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[john tv]

OK, so Wizardry has been around forever and ever. Aside from playing like an hour of the first Wizardry on NES, I really haven't spent much time with the series at all. I realize there's the whole PC series, and then an assload of console and handheld versions from Japan and elsewhere... can anyone provide a comprehensive list of all the Wizardry games, and maybe give some input/feedback as to which ones are good and which one suck?

I'm especially interested in the more recent ones, i.e. PS2, PS1, GBA, etc., but really any info would be great.

 

[Sho Nuff]

It's amazing how many of these games they make despite how incredibly unfun they are.

(Ducks and runs away)

 

[demi]

http://www.tk421.net/wizardry/

old skool wizardry

Look what happens to be on that site:

Seem familiar? DUCKROLL

 

[chespace]

I have no idea about any of the Wizardry offshoots on consoles, but this is the first RPG I've ever played (aside from clutching the wrinkled old character sheets of my D&D characters, especially one 7th level cleric I actually "acquired" from a neighbor because I gave him some candy) and it floored me. Sure it was a videogame, but it was an amazing electronic approximation of what paper and dice D&D was like. All of the statistical anality, and none of the technology. Your view was essentially a pixelated assemblage of lines that intersected to form corners and, if you were a normal prepubescent kid, became the dark dank underbelly of a dungeon or a certain "proving ground." You fought regular denizens of the dark, like kobolds and goblins with your legion of paladins, magic-users and ninjas.

It wouldn't be completely unfair to say that every console RPG since Wizardry has ripped off its electronic turn-based combat system, whereby players pick their next action from a menu list of moves, and the results were "broadcast" to you via a voice that's completely omniscient (e.g., "Jojo takes 34 damage. Critical!") and impersonal.

But I know you love Dragon Quest... and for that series, it's Ultima all the fucking way.

 

[john tv]

But I know you love Dragon Quest... and for that series, it's Ultima all the fucking way.

Yes indeed, but I also happen to love first-person dungeon crawlers, and so I'm eager to learn more about the Wizardry series too!

 

[duckroll]

http://www.tk421.net/wizardry/

old skool wizardry

Look what happens to be on that site:

Seem familiar? DUCKROLL

Haha, the difference is you get a bandwidth error pic and I got one that displays right!

 

[Brandon F]

The most recent game to have arrived on the PC is Wizardry 8. It was a pretty solid entry and featured a staggering amount of customization. It's a pretty dry quest though, and lacked the artistic panache of the recent 'Eastern' console take on the franchise.

Just go buy the PS2 game though (Tales of the Forsaken Land); or better yet, since you are the man about Tokyo, go find the JPN-only release of 'Busin Zero' its expanded sequel.

In brief, the first PS2 game tasks you with creating a small party of heroes from a town and henceforth raiding the nearby dungeon of evil. The dungeon is a massive 10 or so floor enterprise that is explored entirely in first person, only about 1/3rd of which is randomly created. Each floor has a completely unique design and layout, one is a massive spiraling trail surrounding a giant waterfall, another is a cavernous cemetary with graves to drop into and explore, etc...

Combat is separate from exploration and encounters are visible on screen to be avoided or not as you see fit. The separate fighting stage plays out similarly to any Dragon Quest bout in first person. Your party selection and formation however is crucial to combat as it is extremely focused on pulling off unique 'team attacks/defenses' such as having your front row peeps spend a round as a garrison warding off any attack, or combine a warrior and mage in your formation to do some crafty dual strike. It's awesome! The enemies can also do the same though, beware the famed charge of two dozen orcs. Dragon Quest could learn a few tricks from the combat.

There is a single town that you will return to for restocking and gathering new quests, plus it has always been a staple of Wizardry to level-up ONLY at the INN in town, making return trips a rewarding enterprise. Backtracking can be a pain since you must retread through the dungeon everytme you re-enter from town, but secret elevators and doors become unlocked with progress to help the pacing.

Also, the music and artwork are fab. I bet some of you keen industry folk will immediately recognize the famed artist that drew all the lurvely snapshots. If so, please tell me, the work is wonderful.

Seriously, go get it.

 

[ferricide]

paging BenT... paging BenT...

i reviewed the PS2 wizardry that came out here for EGM and i really didn't get into it at all. i can see the appeal but it all seemed so archaic and limited. cool character artwork, though. i'm not a big first person dungeon crawler fan, however.

the character artwork in that new PS2 wizardry by michaelsoft (whoever the hell they are) is pretty cool in a completely differnet way, too... http://michaelsoft.jp/wiz/index.html

 

[demi]

Haha, the difference is you get a bandwidth error pic and I got one that displays right!

Haha, I pee on you.

 

[Brandon F]

Haha, so ferricide was the asshole that gave it a 5 or so in that EGM all those years back. Damn man! I loved it.

