yes, the second game (which contains the 3rd chapter, which is a in terms of size and scope the same size or even bigger than chapters 1 and 2 combined) re-introduces into the remakes the ability to legitimately multi-class, and the dungeon design remains acceptable, ranging from average to hey-this-ain't-bad.
the underlying problems
newtmonkey and myself and i imagine, many others have with Gen XTH and its remakes remains and is further exacerbated in the remakes and we all know i'm referring to the reams of unskippable dialog/cutscenes of endlessly droning exposition that feels like its punishing you for attempting to play the game, along with the undecipherable blood codes and all the broken class balance (6 samurais is still the best party for any Gen Xth game which is so bad it's laughable) and all the other shit we've complained about.
NINJA EDIT: yes I know technically every cutscene is skippable but it only skips one "scene", not the cutscene entirely, so you end up having to mash ESCAPE or whatever throughout the entire fucking sequence which still wastes your time immensely.
I fucking love crawlers to death, especially Wiz-clones more than anything else and I think there really isn't any need to ever deviate too far from the traditional Wiz-blueprint, but I find the Gen XTH games with their endless tedious crafting and shit balance for both items, classes and enemies and inconsistent quality of dungeons to be too much to overcome to justify the amount of hours necessary to finish them.
they are... functional, most definitely; i would go as far as to say that they are exceedingly
competent, but ultimately simply not
enjoyable. I would much rather replay an Elminage game for the 15th time than play through a Gen XTH game, although they are competent
enough that they can be saved for a "rainy day" situation if/when you absolutely have nothing else to play and need to play a Wiz-clone.
(something that can't be said for other crawlers that are simply flat-out
bad).
Like I've mentioned in every single other thread/moment that Exp Inc games are mentioned: First, go play all the Elminage games you can play (specifically E: Original and E: Gothic, as games 2 and 3 are just expansion packs for E: Original with zero change in game play), then go play all the Wizardry scenarios, obviously including the japanese Wizardry games from the Empire and Gaiden series that have been translated or have Eng. Lang. options (Empire 2, Gaiden 1-4 and Gaiden 6 basically)...
...then after going thru all that or in-between them whatever, go play Stranger of Sword City which is Exp Inc's only
legitimately good game, a game I thoroughly enjoyed and played thru twice (though the 2nd time I didn't bother finishing it to completion). I hear Exp Inc's demon Gaze games for VITA are also good, but I haven't played them yet due to lack of VITA but eventually will play them.
THEN (!), and only then (!!!) go play
all other Wiz-clones, like Class of Heroes 1 and 2 (which I enjoyed, though have never bothered finishing either game nor ever will finish them), Beyond The Labyrinth for 3ds, the labyrinth of touhou games (though I don't really like those games too much since they play more like SRPGs than anything else and operate under a top-down view which I disliked), the Bard's Tale games, the Might and Magic games (the good ones only, please), etc, etc, etc....
EDIT: Obviously this play-list is meant to be humorous and not some sort of serious statement on my behalf, as personal tastes should differ between everybody, and frankly speaking sometimes you just get sick of playing a 'crawler and want to play something else.
There are a
lot more japanese "DRPGs" than I've ever even managed to bother viewing on youtube and games that play like a Wiz-clone but are not and are instead their own thing though obviously inspired by them.
There are indie crawlers in the truest sense of the word like Lord of Seal which was "reviewed" in a thread by
Shackleton a while ago and is like, 2 bucks on steam. There are other indie crawlers that are of a bit higher production quality available as well like the amazing Paper Sorcerer, which is also on STEAM and one of my favorite RPG experiences in years due to its graphics, music, story, play mechanics and overall design.
The main problem is finding these games. A lot of them are "DRPGs" from japan, with the majority of these featuring solid Wizardry-style play mechanics with anime aesthetic to varying degrees, with Elminage: Gothic being the absolute best of the best and featuring Western-inspired art for the most part instead of straight-anime.
Then you have the uber-underground gems like Paper Sorcerer and Lord of Seal that frankly you'd probably never even hear about unless from a thread on a fan-site/forum like the Codex is for RPGs (where even then it is extremely niche even within the niche).
And lastly we have series of games like for example the SMT series which are 100% Wizardry-inspired but are 100% their
own thing, with the earlier titles in the series (such as the recently released remake of SMT: Soul Hackers for 3DS) featuring straight-up 1st person Wiz-style dungeon crawling with proper dungeons and all the accompanying bells and whistles.
Anyway don't really have any point to end this with just wanted to, once again, try in my own small way to shed light on the existence of proper turn-based dungeon crawlers. I'm like one of those people who desperately wants to save souls and will go knock on doors, and if 1000 people dismiss the games I talk about but
at least one person manages to discover the absolute joy tha Wizardry and the legacy of games that Wizardry has helped nourish throughout the years then It was worth it.