Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[felipepepe]

They Create Worlds made a podcast episode talking about the history Sir-Tech up to Wizardry 4, with next episode focusing on the rest: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/

They barely talk about the games, it's mostly focused on the people & tech, but it's a fun listen. I'm very curious about the next one, if they'll get into the lawsuit drama.

 

[overly excitable young man]

Meh. Wizardry 1 sucks dick. How autist are you guys that you can have fun with that?

Still random encounters on every step like in Wiz8 sometimes even when you just look in another direction.
You never get the nice feeling that you completed something with that shit.
It's no wonder that random encounter bullshit isnt popular anymore.

You can only rest in the inn which means tedious running back and forth even with the elevator.
And enemies can just randomly poison you which also is a lot of fun.

As if i had the time to fucking grind. Nah. Screw this.

 

[Casual Hero]

Meh. Wizardry 1 sucks dick. How autist are you guys that you can have fun with that?

Still random encounters on every step like in Wiz8 sometimes even when you just look in another direction.
You never get the nice feeling that you completed something with that shit.
It's no wonder that random encounter bullshit isnt popular anymore.

You can only rest in the inn which means tedious running back and forth even with the elevator.
And enemies can just randomly poison you which also is a lot of fun.

As if i had the time to fucking grind. Nah. Screw this.

Interesting. I found the encounter rate in Wizardry to be mercifully low. The bulk of combat encounters happen in set locations, usually right when you pass through a door into a room. Compared to old RPGs like Bard's Tale, it really isn't so bad.
As far as running back and forth goes, well yeah, it's just part of the gameplay. The tedium can be negated though. Wizardry is all about preparing for each trip into the dungeon, and then the careful balance of either pushing further than you should in order to make a little more progress, or running back to town in order to heal and supply for the next run. It can cause some very tense moments and these are the moments that I think makes the game great. If you know how to play around the mechanics, it can be a very rewarding experience. It is possible to just brute force your way through the game via grinding it out against Murphy's Ghosts and then plopping down to level 10 and praying your spell hits, but that is not quite so rewarding.

 

[Tweed]

Trying to muddle through Wizardry 6 still, but goddamn it feels like a trudge. The big problem is how the game is tied to the CPU, I either need to play it at a snails pace to see what is actually happening or just let everything zip by without seeing important stuff like level up info. Almost tempted to use Mad God's editor to give me the stats I need for promotions because I don't have the patience anymore to sit through really slow level ups to make sure I got the stats I needed for promotions. I don't like the idea of cheating, but I'd really like to play this thing on through to Wizardy 7 and 8 someday. Wizardry 1/2/3 are actually easier to deal with than this.

 

[Matador]

I like how the encounters work in Wiz1-3,5. A set amount of fixed battles per level in set locations, and then a few amount of random ones, is very well done compared to a lot of JRPGs with too high random encounter rate. It never feels like a slog exploring the dungeon with enemies each two steps, but you always are on your toes.

Daily reminder that Classic Wizardry is better than Wiz 6-8.

I think I'm gonna try to beat Wiz5 for the first time when I finish my Elminage Gothic Ibag Tower walkthrough.

 

[cvv]

A set amount of fixed battles per level in set locations, and then a few amount of random ones

Daily reminder that Classic Wizardry is better than Wiz 6-8.

That's how 6-8 encounters work too. It's the same goddamn system. Have you even played them?

This fucking "muh classic Wiz better than 6-8" meme really needs to die. There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7. Bradley's masterpiece is the pinnacle and culmination of all the brilliant ideas and systems that came before, only blown out to a huge open world with tons of interesting lore, NPCs, dungeons, loot, monsters and all the other shit people always loved, on a scale never seen before in any video game period.

Wiz 8 is like me cooking a Gordon Ramsay meal by watching his recipe video. I'm a decent cook so it's eminently edible but at the end of the day it's still a random dude trying to imitate a genius.

 

[DraQ]

There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7.

Free movement, formations and better character mechanics?

Spoiler

Guess the game number.

 

[Lutte]

A game that allows you to rest anywhere can never be like the classics

 

[Grauken]

Trying to muddle through Wizardry 6 still, but goddamn it feels like a trudge. The big problem is how the game is tied to the CPU, I either need to play it at a snails pace to see what is actually happening or just let everything zip by without seeing important stuff like level up info. Almost tempted to use Mad God's editor to give me the stats I need for promotions because I don't have the patience anymore to sit through really slow level ups to make sure I got the stats I needed for promotions. I don't like the idea of cheating, but I'd really like to play this thing on through to Wizardy 7 and 8 someday. Wizardry 1/2/3 are actually easier to deal with than this.

If you're playing this in DosBox just set fixed cycles and not 100% in the config and then depending on the situation increase or decrease it

 

[MpuMngwana]

There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7

There’s EVERYTHING EVERY Wizardry does better than 7

 

[DraQ]

There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7

There’s EVERYTHING EVERY Wizardry does better than 7

It seems I'm about to be...

...entertained.

 

[Haplo]

There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7.

Free movement, formations and better character mechanics?

Spoiler

Guess the game number.

Free movement would be a big negative in my book.
Well, at least its not as terrible as M&M VI+ "hybrid" combat system.

 

[Grauken]

There's NOTHING ANY of the other Wizardries do better than 7.

Free movement, formations and better character mechanics?

Spoiler

Guess the game number.

Free movement would be a big negative in my book.
Well, at least its not as terrible as M&M VI+ "hybrid" combat system.