 

[john tv]

Interesting. So what exactly is Busin Zero then? Remake? Remix? Sequel? Something else entirely?

EDIT: Ooh, that new one is actually out here tomorrow. I wonder if that one's any good?

 

[duckroll]

Isn't there a PS2 Wizardry either coming out soon or that came out recently which had almost sci-fi-ish designs? I remember a few characters looking like the lead character in SMT3. What was that about?

 

[Troidal]

I met a Japanese Wizardry fanatic few years ago who has played virtually every version of the game. He used to be a writer in Famitsu long time ago. Damn, I should ask him!

 

[Brandon F]

Busin Zero is a sequel...prequel, dunno really. I never imported.

I do know it added a host of new features, jobs, and what-have-you. I highly doubt it is a remix, but if you can hack the language, get cracking!

Some pics off Gamespot of Tales of the Forsaken Land (aka Wizardy Busin). Very early game shots, before anything cool goes down.

GT4 an 8.9???!!!

 

[chespace]

paging BenT... paging BenT...

i reviewed the PS2 wizardry that came out here for EGM and i really didn't get into it at all. i can see the appeal but it all seemed so archaic and limited. cool character artwork, though. i'm not a big first person dungeon crawler fan, however.

the character artwork in that new PS2 wizardry by michaelsoft (whoever the hell they are) is pretty cool in a completely differnet way, too... http://michaelsoft.jp/wiz/index.html

Wizardry is like every other originator that's pitifully outdated now. If you have no context of its origins, then it's easy to write off as something "archaic."

Weren't you really into Phantasy Star? That game completely ripped off Wizardry's dungeon crawling.

 

[john tv]

Hrm that pic with the snow looks kinda hot. I may have to track this down. This is good -- thanks Brandon!

More info guys, more info! What about the GBA games or the PS1 games or... whatever?

Are Busin, Busin Zero and this new Wizardry the only three PS2 Wizardry games?

And isn't there a new handheld one coming out soon, maybe for GBA or something?

 

[Brandon F]

Love the artwork!

 

[Greenpanda]

Geez, I'll confess that I'm getting interested now too.

As a US-based gamer, though, I have to ask: Which of these games have been released in English?

 

[Brandon F]

On PS2, just Busin: Wizardry Alternative made it over...(as Wizardry:Tales of the Forsaken Land)

Oh yea, I should mention that the game can be pretty punishing...and time consuming. You can only save in town, and each trek into the dungeon can be a multi-hour visit if things are going your way.

There is a lot to explore and see inside, pushing each inch further knowing death or worse can be closing in is part of the excitment. It can be a real rush surviving the hike back to town on empty supplies and battered HP knowing what riches and experience upgrades await...but a massive downer when you lose progress from the past couple hours because that damned reaper blindsided you on the way home.

Busin Zero may have fixed some of this though...

 

[Ill Saint]

Yep, Wizardry PS2 is a lovely little game. Very enjoyable... too bad the sequel will never hit the west.

that damned reaper blindsided you on the way home

Haha, he tension when he appears is great! hike it like a mofo.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Although I've some vaguely-fond memories of playing a lot of the early Wizardry games, the one I first played was IV...Return of Werdna. In it, you play an evil guy named, Werda. Weird name, ya...but Wizardry is full of goofy, fucked up names. Anyway, he was beaten down by the heroes of the first game and put into some eternal slumber in the dungeon he hung out in. You wake up from your 'eternal' slumber and have nothing to start with, and must make it out of the huge dungeon that you were hanging out in. Since you slept too long, you're weak and don't have any power...especially without the amulet that you'd stolen from the crazy overlord, Trabor, who off'ed himself in the second one -- the same guy who sent the heroes down to kick your ass and take back his amulet in the first game. This installment is just about you and the monsters you summon to help you...as far as I remember. Fighting the heroes coming to kill you was a pretty damned cool idea...first game that I'm aware of that you played the bad guy. I've never finished it, but there are supposed to be two endings.

Anyway, good series...until it got all sci-fi with the Dark Savant shit. Wiz 8 was pretty fun, if a little bland (and unfortunately sprung from the sci-fi turn in the universe)...still fun, though. I'm pretty stoned out right now, so my memory is a little more clouded than usual...but this series was pretty good (in I, II, III, IV, V)....maybe I was a little too young to fully appreciate the early ones (pre-V), but I always dug The Bard's Tale series a bit more...probably because of the visuals. Ultima is still the better series by far. By the way, Wasteland kicks this game to the curb. Oh yeah, Dungeon Master...that's a very good first person RPG.


Don't really feel like making sure that this bit I've typed up makes total sense, hahaha.

