Wizardry Translation release for Wizardry Gaiden I - Suffering of The Queen!!

[octavius]

Inspired by the CRPG Addict's coverage (although he was not very enthusiastic) I decided to give this game a go.
I use RetroArch to emulate the GameBoy and it's quite straight forward to use.

I missed some documentation for the actual game, though.
But I found out you move with the arrow keys, both in menus and moving your party.
X works like Enter usually works in old blobbers, while Z is like the Backspace key and also brings up one of the two game menus.
Enter brings up the other menu, from which you can Search for hidden doors, Lockpick and such.

The game feels closest to Wizardry 5, the only difference game mechanics wise seems to be that the stats are more extreme, with Hobbits being able to get 25 Luck, for example. Also, random encounter checks are made when turning, which I think I've only seen in Might&Magic 1 and 2 so far. EDIT: And Bard's Tale 3.

I decided on the following party:
Otto the Human Fighter. Will turn him into a Lord once his stats rise more.
Azaghal the Dwarf Samurai
Tiax the Gnome Priest
Baggins the Hobbit Thief. Starting with 25 Luck and 22 Speed he has not sprung any traps yet.
Amandil the Elf Bishop
Gulhir the Elf Mage

I was planning to eventually make Baggins a Ninja if I can find the right item and if it even exists in this game, but apparantly the English patch introduced a bug that make decapitating enemies no longer work (but not vice versa).

Down on floor 3 now, and the game so far is the easiest Wizardry I've played with the possible excpetion of Wiz 2. Only one character death so far, and it looks like it may be possible to Ironman this game (he said jinxingly...).
Leviation spell saved party from the chute mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[newtmonkey]

I honestly got bored with this one and put it on hold around floor 3 or 4. It has the "classic Wizardry feel" in spades, but felt like a regression from Wizardry V (it's basically like exploring Wizardry I-III but with Wizardry V's combat mechanics). I found it to be way too easy up to that point, to the extent where it felt like a waste of time to even continue with it. I may revisit it at some point, though, so I'm interested in seeing your final impressions once you complete it.

 

[Grauken]

Ok, my party is as follows

Grauken, Dwarf Samurai
Thac0, Human Fighter
angry!, Hobbit Thief
NJClaw, Gnome Priest
Crispy, Elf Mage
Crospy, Human Mage

Lets get started

Spoiler

btw. docs all in Japanese
Strategy Guide
Another Strategy Guide
Another another Strategy Guide

 

[Grauken]

Just met some beetles while I was mapping out the bigger structure, the rest is exploring the individual rooms

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Most of level 1 mapped. A few places I couldn't get into, two chutes that let you fall to the level below, two pits, one door that can get lock-picked, another (from the picture below) that seems to require a special items. Also some cryptic messages in the middle of the level

Spoiler

 

[Dorarnae]

cool map.

 

[octavius]

I'm down on floor 4 now.
Still only one character death, but Baggins has had a few "ooops!" moments with trapped chests.
Gear improvement has been quite satisfactory and leveling has been quite rapid, suggesting it is a short game; I guess eight floors?

My own maps so far:

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Using a demo version of GC or just an old one?

Level 2 (on the right) had a theme of chose the correct door out of three going. Also had a couple of nasty undead in some areas and a couple of teleporters. I really like how the blank spots from the 1st level align with a big blank spot yet unexplored on the 2nd level, I really appreciate some verticality in the design of those old dungeon crawlers.

Also found an old friend, Murphy's Ghost (just called Murphy here) is hiding in the South-West most space of the map.

Spoiler

 

[octavius]

Yeah, I'm using GC 3 for mapping.

Agree about verticality; that always makes exploring and mapping more interesting.

I'm down on floor 5 now and now I have a Lord. Let's hope he's worth class changing (stats go down to racial minimums, but there are items that increase stats when invoked).

 

[Grauken]

Damn you're fast

 

[octavius]

Things suddenly got hairy on lvl 6.
Physical attacks are all but useless now, and I had to resort to an online map and save scumming to get my party to safety.

So rather badly balanced. I hate it when I lose my concentration because a game is too easy, and stop paying attention and make fatal mistakes.

 

[octavius]

Ok, my party is as follows

Grauken, Dwarf Samurai
Thac0, Human Fighter
angry!, Hobbit Thief
NJClaw, Gnome Priest
Crispy, Elf Mage
Crospy, Human Mage

Two mages instead of a mage and a bishop will pay off when you reach floor 6.
But being unable to ID items in the field will hurt a bit, and may hurt financially if you have to ID items in the shops. IIRC Wiz 5 changed things so that Bishops needed to level up to ID the better (and more expensive) items.

btw. docs all in Japanese
Strategy Guide
Another Strategy Guide
Another another Strategy Guide

I'm using the GameFAQs walkthough myself. Handy for the checking out the race and class restrictions, and getting info about items since the info is not available in-game.

 

[Grauken]

Most of level 3 explored. You start in the most NE corner, work yourself around the north then south, until the find both the entry to level 4 and a couple of further doors. There's a large open area behind a locked door, where you need a permit to go further. The permit is behind a secret door, where you need to have the float spell to get past a chute. Then you get an even larger open area with lots of rooms that neatly align with the blank spots of level 1 and 2, so I assume I will get into those soon.

