Wizardry 8

I didn't pay much attention to the Wizardry series at the time and having played this through to the end, I feel people are over-rating it due to nostalgia. Remember: this came out in the same year as Throne of Bhaal. Wizardry 8's writing is excellent, plot so-so. I liked the jokey 70s sci-fi opera feel. The voice-acting is a labour of love and I almost gave the game a 4 rather than a 3 because of it. My party was: Dragon Psionic, Canine Lord, Lizardman Fighter, Cat Ninja, Human Alchemist, Human Priest. This isn't an optimal build but was luckily OK. The character-customisation and stats and the actual RPG engine are pretty good but some of the stats work in such odd ways that I ended up cheating and looking it up in faqs. The puzzles are a bit poorly implemented (it seemed there are 2 different ways of "using" an item" which makes some of the point-and-click type puzzles a nightmare). Nearly every fight is a narrowly-winnable hitpoint-grind of attrition against 8 of the same enemy - the combat is balanced and challenging but not fun or tactical by comparison with other games of the time. The combat and puzzle drawbacks combined mean that if you need to get from one side of the map to the other to try "using the metal sphere on the computer console" it takes half an hour to fight through the mobs, only for it not to work. I ended up using walkthroughs. Lots of people hate level-scaling but this game does it better than any other game I have played that had level-scaling in it. The fights are impossible at the start and easy at the end but for about 40-50 hours in the middle they are consistently challenging. The way the items and loot and the in-game economy all work feels very unpolished - to the extent that you have to build your party round the items that are available. The gameworld is small - and the monsters in some areas are so annoying that you avoid revisting them. It is well worth the $6, but remember to quit if you start to find it boring.

As much as I have a soft spot for this RPG, you will take a looooong time to complete it and do the story justice, as it is VAST. The characterisation is deep, the voiceacting great, the puzzles fiendish, and combat a breeze. Lovely. If you like uber graphics like Skyrim and Mass Effect you may be disappointed in this, with its heavy emphasis on character, deep plot and wit. If you love a good story you may well find this appealing. However, I bought it when it first came out and I've still not got round to completing this Epic tale.

Great game engine, with several deep mechanics unfortunately buried in an unfinished experience. I call it unfinished but not unpolished. Unfortunately this game had a difficult release. Great class/race/multi-classing options. The combat is probably the best part, turn based and incredibly slow. You need a mod called 'Wiz8Fast' to play this game properly. Took me 120 hours to get the full experience. There are two factions at war, and a faction you can later infiltrate. This leads to multiple endings. The worst part about this game is that the plot could be fleshed out much further. The NPC's in the game are all fully voiced, and yet theres maybe 20 NPCs in the entire game. That makes each on more memorable but at the same time, its hard to flesh out a story with so few charachters and such little dialogue. There are a few side quests, but for the most part you will only be advancing the main storyline. Most important aspect is the combat and the system, the non-standard classes are all incredible in their own ways, Gadgeteer, Alchemist, Ninjas and Samurai? Wizardry 8 has a fun and unique blend of science fiction and classic middle-earth elements scattered throughout every aspect of the game. The lockpicking and disarm system is unique, and the weapons are unique. The whole game is unique. Maxing stats presents new stats and abilities, which honestly makes it so I wish the game was longer. Finished up around level 20, and would of loved to have a real reason (other than doing it to do it) to get my party stronger. Overall it was well worth my time. There were initial troubles getting it to run, but I assumed it was a scaling to monitor issue, search engines first result fixed my issue with a quick drag and drop. If I could give advice to a struggling player it would be: A classic elemental magic caster is great, but status effects like sleep and paralyze are way stronger in Wiz8 than casting fireball over and over like in Baldur's Gate.

It is old time Rp game with 3d Graphics, when it came out it was very cool and thats mostly why i like old games is the memories...the only thing i didnt like about it was if you stayed in one place for to long the amount of creatures became overwhelming ..otherwise it was a blast

This looked like exactly the kind of game I would enjoy when I was a teenager. I never heard of the game until recently. It is everything I hoped for. It makes me feel nostalgic while providing a new adventure. I spent hours planning my first party and loved every minute of it. So far I am through the first dungeon and ready to travel Arnika road. I hear this is a tough part and I'm looking forward to it! Even if I never finish, the time I have spent with the game just to this point has been worth the price of admission. I could see my teenage self sinking hundreds of hours in this game.