 

[chespace]

Although I've some vaguely-fond memories of playing a lot of the early Wizardry games, the one I first played was IV...Return of Werdna. In it, you play an evil guy named, Werda. Weird name, ya...but Wizardry is full of goofy, fucked up names.

I think it was Werdna and Trebor... which are just Andrew and Robert backwards (names of folks who worked on the games). Yeah, Wizardry was simple and obvious. But it was the first!

I didn't play Wizardry past Wizardry V or VI or VII. I don't fucking remember. But those were good times on my Apple ][ +

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I think it was Werdna and Trebor... which are just Andrew and Robert backwards (names of folks who worked on the games). Yeah, Wizardry was simple and obvious. But it was the first!

I didn't play Wizardry past Wizardry V or VI or VII. I don't fucking remember. But those were good times on my Apple ][ +

Ah OK. That makes sense. I wondered how they could come up with such fucked up-sounding names. Heh, I was barely 10 or so when I first played Wiz IV, anyway.

It's hard to imagine how I could enjoy such games nowadays. When you're young, the imagination is overflowing and instantly fills in the gaps left by such insubstantial visuals found in those early games. The gameplay, too, is very simple...and a pain in the ass with no real menu...at least in the first ones.

 

[Sho Nuff]

Laying what, an egg? It's lying. Jeezus.

 

[golem]

kinda sucks that sir-tech is dead and buried but the japanese series roll on... don't they get any royalties from that?

my favorite PC Wizardry is VI (Bane of the Cosmic Forge). VII is great too, couldn't really get into VIII

 

[ThirdEye]

The classic Wizardry series (#1-#5) have been loved in Japan for decades (they were huge since mid 80's with the original monster design by Jun Suemi
http://www8.plala.or.jp/Wizardry/wiz1.htm
http://www8.plala.or.jp/Wizardry/wiz2.htm
http://www8.plala.or.jp/Wizardry/wiz3.htm
http://www8.plala.or.jp/Wizardry/wiz5.htm
when ported by ASCII to several Japanese PCs such as PC-9801, later Famicom) and there are many original scenarios born in Japan available on PS2/PS/SS/GB/SNES/PC and many ports of the classics on mobile phones. Apparently chemistry of character-breeding + item collection + authentic RPG worked like a charm. The classic Wizardry is one of the canons in Japanese gaming culture.

The newest one is by Taito, Wizardry Summoner for PS2, to be released on 3/31, but from the look it seems to suck without a good artist.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20050217/wiz.htm

kinda sucks that sir-tech is dead and buried but the japanese series roll on... don't they get any royalties from that?

Someone has to get the royalities.
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20050217/wiz01.htm

Published and developed by TAITO.
(C)2005 1259190 Ontario, Inc. All rights reserved.
Licensed by 1259190 Ontario, Inc. to Four Winds Inc.
Sublicensed by Four Winds Inc. to TAITO.
“Wizardry (R)”is a registered trademark of 1259190 Ontario, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sir-tech was better dead than they tweaked the series to include Sci-Fi shit.

 

[john tv]

How strange... two PS2 Wizardry games in two weeks...

I heard some really bad stories about Summoner PS2. Apparently it's like a direct port of the GBA game with only very minor modifications. Talk about trashing a license...

 

[golem]

Sir-tech was better dead than they tweaked the series to include Sci-Fi shit.

haha.. the scifi stuff was a bit odd, yes, but i need more Jagged Alliance! (and I don't know about the people Strategy First have working on it)

 

[Hournda]

I thought the sci-fi stuff saved the series. Wizardry 6 and 7 kicked ass. Still the king of old school RPGs is Ultima. Might and Magic is also a now-forgotten kick ass old school series. Might and Magic 2 was pure gaming bliss at the time.

 

[Blackace]

I thought the sci-fi stuff saved the series. Wizardry 6 and 7 kicked ass. Still the king of old school RPGs is Ultima. Might and Magic is also a now-forgotten kick ass old school series. Might and Magic 2 was pure gaming bliss at the time.

I think 3 was the best in the series... along with Bard's tale...why oh why did they do what they did to Bard'd tale???

 

[BenT]

I thought the sci-fi stuff saved the series. Wizardry 6 and 7 kicked ass.

Totally. While I can see their appeal, I was late to the party and never got too into the original five games. VI though, Bane of the Cosmic Forge, was the start of something really special. The sci-fi / medieval storyline by D.W. Bradley was as original as the world was dark; part VII, Crusaders of the Dark Savant, had an extremely rich atmosphere that I've never seen duplicated. That came out in 1992 so the mouse-based interface is pretty archaic by today's standards, but it's still well worth a play(s) for those who want the authentic Wiz experience. (You can carry your characters from VI to VIII to the more recent VIII. Amazing that some people held onto those files for over ten years.)

