little. There are some items like the ankh of healing, amulet of healing, elven bow, diamond ring or gown of divine mail that can help you with regeneration.
Mike, I loved your Wizardry 8 review, but this one might be even better. In spite of its rough edges, Wizardry 7 is a gem that in so many ways has never been topped. The game just oozes personality and flavor -- this was clearly no homogenized, focus-group-tested, corporate product! Although I know that as fans of Old School RPGs like this we're a niche audience, the fact that nearly 10,000 people have watched at least part of your 1.5-hour review of a 30-year-old game indicates to me that there is still a market for games like these. Wizardry 7 immerses me in a way that a modern RPG like, say, Witcher 3 just can't. The wide-open world, sense of danger and adventure, high level of challenge, and complex yet infinitely customizable systems keep me coming back decade after decade. I know that the IP rights to Wizardry are a muddle, but I would love it if an indie developer would create a remake of this game along the lines of the Bard's Tale remaster. One can always hope...
P.S. If you take requests, I would love to see you review Wizardry 6!
I always thought these games were too hard and impossible to beat. I must have been in middle school. Thanks for confirming my childhood hunch.
Great review dude!!! You should cover might & magic 7 or 8, eye of the beholder, and any other grid based fprpg.
Yeah i would watch the full video
I was thinking the same thing, Eye of the Beholder! I beat that one back in the day.
Thank you for the fantastic overview of the game's strengths and weaknesses! I agree that this is one of the greatest RPGs ever made, and come back to play it every few years.
Something I learned recently was that the "Weaken" and "Slow" spells are often effective against some very strong creatures (including some Gorrors) and can stack if you cast them multiple times. "Weaken", for example, makes enemies more susceptible to spells such as "Lifesteal", and "Slow" makes enemies less effective as fighters. You can spend a few rounds weakening enemies, and eventually kill stronger enemies such as Gorrors with spells (depending on resistances) or critical strikes. What is different from Wizardry 8 is that in Wizardry 6 and 7, even spells of the same element rely on different resistances so even enemies like Gorrors are going to be susceptible to certain spells. For example, "Weaken" is considered Magic, "Paralysis" is considered Paralysis, "Deep Freeze" is considered Cold, "Nuclear Blast" is considered Fire, "Dazzling Lights" is considered Light, "Lifesteal" is considered Lifeforce, and so on.
Also, you mentioned having to put points in swimming, but there is a practice pool in Munkharama where you can swim without risk of drowning no matter what your Swimming Skill is. It still costs stamina to use, but can save valuable skill points in the early levels if you train here until you have enough swimming to not drown in other water. I usually go to Orkogre Castle first after New City because the enemy encounters are not as difficult as other cities and you don't need swimming or climbing, then I head to Munkharama next.
Tagging onto this, in the bowels of Munkharama there is a fountain on a wall only reachable by swimming. However, once you have enough swimming skill to reach the fountain without drowning, you can quickly train your swimming to 100 by swimming a couple of squares away and back to fountain->drink to regain stamina and just keep doing this until skill is 100 on every character. Basically nobody should ever finish Munkharama without having 100 swimming on all chars.
Still my favorite RPG of all time. I picked it up when it came out having no idea what it was, and was immediately hooked. I still haven't finished it, but this time around I am going to finally do it. I finished Wizardry 6 and transferred my party (along with a couple good weapons) into 7 and with notebook in hand I've begun again, this time outside the Tower of Dane, which is where my Wizardry 6 ending plopped me.
so... how is it going?
Thank you very much for doing this video. I have played this game for more than 20 years and it is really a special game which changed my life. Glad I found this. As a thank you I can reveal that the maximum character level you can achieve is 3589. After that your experience points are subtracted not added.
Do your levels go down once you lose enough experience?
The lack of an automap does hurt this - and many DOS games. Ultima Underworld has an excellent automap for example, which makes it much more enjoyable to play.
