Wizardry 8

"The perfect finale of an all-time great series"

Wizardry began as a simple DOS-like first-person RPG for the NES and it has evolved over the years to be ONE of the best designed RPGs ever to grace the television (monitor or flat panel) screen. Its flawless execution of plot ingenuity, character interaction, and the immersive atmosphere of its planet Dominus, which Sir-Tech created so brilliantly, virtually rivals that of Black Isle's games. Although it was very disappointing that the company broke up as soon as the game was released, they did go out with a bang. The game does not and will not disappoint the Wizardry and dedicated RPG fans.

STORY (8/10) - Wizardry VIII is actually the finale of a two-part series which started, as you guessed it, at part VII. The main antagonist here is the Dark Savant, a malicious villain trying to obtain incredible God-like powers by gathering the three ancient artifacts ceated by the Cosmic Lords. He's already obtained the Astral Dominae while eluding your band back at part VII and now is on his way to Dominus to claim the others. I'll tell you right now, don't fret about going in blind if you haven't played part VII. The final installment does a very good job summarizing what happened before and brings you completely up to date of the events up to that point. Anyway, continuing...

The game, unlike many others that have failed miserably in the past (*cough* Xenogears and its horrific sequel), blends both sci-fi and fantasy flawlessly. It reminded me a lot of Star Wars (I wouldn't be surprised if some of the elements in the game were actually inspired from the movie series) and even though this might sound discouraging to fantasy purists... don't be. Even with the presence of spaceships, teleporters, and advanced technology, these sci-fi elements do not dominate the what is really a harsh and brutal, fantasy realm.

So what does one do in Wizardry 8? Obviously you, the protagonists of the story, aren't going to let the Dark Savant get away for what he'd done. After surviving the initial ambush by the Dark Savant upon nearing Dominus, your party then has to play a sort of cat-and-mouse game with the villain, while trying to recover the remaining artifacts and also keeping opposing factions at bay. There is also an interesting subplot in the game where you can (if you choose) to help forge an alliance between two hated foes who are also hellbent on finding the artifacts. You don't think you're the only ones in the hunt, do you?

With several races vying for the artifacts, and your party stuck on an alien world where it's difficult to know who to trust, the story does present an interesting dilemma for you to handle.

GRAPHICS (8/10) - The graphics of Wizardry 8 is about on par with the best 3D RPG's from a few years ago. However, considering the game faced an uncertain future after being in development for about 4 years, this is really nothing to sneeze at. Besides, the graphics are truly clean, well composed, and beautifully textured even if a bit on the outdated side. Then again, true RPGers aren't impressed by eye-candy as much as gameplay (pen-and-paper doesn't have ANY graphics, after all), so this shouldn't really dissuade anyone from playing. Which brings me to my next point...

GAMEPLAY (8/10) - Some people have complained the game is too hard. Well I'll be blunt. This game will require some strategy and will require you to use that clump of neural cells between your ears from time to time. It's not a cake-walk across Dominus, and you are not going to be spoon-fed with info although you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what to do next in the game. The game isn't too difficult to handle and its very player-friendly. You can create a party of up to 6 characters (or import from your Wizardry VII game) with plenty of races and professions to choose from. Number crunchers and stat freaks like myself will also be delighted to see a myriad of statistics (none of them need explanation as it's pretty much obvious what they do) in the game.

Combat in Wizardry 8 is pretty easy to grasp but to the inexperienced player, they may run into problems, while causing disasters for the completely incompetent players. As said before, strategy is vital in the game. You will have to decide where to position your members in the group (it breaks down to weak folks in the middle and strong folks surround them for protection), and you must decide where to fight. One of the best aspects of the game is that it allows complete freedom of your party to move where you choose. So you don't have to go charging headstrong into a large mob of enemies. Why not back yourself into a doorway for example and take them out one at a time? It's surprising that a majority of the few problems people complained about could have been avoided if they would use their brain.

Character interaction is likewise easy to grasp but will require some thinking when you need to ask questions. To advance further into the dialogue, you will need to trigger certain key phrases. It's obvious what words you have to select, but all of the important and vital information needed to beat the game is given to you right off the bat. More or less, the additional dialogue triggered by the key phrases is for your own education of the world of Dominus and to flesh out the personalities of the characters.

SOUND/MUSIC (7/10) - For the limited tracks themselves, I would have given it a perfect 10 score. Kevin Manthei did a pretty good job scoring the game, and his pieces fitted the mood and atmosphere of its respective areas perfectly. Everything from the wind howling in the background of the cavern track, to the haunting chorus of the alien T'rang theme. Very memorable stuff. However, I did feel that there were too few tracks involved and there could have been more variety. With regards to dialogue, the actors all did an incredible job with the script although I was a bit disappointed with the soundsets available for your own party. Seriously, could they have done better than a Brooklyn accent for a Rogue-like character?

OVERALL (8/10) - The game has its quirks and some minor flaws but nothing detracts you from fully enjoying the game. Wizardry has always been a true RPG classic and this is certainly no exception. With a powerful storyline, voiced by colorful and interesting characters, along with an extensive list of weapons, items, and magic for the avid RPG fan, Wizardry 8 is without a doubt a series of its own.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/03, Updated 04/24/03