The most recent "real" Wiz game, VIII, is a very good adventure. It tries to strike a careful balance between old-school Wiz traditions and modern amenities, and is mostly successful. The graphics / music / atmosphere are not quite as cool as Dark Savant's, but are better than I expected given Sir-Tech's limited resources when it was made. (It was their last game.) The main complaint I see about VIII is that the battles often drag on too long. I don't really see this. They can be involved, yes, but such detail is one of the hallmarks of the series. I was seldom annoyed by random encounters, contrary to my experience in many console RPGs. Frightened by them, but not annoyed. YMMV, of course.

 

[The Guivre]

http://www.tk421.net/wizardry/
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry

Wizardry - Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Wizardry 2 - Knight of Diamonds
Wizardry 3 -Legacy of Llygamyn
Wizardry 4 - The Return of Werdna (play the bad guy from the first game)
Wizardry 5 - Heart of the Maelstrom
Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge

Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant - Tried playing this at like 13 if I remember, I never could get into it.

Wizardry: Gold Edition (actually just Wizardry 7 re-make)
Wizards & Warriors
Wizardry 8

Now then... The Japanese

Wizardry I (MSX, NES, Game Boy Color, WonderSwan Color, Cell phone)
Wizardry II (MSX, NES, Game Boy Color)
Wizardry I & II (Turbo CD)
Wizardry III (MSX, NES, Game Boy Color)
Wizardry III & IV (Turbo CD)
Wizardry V (SNES, Turbo CD)
Wizardry VI (SNES)
Wizardry VI & VII (Saturn)
Wizardry VII (PlayStation)
Wizardry Gaiden (Game Boy)
Wizardry Gaiden 2 (Game Boy)
Wizardry Gaiden 3 (Game Boy)
Wizardry Gaiden 4 (SNES)
Wizardry Nemesis (Windows, SegaSaturn)
Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga(Windows, PlayStation, SegaSaturn)
Wizardry: New Age of Llylgamyn (PlayStation)
Wizardry: Dimguil (PlayStation)
Wizardry Empire (PlayStation, Game Boy Color)
Wizardy Empire II: Fukkatsu no Tsue (PlayStation, Game Boy Color)
Wizardry Empire III (PlayStation 2)
Wizardry Chronicle (Windows)
Wizardry Summoner (Game Boy Advance)
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (Wizardry Busin in Japan) (PlayStation 2)
Busin 0: Wizardry Alternative Neo (PlayStation 2)
Wizardry Traditional (Cell Phone)
Wizardry Traditional 2 (Cell Phone)
Wizardry Xth (PlayStation 2)

Hope that helps.

 

[radios shipping overview]

The character (and environment) art in the Busin games was by Katsuya Terada. There's a collection of the art he did for Busin0 out right now. Damnit, those Busin/TFL screenshots are making me want to play it again, despite how sick i got of the encounters and the Grim Reaper...

 

[neopokekun]

So has Wizardry Summoner for gba been released in the west yet? I remember it constantly appearing and disappearing from release lists.

 

[jarrod]

So has Wizardry Summoner for gba been released in the west yet? I remember it constantly appearing and disappearing from release lists.

Natsume announced it way back in 2002, along with River King. They kept insisting both were still coming up until late last year... now they just won't talk about it.

I wouldn't mind seeing Atlus USA rescue it for localization.

 

[PC Gaijin]

An interesting aside: Trebor was actually Robert Woodhead, who later went on to found and run the anime company Animeigo. I dunno if he did that with the money he made from Wizardry or what (the other story I always heard was that his family was loaded anyway, and that's how he kept Animeigo afloat all these years :lol).

I'm curious as to how Wizardry first made the transition to Japan. The series has had a Japanese influence from the earliest games with classes like samurai and ninja. Also, if you check the credits, there were a lot of Japanese folk involved in the original US releases of the games.

One nice thing about Wiz 8 is that you can save anywhere, so no trudging back to an inn from deep within a dungeon to save. Also, I think the main problem a lot of people had with the combat wasn't that the fights were long so much as they were long because time was wasted for each enemy's turn as they scuttered slowly toward you before taking their swing. There's a patch that speeds this up and makes the combat much more enjoyable.

 

[Mejilan]

I've always loved the Wizardry series, but have a special place in my heart for TotFC for the PS2. It had almost everything I loved about Wizardry with just the right amount of gameplay modernization (the team attacks are still, to this day, the best thing to happen to turn-based RPG combat) and NONE of the bullshit Sci Fi crap the last few Western Wizardries got.

Wizardry PS2 is my favorite PS2 RPG (yes, even above SMT3 Nocturne), and I'm still heartbroken that we're not getting its followup, or that Natsume apparently offed their GBA game localization.