looks like a bad game

Yep, people who like Wizardry 99% of the time like Wiz 6-9, no one really likes 1-5 (except some weird grognards in Japan, but why early Wizardries were so popular in Japan is a whole other topic). The bad wireframe graphics were primitive even in the 80's compared to Ultima or Bard's Tale, and the ridiculously punishing mechanics just top it off. SoSC is positively advanced and is extremely user friendly though, yeah the lack of saving outside town is a bummer but checkpoint saves aren't exactly abnormal in console games. You've got a really nice map system, autowalking (this is so good in a dungeon RPG, just autowalk to the exit), the combat system is easy to understand, the user interface is so nice and is a breeze to navigate. But the game still has a decent amount of challenge. You've also got ambushes and lineage type enemies to spice up the dungeon experience. I can't speak highly enough of SoSC, it's truly a blobber of the modern age.

What's this about Wizardry 9? Where could I acquire such a game? Where did you hear about this "Wizardry 9" game?

Incidentally, I actually find the mechanics of Wizardry 6 and 7 to be quite ugly, particularly when it comes to the hidden parameter of "base miss chance", how its decreases at level up are random, how it interacts with class changes, and how it stops decreasing after level 20. (Lower is better, just like with AC and AD&D's THAC0.) There's also problems with SP regen on resting being too slow, and there not being a realistic way to restore large amounts of HP in a reasonable amount of real time (a problem that's not present in either 8 or 1-5).

Also, I happen to like the way HP increases work in Wizardry 1-3 and 5. While I'd still prefer deterministic HP growth, I still prefer the way these games handle it to games where you get an independent HP roll at level up; in particular, the Wizardry approach means that a bad roll early won't hurt you in the long run.

(The other game with much-maligned HP gain mechanics that I actually like is Final Fantasy 2, with its self-correcting nature; if your HP is lower than it should be, it's likely to increase quickly over normal play. Of course, FF2 does have its issues, but that's another story.)

SoSC also has the occasional out-of-depth random encounter, which it might be a good idea to run from (and the game fortunately provides you with at least one way to reliably run from an encounter).

Note that Saviors of Sapphire Wings has this autowalk feature as well (but why doesn't it show the path you're taking?), as does Mary Skelter: Nightmares (and probably Mary Skelter 2 as well).

Elminage Gothic, if you reach a high enough level, has the teleport spell that I mentioned, and that spell is incredibly convenient. Level 13, which is required to learn it, would be high in Wizardry, but Elminage Gothic takes you to much higher levels, so it's not that high here. (There's also a spell like that in Bard's Tale, though it's often blocked, and in Wizardry 1-5, where you need to enter the coordinates (no auto-map here) and a miscalculation could teleport your party into rock, causing everyone to be lost forever.)

(Elminage Gothic also does the "lost forever" thing, but at least there you can reload a save from before that happened; especially nice when I was hunting for a certain enemy drop and an enemy ambushed me and teleported my party into solid rock before I could do anything.)

why would anyone make a game where stats go down on lvl up?:O

Ask the creators of Final Fantasy 4, where that actually does happen (specifically for a certain old character and, at high levels, it can happen to any character).

Edit: Also, this is ignoring things like THAC0 where lower is better.

dtgreene explains how it works in Elminage above, but yeah it's bullshit, even from a player experience perspective seeing stats go down is just a bad design, the player goes through all these trials by defeating monsters, and then they're repaid like this? Psychologically players want to get more powerful, that's what the entire RPG genre is primarily about, progression.

I'm guessing the Elminage devs wanted to make an RPG that was hard-as-nails from beginning to end, unlike most RPGs where once the stat progression and armor starts a runaway effect and you become all-but invincible except for maybe bosses. But that's the problem, Elminage has a very weak sense of stat progression, battles just come down to RNG and whether you fighters hit or miss or whether your spells are resisted or not.
Dude, it was a simple typo, give it a break I have covid.

I'm not a dude, so please don't call me one.

UPDATE:

I HAVEN'T given up on Elminage Gothic, and through much pain I've made it through to the Afar Zum Llight Cave (which I've finished but just clearing up spots on the bottom floor, damn Rainbow Dragons!). I've learned to understand the game's mechanics and use the right spells and tactics for the right enemies thanks the Monster Encylopedia's information), but the Higher Contrast Map and Unlimited Magic Maps mods also helped to make the game less tedious, as well as the Guide and Walkthrough of the game found on Steam. I may quit the game in the future if it gets too ridiculous but I'll keep going for now.

Good luck. I'm not into really hard games, or old fashioned ones.
But it does sound like a tough game. I've seen the reviews. Not for me, but good luck again, anyway seems you are on the nice track.

I just finished the "main" game by beating the boss Cyclanos, though I had to use Miracle spells to do it (so my Bishop and Mage lost a level each). My fighter also got level drained 1 level by a Vampire Lord during the battle. I'm now in the "post-game" section of the game which apparently is where the difficulty gets really ridiculous.

The first two post-game dungeons aren't *that* bad, and it's easy enough to get your levels back in the final main game dungeon, especially if you abuse the fact that enemy demons can call for help. It's only in the third post-game dungeon where things get truly ridiculous, to the point where I didn't play through the entire dungeon. (I believe I stopped on level 6 out of 20.)

With that said, make sure you save before going into these dungeons. In the first floor of the first post-game dungeon, if you're really unlucky, it is possible for an enemy to teleport your party into rock, which is the absolute worst thing that can happen in a (classic) Wizardry game or Wizardry clone. (It happened to me twice when I was hunting on the first floor for a specific item drop, and I note that it is more likely to happen on that floor because of all the solid rock and one particular fish enemy.)

Edit: Also, it is worth unlocking at least the second bonus dungeon, because of that dungeon's visual style, which I won't spoil here.

Well I save after every fight lol, because you never know what one will be your last. Already had an Archdemon teleport my party into rock (instant death).

I never understood the charm of this kind of games... well, unless the player is a masochist, then it makes perfect sense.
Why going through such a pain? I'm all for "deterministic" RPGs btw, the less randomness the better, and the worst of it all is imo at level ups.
Having to constantly reload hoping for the best rather than cracking a hard situation with wits... yeah, pass.

I'll be getting Stranger of Sword City thanks to this thread.

Isn't there an Elminage forum?