Wizardry 8

The one that all others are judged by!

This remains one of my favorite games of all time. I was thrilled to see it here on GOG. If you like a traditional dungeon crawl, you can't go wrong with this!

I can't like this game. I really tried, I gave him many chances, but I can't. I love the way we build our characters,. Each time I begin a game, I spend at least an hour to make a nice team, and I take great pleasure with that. But I can't like this game. I love the way we acquire experience, between the ordinary exp-by-kill, and the Elder Scrolls' system. And I love the way we acquire skills, it makes me want to see further, to discover what's next. But hell, I can't like this game. I will not criticize the graphics, I don't really care of that, obviously. But I hate the level design (for example, the monastery of the beginning looks like everything, except a monastery. Reminds me of Might & Magic 6/7/8). I hate the fact that the monsters are polygoned, I would have prefered sprites. And above all, I hate the combat system. Well it's turn-based, fortunately, but we fight on the same screen of the exploring, no specific combat screen with the enemies in rows, and your team in front of them. Youcan not plan your attacks. Here, you see the enemies (they are many) far away, and combat begins like that. Messy, lack of tactical organisation, IMO. In this kind of game, I prefer order, I prefer when things are clearly situated. Like in Wizardry Tale of the Forsaken Land. It is far more tactical to be able to choose which enemy you want to fight (if he is not in the back row), instead of trying to point to one pixel of enemy behind the moving wings of a wasp. My problem was to play to the PS2 Wizardry before this one. The PS2 Wizardry, Tale of the Forsaken Land, is more difficult, by far. More traps, more epic battles where each strikes had to be cautiously considered, even the most little one. This game was more rewarding, when you were coming back to town after 1h30 of exploring/fighting, not only your team was resting at the inn. You were too. Don't get me wrong, this review is absolutely subjective, I know the problems I speak of are insignificant, compared to the qualities of the game, but I search for the perfect rpg/dongeon crawler, and I can't find him. You like RPG/dungeon crawler ? You will love this game. Me, I can't like it.

The story is very light, and there are long stretches between quests. Difficulty is a bit flawed in battles for the first part of the game after the opening dungeon, and combat is a total grind after a while. The graphics are good for the time, but the world is so big and empty that it felt like a chore to explore. Quest journals are hard to keep track of, the map is confusing and it's annoying that you can only heal individual party members with potions, and not anyone who isn't carrying one. I couldn't see myself giving 100 hours of play time to this game.

Outstanding