Review Rampant Coyote concludes his adventures in Wizardy 8

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Wizardry 8

Rampant Coyote raps up his play of Wizardy 8 with <a href="http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2009/02/wizardy-8-part-xviii-parting-shots.html">Wizardy 8 Part XVIII: Parting Shots</a>:
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<blockquote>So my adventures in Wizardry 8, the "last of the (mainstream) old-school RPGs," has come to an end. It's a good thing that a game doesn't have to be new for me to enjoy it. Plus, I no longer need to kick myself for missing out on it.
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One of the many reasons I love RPGs is because, at the end, I don't feel so much like I've won the game so much as I got to live it. At least if its good. Wizardry 8 was definitely one of those experiences
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There are, unfortunately, a couple of glaring issues that continued to bug be me with combat:
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First of all, the differences between monsters were often not particularly noticeable. Instead of having strengths and weaknesses, at higher level monsters typically had strengths and bigger strengths. This was especially noticeable with upgraded "versions" of monsters, or different classes of monsters. The defense were relatively predictable, and there wasn't much of a feeling of "gotchas" or of the enemy working together to form a particularly interesting tactical puzzle most of the time. Boss encounters were an exception, and I felt the earlier stages of the game were better about monsters hitting the party with "signature attacks" than in later levels. It feels like they maybe ran out of ideas later in the game.
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And admittedly, having your own demonic daughter attack you near the end of the game was something of a first for any game I've ever played. Kudos to whomever came up with that optional plotline. And I hope said designer has since received psychiatric help.</blockquote>
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His analysis is to help him improve his own "indie game-designer chops".
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com">GameBanshee</a>

 

[Andhaira]

Aren't signature attacks also predictable?

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Due to my schedule, I rarely had more than 20-30 minutes at a sitting to play games, which made me rule out a Wizardry 8 session on many occasions - especially over the holiday season.

That's as big a part of the problem as Wizardry 8 combat's slowness is. Kids are dumb, adults are busy... who are those old school games for anyway ?

 

[Stalin]

was the last good rpg i played and that was like 8 years ago

 

[Stalin]

oh wait i lied. Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land for the ps2 was the last

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/wizardr ... index.html

 

[Wyrmlord]

Due to my schedule, I rarely had more than 20-30 minutes at a sitting to play games, which made me rule out a Wizardry 8 session on many occasions - especially over the holiday season.

That's as big a part of the problem as Wizardry 8 combat's slowness is. Kids are dumb, adults are busy... who are those old school games for anyway ?

Just because a game is old school does not mean it is slow.

Most older turn-based combat games did not bother with combat animations. Or even with images of moving enemies.

Meaning that they were generally five times as fast as Wizardry 8.

Maybe Wizardry 8 should have been more like the older Wizardry games, so it would be less of a hassle, no?

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

I don't know. Maybe. Old school "tile-based" or "first person viewed" games were fast because there were no animations to speak of and they were butt ugly. Wizardry 8 has a different inteface that I like a lot more. Of course, it could be faster( recoil animations for instance could have been disposed of) but I don't think it could be made fast enough for people who play by 20/30 minutes sittings. Dealing with hordes of animated ennemies in turn based combat is a slow process after all.

Anyway the linked article was OK, I was just making fun of this : "Due to my schedule, I rarely had more than 20-30 minutes at a sitting to play games, which made me rule out a Wizardry 8 session on many occasions - especially over the holiday season" because I think it is a really stupid complaint.

 

[sqeecoo]

Actually, I think it's a very valid complaint. Once you get like 3 attack per round per character, combat takes for ever. And I mean FOR EVER. Easily 10min for a larger but not particularly dangerous encounter on a road. That's just ridiculous. I find myself wishing the combat animations could be skipped entirely.

 

[Thrasher]

The point is that Wiz 8 is NOT for casual gamers. It takes more of a time commitment.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Gogogadget frontpage spoilers!

 

[Davaris]

Due to my schedule, I rarely had more than 20-30 minutes at a sitting to play games, which made me rule out a Wizardry 8 session on many occasions - especially over the holiday season.

That's as big a part of the problem as Wizardry 8 combat's slowness is. Kids are dumb, adults are busy... who are those old school games for anyway ?

That reminded me of Edward R Murrow's remarks about Fallout 1.

And above all, it didn't waste my time; it brought the good stuff like quests with choices, character interaction, and exploration right up front and avoided the RPG trope of killing lots of monsters in countless dull dungeons.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=178

>who are those old school games for anyway ?

Perhaps if devs want to sell old school games to grownup audiences, they should not pander to the bigger is better crowd?