There's no other game like Wizardry 8 (that I know of) that managed to implement phase-based tactical blobber combat with free movement and got it completely right (except maybe the slow speed). I wish there were more games like it

 

[Darth Roxor]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Just because Wiz8 did something new and did it right doesn't mean that all previous entries have been rendered obsolete.

But I agree that having more games like it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Grauken]

Just because Wiz8 did something new and did it right doesn't mean that all previous entries have been rendered obsolete.

Nobody was saying that. You don't have to join either the aweigh or mondblut faction, sensible people can appreciate all of the games in the series without falling into divisive cuntery

 

[cvv]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

Somebody incompetently and randomly misrepresented my post and then called me a dumbfuck.

Have you seen him by any chance Rox?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

Somebody incompetently and randomly misrepresented my post and then called me a dumbfuck.

Have you seen him by any chance Rox?

Wiz 8 is like me cooking a Gordon Ramsay meal by watching his recipe video. I'm a decent cook so it's eminently edible but at the end of the day it's still a random dude trying to imitate a genius.

"Wiz8 is a decent but random imitation of earlier wizardries made by a genius"

you tell me

 

[Matador]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

Unparalleled dumbing down and destroying multiclassing is your dream about party building? OK. Wiz 8 is a clear decline in party building compare to any entry on the series.

I like a lot Wizardry 6-8. But the popamolery shown here by the cultist fans are making me question them.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Unparalleled dumbing down and destroying multiclassing is your dream about party building? OK. Wiz 8 is a clear decline in party building compare to any entry on the series.

Destroying the shitty "multiclassing" was a good thing. I can only speak for Wiz 6-7, but those games don't even have party building or class systems, and neither do they have multiclassing. They have checklists. No matter what you pick at the start, you then proceed to ride the class switch rollercoaster until you have six fightermagethieves with 100 in all the relevant skills, and finally settle for a class that has access to whatever OP gear you have at hand. You can play those games ten times and you'll end up with the same characters. You can play Wiz8 ten times and you'll always end up with something different.

 

[CryptRat]

Just because Wiz8 did something new and did it right doesn't mean that all previous entries have been rendered obsolete.

Nobody was saying that. You don't have to join either the aweigh or mondblut faction, sensible people can appreciate all of the games in the series without falling into divisive cuntery

Yep, in particular free movement allows for much better use of verticality, intricate and huge levels where secrets are secret (while with tiles hidden doors can feel like simply some busy work to bruteforce, bumping onto every wall). It's fun discovering a hidden door in the bottom of a water lake, marching along a border and avoiding traps by triggering some, jumping onto others and overall cheesing, cheesing is always fun.

However tiles are great too for different reasons. They allow for full turn-based gameplay and simple, to the point controls, gameplay and visuals. 3d textures and free movement add an inherent level of concreteness and then visually empty dungeons really feel empty and small dungeons really feel small, they need a minimum level of details and some big size to work, which takes time, while an overall abstract approach is believable with an abstract approach to the level design so tiles. First-person view and tiles do not need big levels to feel big, a 20x20 dungeon with 3x3 rooms can feel big. This tightness is very interesting because tight levels can be navigated very fast which means you can make devilish but still apprehendable and not frustrating level design. That can also make backtracking less annoying. One tile = one trap allows for very precisely designed environmental puzzles that you need to "properly" deal with it one way or another. Besides enter a room = get description of the room (because text is cheaper than full displaying) or enter a room = something happens, one interagible screen corresponding to a tile instead of using camera are examples of things which feel more natural with tiles and an overall abstract design than with free movement.

 

[Matador]

Unparalleled dumbing down and destroying multiclassing is your dream about party building? OK. Wiz 8 is a clear decline in party building compare to any entry on the series.

Destroying the shitty "multiclassing" was a good thing. I can only speak for Wiz 6-7, but those games don't even have party building or class systems, and neither do they have multiclassing. They have checklists. No matter what you pick at the start, you then proceed to ride the class switch rollercoaster until you have six fightermagethieves with 100 in all the relevant skills, and finally settle for a class that has access to whatever OP gear you have at hand. You can play those games ten times and you'll end up with the same characters. You can play Wiz8 ten times and you'll always end up with something different.

Fake News. That's if you are a min-maxing autist that can't sleep or have an erection if your flurry Cleric waifu hasn't Kirijutsu.

So destroying multiclass is a good thing and not decline? Maybe they could have improved it to avoid dumb exploits instead of destroying the feature (not really because it's there as retarded as anyone could imagine, so no one uses it).

Here we have a real Wizardry fan, who doesn't like a pilar of the franchise.

 

[croitav]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

mondblut said that Wizardry 7 is the best wizardry.
Therefore wiz7 > wiz 8.
Period.

 

[croitav]

Destroying the shitty "multiclassing" was a good thing. I can only speak for Wiz 6-7, but those games don't even have party building or class systems, and neither do they have multiclassing. They have checklists. No matter what you pick at the start, you then proceed to ride the class switch rollercoaster until you have six fightermagethieves with 100 in all the relevant skills, and finally settle for a class that has access to whatever OP gear you have at hand. You can play those games ten times and you'll end up with the same characters. You can play Wiz8 ten times and you'll always end up with something different.

Summoning mondblut

Poor Roxor...

 

[Grauken]

Wiz8 also has simply unparalleled party building. Calling it an incompetent random imitation of earlier wizardries is a dumbfuck-tier misrepresentation of the game.

Unparalleled dumbing down and destroying multiclassing is your dream about party building? OK. Wiz 8 is a clear decline in party building compare to any entry on the series.

I like a lot Wizardry 6-8. But the popamolery shown here by the cultist fans are making me question them.

Wizardry never had multiclassing