A map mod, like you said, makes thid game so much more playable
I know this comment is old but, there is an automap? If you start a new game you unfortunately don't begin with one, but it is to be found near to where the game begins, and by raising a character's Mapping skill, will increase the amount of detail automatically recorded and displayed. It takes a second or two longer to access than the one in Ultima Underworld, but it is functionally similar (minus the player annotation).
@@BriteRory Only problem is, there's no way to continuously view map. Each time you want to view map you have to tediously click "use item" followed by clicking on character followed by scrolling down to map kit and selecting, and clicking confirmation button. I still LOVE this game, but using a map is VERY tedious.
Thank you for the in-depth, detailed review. This is truly a brilliant channel. Would love to see you revisit some other classics provided time allows. :)
I can't believe I'm only just today discovering your channel. This review is remarkably well put together, with each subject flowing into one another in a very natural-seeming progression. I found myself unable to stop listening and completely drawn in, which so rarely happens. And as I watched I saw previews for some of your other videos, the first of which is a Dark Sun campaign setting guide, by far my favorite AD&D setting. I feel so fortunate to have encountered your work!
Thank you!
I remember picking this one up as soon as it was released, never heard of the series but the box looked interesting. 26 years later, this is still my favourite PC game of all time. Every time through is different in some way, it was a living breathing world that even now is still impressive. Few games have NPCs who have their own agendas, alliances and can live in the same world and complete quests before you do and have to negotiate or kill them to get the quest items, and then deal with the consequences of pissing of their friends. Absolute genius.
Found this video off of your dark sun video, it's like your channel was made for the little nostalgia child inside of me
Finally a wizardry game with mindblowing state of the art graphics
There's no going back to wireframe after this
found this randomly, but i was really drawn in by how passionate you are about this game, and can't help but listen to you talk about it. good vid!
Seriously awesome review. One thing you missed that I think could have been worth a quick mention
1) The armor / weapons had a ridiculous amount of historical accuracy. For example most games call chainmail pants “chainmail leggings” but here it’s chausses, which was what they called them back in the Middle Ages. Same goes for cuir, solleret, chamois, hosen, etc - a ton of stuff. Weapons, likewise, are often very obscure but existed in history. (Zweihander, poignard, baselard, raven’s bill.) There was even a difference between a slash and a thrust. You never saw any other 90s RPG get this real. Even as a young teen I thought that was a really nice touch and added a kind of authentic, elegant vibe. Someone really did their research. It was also ahead of its time in this regard as recently, realistic medieval arms and armor is trending hugely.
I'd love to see you make a review of the Might and Magic games.
Wow man, stellar review! Keep 'em coming!
great video , subscribed. I missed out on so many DOS games as a child. But the dungeon crawler types always intrigued me the most.
I'm 47 and i missed the boat on these games. I remember seeing a classmates older brothers Amiga game collection and always being fascinated by the D&D box art. I recently purchased "Forgotten Realms" in Steam and it feels great owning even though i haven't tried playing 'em yet.
Wizardry 7 is way better than any of the Forgotten Realms computer games of the early 1990's in my opinion.
I got Wizardry bundle (6,7 and 8) because of your reviews of this and 8. I really liked your in-depth look into these. I have to check out your channel otherwise too.
Another fantastic late night listen Michael, love these deep dives on important games forgotten to time
[ 43:19 ] This is far more poetic, and way better written, than any "modern" Netflix or Amazon fantasy show. Truly outstanding writing, first-class Fantasy literature and entertainment. It had passion, depth, meaning and beauty. Also, it portrayed and championed deep values and beautiful ideas, which now seem forever lost... (when one thinks of abominations such as Amazon's Rings of Power or Netflix's The Witcher, etc etc)
What a flashback. I may still have maps made on graph paper, stuffed somewhere in a box with this game and VI.
wiz 7, 8 and beholder 2 are my favourite crawlers. Managed to finish them all but that was tough without internet )
Just circling back 9 months later to leave another comment, this is an incredible review my friend. Don’t give up the quest, you deserve enormous TH-cam success.
I really like your reviews, they got me to pick this up on GOG.