Also level 4 introduces dark areas, always a welcome sight, or not sight

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Level 4 had some tricky spots, but nothing too taxing. An old man scammed 5000 GP out of me for some non-descriptive treasure chest, I assume they'll become important later.
Also had an unfortunate encounter with an enemy called lapis or something that had a level draining attack

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Btw. I'm wondering whether it's a bug, but whenever there's a teleporter/warp field in front of you, especially on level 3 and 4, the level architecture is visually somewhat broken and shows the wrong stuff, even if the level behaves correctly itself.

 

[octavius]

I've seen that behaviour before in another game(s), but can't remember which.
It's like that graphics for that square depicts the "in" square and not the "out" one.

Anyway, I sure miss that Magic Barrier spell, a rather OP spell in the otherwise unforgiving Wizardry Chronicle.

And as usual buffing and pure damage spells are what you have to rely on, the rest is generally too much of a gamble, especially the higher level spells.

 

[Grauken]

Level 5 had a lot of collapsing ceilings and an overall meandering structure

Spoiler

 

[octavius]

Damn you're fast

 

[octavius]

Completed the first part. The end of dungeon boss encounter was surprisingly easy, but I guess I got lucky with initiative and spell choices, since I beat him on first try with no losses.

And things get easier once you get the Malor (Warp) spell.

But there are is a second dungeon too...

 

[Grauken]

So, level 6 leads nowhere on the surface, but in that little crevice if you use the search function, it gives you a warning and allows you to use some items. You need one of the boxes you got after paying 5000 GP to the old man on level 4 (you have two, one is a fake, the other contains a bomb) and the clock you got from diving into the pool in the NE corner of level 5. Once activated you vamoose out of there and then a big explosion shakes the dungeon and various walls on level 5 crumble to dust, opening new paths, e.g. a new set of stairs down to level 6

Spoiler

I just wanted to highlight how well this game is designed by showing how it, like in lots of metroidvania games, opens new paths the deeper you go, allowing you easier access to those deeper dungeons. For example, once you get the Silver key, you can easily use the stairs in the SW corner of level 1, go down to level 2, then go from there to the elevator and you can basically go everywhere from level 1 to 5 in an instant. Going up is even easier, hop into the elevator wherever you are and go back to level 1 and back to the city.

Also, once you've mapped all the teleporters everywhere, they change from hazard to shortcut and allow easy travel all over the map on each level, if you don't lose your bearings.

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Btw. if anybody of you stumbled upon those Wizardry bestiaries fansites with all the monster art

Wizardry SNES 2
Wizardry SNES 3
Wizardry Gaiden 1
Wizardry Gaiden 2
Wizardry Empire 2 GB

and was like, fuck, most of them are broken due to Photobucket

I restored the originally uploaded art by digging through the links to the correct pictures and uploaded it
Wizardry Bestiaries - all 5 above links together in one zip

 

[octavius]

Looks like each floor has different random encounter frequencies. Overall it's higher than other Wizardries I've played, but the first floor of the second dungeon seems to have none.

Except for some balancing issues I have been pleasantly surprised by this game made for a handheld console. Good level design, and combat is more rewarding than in Wiz 6 and 7 when there's always a chance of finding nice loot.

 

[Grauken]

Yeah, so far I'm pleasantly surprised by the level design, I wasn't expecting much but it actually feels like they put a lot of thought into it and over-delivered, every level feels different, they are all connected in smart ways and you can unlock various shortcuts the deeper you move into the game

And as you said, lots of good loot

 

[Dorarnae]

probably explain why itachan on youtube told me that the gaiden series was his favorite wizardry...I only played prisoners of the battle and dimguil and I have to agree they are good. one day I'll play the other games too...

 

[octavius]

Seems to be a bug with some monsters.
My guys can't hit Thunderballs (I assume they are the same as Lightning Ball) at all, and even with -38 AC (through multiple casting of the Prayer spell) they have no problems hitting my guys, and they paralyze with every hit.
They are immune to every kind of spell as well.
In fact the only thing that seems to be able to hit them is summoned monsters, but demons usually cast spells instead of meleeing, and Fuzzballs don't do anything at all.
So I'm throwing in the towel, unless Grauken can find a chink in their armour.

Spoiler

Lightning Ball
Japanese: Raitoningu Bo-ru Unidentified:
Unidentified Entity
Japanese: Shoutaifumei no Sonzai Classification:
Magical Creature
Japanese: Mahou Seibutsu

Lightning Ball

Unidentified Entity Experience Level:
9 Experience Points:
40,530
Hit Points:
34-43 (9d2+25)
Average: 38.5 Armor Class:
-12
Number Appearing:
1-2 (1d2)
Average: 1.5 Physical Attacks:

• 2-32 (2d16) damage. Average: 17

• 10-24 (2d8+8) damage. Average: 17

• 10-24 (2d8+8) damage. Average: 17

• Can attack party members in the back row.

• May cause paralysis and petrification.

Maximum damage range: 22-80. Average: 51
Special Properties:

• Regenerates 2 hit points per round.

• Universal spell resistance (98%).

• Resistant to fire, cold, non-elemental, and petrification.

Encounters:

• Never friendly.

• Can be found in RB5, RB4, and RB3.

• Rarely accompanied by additional Lightning Ball groups (5% chance.)