Wizardry The definitive versions of the Wizardry games?

[LarryTyphoid]

I've been looking to get back into Wizardry, and wondering what really are the best versions of these games. The Japanese console remakes seem really tempting - new graphics (including even multiple tilesets for Wiz6, which is the ugliest game ever made on DOS), music, automaps... but I'm also afraid that I won't be getting an authentic experience if I play those versions. Do those versions have any difficulty tweaks that dumb down the challenge? And do the original western PC releases have anything they do better?

 

[Butter]

I would say the definitive versions is whichever one came first, however that's not always clear. Wizardry 1 was made for the Apple ][ and later ported to other platforms, but with later entries it seems that they got simultaneous releases on multiple platforms. The prevalence of DOSBox compared to emulators for the Amiga or C64 or Apple ][ has given the DOS versions the appearance of being the definitive versions nowadays, which is fine for titles like 4 and 5, but not for 1 with its glaring attribute bug (Bradley actually wrote 5 from the ground up, so it doesn't feature that bug). People on the r/Wizardry subreddit like to recommend the console versions for the convenience, but I disavow. I don't want shit added in by Sir-Tech or some random Japs that Woodhead and Roe and Bradley never intended.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Wizardry 1 was made for the Apple ][ and later ported to other platforms, but with later entries it seems that they got simultaneous releases on multiple platforms. The prevalence of DOSBox compared to emulators for the Amiga or C64 or Apple ][ has given the DOS versions the appearance of being the definitive versions nowadays

It's rough because Apple II emulators seem pretty sparse. I think there's like one emulator that runs natively on Linux operating systems, and it sucked - this has kept me from playing games like Nox Archaist and Ultima 1. All that while DOSBox is maybe the best emulator ever.

Do you know if the attribute bug carried over to 2 and 3? I could deal with it for just Wiz1 if that's the case. You could just call it hard mode.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I actually asked this in the Wizardry thread about a year ago, at least for the first four.
The TL;DR is this

• DOS is bugged.
• Apple II works fine if you don't mind the way everything on the system looks. (AppleWin hasn't done me dirty yet, and works through WINE but I admit ignorance on the details of Apple II emulation)
• The console versions don't change too much and the PSX version might just be the definitive port.

 

[Lady Error]

I think Wizardry 6 is just fine in the original. It is the wireframe graphics where I personally draw the line.

Have been meaning to play Bradley's Wizardy V for a long time as a console version. It's more like Wizardry 1-3 than 6 though, right?

 

[Latro]

sness and peeessex versions done by the inimitable japanese

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Stat bug?

DOS is bugged?

Examples?

 

[Butter]

I think Wizardry 6 is just fine in the original. It is the wireframe graphics where I personally draw the line.

Have been meaning to play Bradley's Wizardy V for a long time as a console version. It's more like Wizardry 1-3 than 6 though, right?

It doesn't have the skill system, it has a menu town, you can't save in the dungeon, the spell system hasn't been reworked yet, and it doesn't have the wide variety of weird races yet. Its most notable difference from the preceding games is that it doesn't stick to 20x20 levels.

 

[octavius]

I actually asked this in the Wizardry thread about a year ago, at least for the first four.
The TL;DR is this

• DOS is bugged.
• Apple II works fine if you don't mind the way everything on the system looks. (AppleWin hasn't done me dirty yet, and works through WINE but I admit ignorance on the details of Apple II emulation)
• The console versions don't change too much and the PSX version might just be the definitive port.

IIRC there are two console versions: Playstation and Nintendo, of which the Nintendo version changes some of the dungeon maps. It's also transfers characters from 1 to 3 to 2. So yes, the PSX version should be the definitive version. I was meaning to play it, but I still suffer from post Wiz8 stress disorder.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Stat bug?

DOS is bugged?

Examples?

In the DOS version of Wiz1, your characters' attributes have the same chance to lower as to raise. If you're unlucky then your characters can just keep getting weaker upon level ups. It also makes it pretty hard to become viable for one of the elite classes.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ah yeah ok. I thought that was the sane across the board no matter the platform. I managed a few decent parties on DOS. TBH, i think it is a shitty idea to implement. Makes zero sense.

 

[luj1]

Wiz6, which is the ugliest game ever made on DOS

Hard disagree

Charming game

 

[JarlFrank]

Super Famicom because I'm a graphics whore and they are gorgeous

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Wizardry 1 is the definitive Wizardry game.

 

[Covenant]

Wizardry V on the SNES is probably the best gaming experience I've ever had.

That said, it does limit the keyword system (as there's no keyboard to type with), so if you're a purist you may want to avoid it. It doesn't have a big impact though.

 

[d1r]

The console versions.

 

[Great Deceiver]

/thread

 

[Strange Fellow]

The console versions have console controls, so the Apple version is best.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

One thing that the PC version of Wizardry 6 has on the console version is the ability to import your party into Wiz7.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Game: Wizardry 6+7
Macintosh (2013) and Windows (2013)
2.

Game: Wizardry 6, 7, and 8
Linux (2013), Macintosh (2013) and Windows (2013)
3.

Game: Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (a.k.a. Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge)
Amiga (1990), DOS (1990), FM Towns (1991), Linux (2013), Macintosh (1991), PC-98 (1991), SNES (1995) and Windows (2013)

Anyone try that wiz6 remaster?

 

[Butter]

The Wiz6 remaster is pretty cool, but it adds a lot of stuff that wasn't in the original (e.g. hundreds of new items). I also think the atmosphere is wrong when you're looking at Wiz7's tilesets instead of the Wiz6 stonework.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Windows 2013 will be like dos as it is gog/steam frontend dosbox. Linex will also look similar

Dunno what MAC will look like.

Amiga? Hmmm...

FM-Towns might be like pc-98

SNES is a different beast.

Time to look at playthrough reviews (hopefully short ones)

 

[Ladonna]

I played 1,2,3 and 5 on C64 (seemed fine to me), Bane on Amiga, and the rest on PC.

IV was only released on Apple and PC in western countries though, and I never got around to playing it.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

AMIGA (Grrrrrrr..... oh my favorite enemy)



DOS

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I can't find shit for pc-98/FM-Towns wiz 6