What I played of it has been cool, though as you get older it's so hard to commit to possibly wasting time getting lost for months on end without a guide. At the same time you kind of want that from these games. So I've settled on playing a bit of it but having no ambition to complete it. To be fair there were lots of games I wouldn't have been able to complete back in the day anyway and this would definitely be one of them.
In some ways I kind of like never finishing stuff, like old games such as Angband, it feels like they are so vast you just dip in.
Unfortunately the Gold version of Wizardry IIV has resolution issues, changing to DOS version I ran into trouble saving probably cos I'm a Dosbox noob.
Amazing review. If only the game had an automap feature.
It does have one, you just have to go pick it up if you start without importing a save from the previous game.
Hey dude, I randomly saw this video and a couple of your other retrospectives on these old games I had never known about. I must say your retrospectives are fascinating and I really enjoyed how your passion for these games really shine out of your videos. Keep it up!
These are some of the best reviews ever made.
Thank you!
@@michaelsnow1 Might I ask what the music is that's playing from 1:17:30 to the end? I really like how it sounds. I imagine it's license free, I just can't seem to find it where you've listed the music and such.
I want to get into this game, but there's just way, WAY too many red flags. Punishing difficulty? I can endure it. Esoteric gameplay? Annoying, but I can figure it out eventually. Randomized stats on level up? That is a cardinal sin but again, I could overlook it. But getting attacked AT THE INNS?! No, that is utterly unacceptable. I might even be okay with that, if not for everything else. This game just sounds horrible; not challenging but downright abusive. Still, lots of cool ideas. Thank you for making the review.
Edit: just got to the Status Effects portion. Fuck this game.
Edit: learned about the "load stone". Fuck this game, and everyone who made it.
Games were just different in that era. Back then devs had these 500 page manuals they wanted everyone to read.
It was survivable with the relatively new introduction of "save anywhere" to the genre. Anything bad happens? Reload.
It may not seem satisfying, but it did make dealing with all the bullshit possible.
How I stumble across this video the way I stumbled across Wiz7! I was starting middle school and in a foreign land when Wiz series came into my life. I knew limited English words at the time and oh how I studied my English dictionary hard to be able to understand the game. Good 'ol times~
I really love your content man!! I guess it took you a good amount of time to write such a detailed review.
I love the image of drizzling cure stone potion over your statue like companion.
I always found the idea of a first person yet, party based rpg weird and beyond antiquated but your deep dives are making me actually want to try some of these out.
Ive never beaten the game but loved my time playing it and the character sheets and artwork are amazing.
If you haven't played Betrayal at Krondor you might want to check it out.
I haven't played BaK much so I might have to check that one out. Thanks!
Dude, you are amazing in these types of videos, love the way you analyze games, especially rpg games, keep the great content and i would love if you do more DnD type game reviews
Another one I need to finish, as I never did back in the day (having a bad habit of game jumping). I remember how some reviews made fun of the digitized actors and their wigs. xD
Well done man. I'm impressed at how in depth you were able to deliver this review without anything that I would consider a spoiler. My only experience with Wizardry is Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom, the SNES release. I loved that game, but never finished it. Although my party was extremely powerful, to the point where I could traverse the Pit levels for hours at a time and effortlessly kill hoards of Pit Fiends, I never did piece together what I needed to complete the game. I've been thinking of revisiting it as an adult and decided to look up reviews. That's how I found your channel.
Sometimes if you get poisoned but you beat the boss and want to save it, you could heal yourself while running ALL TH e wAy back to new city and you can drink the water in the church to heal any poison.
The first RPG I was exposed to was Wizardry 3, but I ended up going the Dragon Warrior/Final Fantasy route as I was just too young and impatient to get far in computer dungeon crawlers.
I did buy Wizardry 6-8 a few years ago during a Steam sale. Legend of Grimlock resparked my interest in old school dungeon crawlers, and your videos have really encouraged me to actually install and give Wizardry 7 & 8 a shot.
Great review. Also love the shoutout to Dungeon Synth. Subbed!
