My Wizardry 8 Initial Impressions
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Though I bought Crusaders (the last Wiz) when it came out in 1992, I found it to be more difficult than I wanted at the time, so left it sitting in a Monastery so to speak for ages until I could pick up the next release. My feeling right now is that Wizardry 8 is the first true hardcore RPG ready for the mainstream RPG crowd. It's got enough options to make it viable and extremely fun to play even if you're not ready for a hardcore challenge (or, if you're like me, don't have months to devote to the game but still want something that could take you months if you wanted).
So far I've tackled the "Normal" mode well into the game and now I've been trying "Novice". It's still no walk in the park... but that's the nature of a Wizardry. It's an RPG more than any other that's built firmly on the foundations of the past which makes the transition to 3D remarkably well.
The graphics are somewhat simplistic yet extremely polished... especially the Arnika Bank reflective floor. Like past Wizardries it has many touches of both science-fiction and fantasy woven in its story, though it's mostly geared to fantasy, similar to (and also before) Might & Magic. It's a very welcome idea if the story enables that kind of juxtaposition.. and so far the story is living up to any potential that I might have pre-conceived. You gain faction with the NPC's and each one has something to say on just about any subject you bring up. Often they'll have information on the subject even if it's not yet in their immediate vocabulary (say you've heard the word elsewhere). For instance, I cleaned out the City of Arnika, went back to the funny character "Burz" back at the Monastery and asked him all sorts of questions which I didn't even know about the first time I met him... and the Monastery's someplace you definitely don't have to go back to - yet you'll want to...
I'm also very pleased with the voice acting. One weird thing I've noticed is that they all are experts at pronunciation. They say strange words with a flavor that's unmatched in any voice acting I've seen to date... words such as "T'Rang, Umpani, Phoonzang." They'll all pronounce those words with undeniable accuracy, as if you're really there.
Finally (actually, there is a lot left to say but I'll save it for the review), the feeling that's most persistent is that many people (including myself) will be thinking hard of this title when the time comes to give out awards for this year's best.
