Wizardry 8

Oh man, one of my all time favourites, Wizardry 8, has just arrived on GOG. I've downloaded it and it plays seamlessly.

You start by creating a party of 6 characters. There are standard characters ready to go, but creating them from scratch is so much fun. The voice options are great - they add real flavour and fun to the game.

This is a first person game, but the movement is smooth and even I can cope with it. Combat is turn based and contains D&D elements. The trick with combat is not to move on to new areas too quickly. If you do, you'll get hammered. So exploration is the order of the day. Also, critters re-spawn and upgrade so when you re-visit an area after leaving, if you've not gained enough experience you will suffer. However, there is always the 'run away' option, plus later in the game there are areas you can teleport to and from. The level of challenge is good and, if you explore well, consistent throughout the game. Movement is keyboard orientated and the graphics now look old school, but the game becomes so immersive these factors don't detract from the gaming experience. Also, the game mechanics are solid.


Wizardry 8 has a strong story and the introduction gives a flavour of the cosmic dynamic that shapes events. The quests in this game are well organised and structured. Some are downright funny, other downright fun. You will meet lots of interesting and different characters. The events that drive the narrative do include your party members and, to an extent, choices made.


As the last in the Wizardry series, there are some differences between this and earlier Wizardry games - it's 3D for instance - but there are Easter Egg dungeons you can explore that require grid paper to map - a pleasing acknowledgement of what came before.

If you've not played this game, I highly recommend it. It puts a number of current games to shame.


Here's the link:

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/wizardry_8

Enjoy!

Hehe nice game. I even create couple of mods for the 8th one.

Are they still available?

Sue77 wrote:

Are they still available?

Nope, don't think so. I made some items for gadgeteer 8 of them I believe. Can't remember what they all did actually. There were couple of recall(teleport) gadgets but others it was 3 years ago.

I had a Mook gadgeteer in my party

My party consisted of

Samurai Human - main char
Gadgeteer Mook
Bishop Fairy
and can't remember what I chose for my forth char if there was one. Starting was REALLY diffcult(hard diffictulty). I barely get through the first cave. but after that things went up very good.

That's a shame - I've used a Gadgeteer in the past, but decided to give it a miss this time. My current starting party is 2 fighters - Lizard and Human, 1 Human Ranger , a Pussy Cat Bard, Elven Bishop and Fairy Mage.

Apparently you can play the game with just a Fairy Ninja once you've beaten the 3 crabs at the start using a Bishop to heal you. You then sacrifice the Bishop towards the end of the fight so you're solo. However, you apparently need to switch your Ninja to a Bishop around level 18, buff up on spells, then switch back to a Ninja once you've gained a good range and ability. Sounds a bit convoluted, but fun. I'm thinking of giving it a go.





There used to be a really good Wizardry 8 forum but I'm struggling to find it. It could be that so much time has passed since the game was current the site is no longer there.

Well, I tried it and was not impressed.

The 3 crabs were just sooo easy, I went for the softshell crabs and hey-ho no problem. I entered the Monastery with my Bishop up front and she managed to survive some pretty intense fights.

Then I upped the level to Normal and that did the trick - a dead Bishop on the first fight. Unfortunately, I had a dead Ninja too.

I suspect you need to play on Novice until your Bishop is dead and your Ninja has left the Monastery, then up the game to normal. Right now I'd rather play on Normal/Expert with a bigger party and more choice in the skills department.