I had this way back when, I must have been 12 or so. I was really excited to get this game and had to spend like a week playing with the extended memory setting in dos to get it to work. Then finally tried to play it and found myself giving up cause I couldn’t figure out what I was suppose to be doing and got completely lost. Tried a number of times with different parties but never made it far :/ And after watching this video, I see why I never managed to make much progress.
When you realize the song that's is playing is "Holy Forest" from "King's Field IV"... Nice choice dude. My favorite was "Mansion of the Howling Winds".
King's Field is one of those games series I've always wanted to play but never have for whatever reason. Wizardry 7 is also one of those but I just bought it to play for the first time. Finally.
Any tips for a newcomer playing this for the first time?
@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 Always look for a class and race guide, it is not mandatory to have the best combinations to the game but it is a good method of avoiding frustration in the most difficult parts of it. If you are interested in Kings Field the fourth title of the series at PS2 is a good starting point, not so clunk as the first games of the series plus if you have a PS2 or a emulator like PCSX2 you can also play "Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land", that game in my opinion is a mix of Wizardry and Kings Field. And like
Michael Snow said SAVE OFTEN!
@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 It may seem a little like cheating but make sure to install the mod that lets you have an automap. It makes orienting yourself 1000 times easier.
I really appreciate that you put that kings field song as the background music for a large majority of this video. It kept tugging at my nostalgia strings and made me pay closer attention to what this game offered. It seems to offer so much id be a fool not to play it! I will probably be putting on the kingsfield soundtracks while I'm playing it as well because it really seemed to fit it very well! Awesome video liked, subbed and appreciated!
The Create Life spell of Alchemists at high level will summon a Godzylli or Bloodwyrm, the former has 1025 to 1480 hp, causing issues for even the best bosses.
I wish they'd do remasters of 6+7+8 like it was done to Bards Tale.
i really hate the time limit in this game (the npcs taking the maps before you reach them), it makes things really stressful and won't allow for proper grinding if you get stuck in the difficult fights
What a magnificent masterpiece of a game, and you did such a fantastic job capturing it with your video. Very in depth and interesting.
This game has such a great concept of atmosphere like you've said. Very gloomy, sad, and lonely. You feel like aliens in an unknown world, struggling to get power and a footing into the world. You start fighting bugs, plants, and birds, and eventually gain enough strength to fight dragons, demons, and giant sea monsters. It's a wonderful feeling to look back at the end of the adventure and realize how much you have done and how truly your characters have grown in their own rights.
Thank you for reviewing this masterpiece, it was an honour to watch your video.
I remember my neighbor installing this game on my first ever PC and I ended up having to play the game 3 different times before I could actually finish it. The first time was just playing it because it was new and fun. Eventually I decided to start over since I knew how to really play the game correctly but I got so far into the game and realized I was missing all kind of things including certain keys needed to finish the game. The third time I bought a hint guide and really enjoyed taking my time with the game, knowing I wasn't missing anything. Such a very long game to play besides playing 3 times. It has so much endless amounts of combat and, like you mentioned, there are wasted spells or moves during the fights as the creature you were trying to fight ended up dying and it was just a wasted move. I did play Wizardry 8 too but I began to tinker with the Might & Magic series which I really enjoyed I bit more!
Never beat the game but spent tens of hours in and having a tremendous time, despite all the fights that became fairly tedious and annoying over time. Nevertheless, your review revived the urge to give another try after years.
Your voice is so good for this you are great man. Also i like the mapping part of the crpg dungeon crawlers it's like a little part of the game that you can touch :)
Never been able to get into Wizardry...too young I suspect. Ultima Underworld 1&2 and Daggerfall were my poison of choice when it came to rpgs on DOS.
I love games like this for their aid in the creation of all modern rpgs, the Japanese liked our Ultima and Wizardry so they started doing their own and they did it so well everyone thought all rpgs started over there. 😊 Guardia?? I loved their Queen Marle and that spikey haired ginger.
I really dug this video, love the enthusiasm and explanation of how hard everything is.
Thanks!
This game was all about the story, the items just complemented it. In games now, the items are the most important thing and the goal of the game is to get the best items to be the most powerful. I prefer story driven games over item driven ones.
im so glad to find this video. is soo good
This game definitely sounds more like a test of the player's patience rather than a test of intelligence. However, it does look like a fun game to watch somebody else play.
Well, technically this is true because the overwhelming majority of the game is spent in combat, which doesn't overly stress the intellect and is mastered primarily by study of the mechanics and class changing, after very much practice. But the game is both overall and in its very many aspects enigmatic, much of which involves inference and concentration to resolve. Going into this game without guidance, even after having read the well-elaborated manual and fully understanding the interconnected systems at play, is I would argue one of the most challenging video game experiences to be found, and by far one of the most rewarding.
The only Wizardry game I have played through to completion is on the ps2. Wizardry tale of the Forsaken land. I still have it and still play it occasionally
There are 8 American/Canadian Wizardry games, and 39 Japanese ones... I think any given person is statistically more likely to have played one of the latter, especially considering that they were console games, unlike the PC exclusive mainline entries
This is a great overview and does the Wizardry series justice
Yes it was. This game started me on the path of rpgs -- even if it took me over a year to finish it.
Hi Micheal! It would be awesome to see a Wizardry 6 review from you to complete the trilogy! Cheers!
This video is genius. And what a great game.
I know this video is very old, but the idea with actions always being cast is that each turn isnt happening linearly with each characters action, it's all at once.
So your samurai killed that monster the second before the wizards spell finally goes off.
The wizard is already casting the spell and already drained their energy.
the intro hooked me great stuff man
In Wizardry 4: The return of Werdna, you have a "Black Box", where you can throw all your stuff.
Liono ---Thundercats....Ho!
Lol the variety of enemies is hilarious, I’m watching and it’s like “dragons, wererats, goblins.. the Dallas cowboys cheerleaders happily flying cherry red hover bikes..”
Really fantastic video. Have you played Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar? Would love to hear your thoughts on it though I know that tackling these games is quite the task.
Thanks! I haven't played Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar. I have heard of it and want to check it out though. It looks great.
@@michaelsnow1 it should since it was originally Wizardry 8. It was the version being developed by a Australian company that was scrapped so one of the guys on the team took or kept the code and finished it.
Grimoire is a fantastic game. I really loved it, too!
@@The_Real_DCT the neanderthal bunker king himself, cleveland blakemore.
I’ve been playing through Wizardry Gaiden on the Game Boy with a party of all Hobbits, and I’ve learned that magic users are ESSENTIAL. My two fighters are mostly useful for taking hits, while my one mage owns ALL of the DPS. My two priests keep everyone alive and have a high level nuke spell they can each use once, plus summoning.
And to be clear, the Hobbit fighters don’t do small DPS because they are Hobbits, because weapon damage is entirely dependent on the weapon’s attack roll. Spells just do more damage than most weapons and can hit multiple targets most of the time.
Meanwhile, my one thief, bless her feet, does basically no damage ever, but you NEED a thief to disarm traps in Gaiden. NEED. She is un-ironically the most important party member, because she is the only reason the party can get any loot after fights.
Sorry, nothing beats Wizardry 1. These other games were very good, but prior to Wiz1, there was nothing. I was there, I played what came before, from Zork to Ulysses and the Golden Fleece. Wizardry changed everything. It was as seminal in the 80s as Doom was in the 90s. And I'm replaying Wizardry 1 right now, they just remastered it, and it STILL is an excellent game.
Amazing review. It was indeed hard game but well worth the journey. Double rewarding if you import your Wiz6 team to Wiz7, then Wiz8 only to be rewarded with another "import save" option...
46:58 that sounds like Mansion of Howling Winds, from King's Field 4, amazing old RPG for PS2, it was FROM Soft game. Before they started Soul series they did a lot o first person games, some of them with RPG elements.
plugged in my old crt monitor for this game on steam, it looks so good. I went and got some hot fries, potato sticks and mountain dew for nostalgia sake
1:09:10 That's nice to know, one of my biggest off puts when it comes to these games is the navigation. I just don't do well with segmented squares that all look similar that snap together. Having a map for me in those games really helps. Sure some people might complain that you aren't drawing it but that's not how maps work anyway, you don't draw out the new city you just moved to, unless I'm in uncharted lands I want my map.
The hide in shadows is one of the biggest exploits. You can cast spells while remaining in the shadows, unlike attacking with melee which takes you out of shadows. You can also rest to recover stamina. If your party is all in shadows, enemies can't do anything against you. Spells cast at your entire party almost never hit those in shadows and they can't target those in shadows with spells that target only that individual. For example, you can go up against a tough enemy, put everyone into shadows, then cast spells at it while it stands there doing nothing, although it can run away which is annoying.
Another exploit is to keep picking a new class when you hit level 15 to 20. You can get your spell points into the hundreds or thousands that way, get every skill and spell available up to maximum, and your health keeps going up.
I miss the cool sci fi elements in crpgs. It was one of my favourite aspects of the might and magic games.
In my teens I put dozens of hours into this game and still never finished it but oh boy did I love it. I also shamelessly ripped of the Helazoids and Vi Dominia for my TTRPG campaign and I'm not sorry!
Superb review of this classical game
Thanks!
(5:20) That'd be (really) cool though; a Dungeon Crawler actually set in Medieval Europe. Or in the (Wild)West or in the eehm (Far)East, something that's unique to the (DC) setting, heck even the Savannah would do :p
I think.
Yeah, Sir-Tech was classic, a legendary 20 years run in the golden era.
Wizardry 6 next!!!❤❤❤
I want to agree but I don't. I've been playing video/computer games since 1978.....yeah, I know. I started playing both the original Wizardry and Ultima games on the Apple ][. And played most (not all) of those games through their series. Trust me, I always liked Wizardry better than Ultima. Until 1992 when Wizardry VII was released. Oh don't get me wrong, I love this game. But that same year Ultima Underground came out and that changed everything.
The story and interaction in Wizardry VII is fantastic. But it's still pretty much Wizardry. They didn't break the mold, they just modified it.
But Underworld was ground-breaking. It was so vastly different than any other Ultima game (that's why most Ultima fans hated it), it was unlike any other rpg period. Think about it....Underworld truly was the grandfather of modern rpgs with it's movement alone. It certainly influenced Elder Scrolls and Doom. And although Doom wasn't an RPG, it was certainly one of the most popular games on DOS. There wasn't the limited movement of a grid system like Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, and so many other games that kept that same model for years afterward.
So there's a huge difference between "greatest" and just your favorite.
This review makes me a bit sad. I WANT to like this game. I want to like playing it. The races and classes, the exploration of an unknown world, the sheer customisation... But good lord. The combat goes on and on, its clunky, repetitive, tedious, unforgiving, extremely easy to get lost and killed in your sleep, and ultimately way more than I can get through before getting bored and fed up.
I still have saves backed up somewhere from my last attempt. Maybe I just need to accept that this is a mammoth task and I'm not able to commit enough to fully enjoy it.
such an awesome hard Game for ages. :)
You talked about how you can’t heal your health by resting. You totally can but at later levels, when you have more health, it just takes FOREVER. When I went back to play this game again for nostalgia, I used an emulator that let you jack up the game speed so a full rest would take less than 5 seconds. The I would rest about 20 times in a row. Yes, you would get those random battles but you could usually gain more from the rest than you lost from the random battles that happened from time to time.
Also, the mana pool on your ninja was terrible and you regain it in one rest. So rest, ninja heals someone, rest, ninja heals someone, repeat. So when you leveled up you got more points in magic skills.
It's still the best RPG I've ever seen. I really enjoy it again with my only one faerie character party 😁
Cure stone potion is tiger balm.
16:44 hahahahaha jacked af, brilliant guns
Wizardry 7 and Ultima 7 ( I+II) with Torment later are the best imho.
Played this for soooo long
Also called their damn 800 hotline for tips .. some of the riddles and required dialogue freeform text was tough
Music doesnt exis't? Dude, a i still use Camp music as my ringtone. It's awesome!!! :D
Loved this game back then . Never finished it, though :( …