Wizardry 8

aka: Wushu 8
Moby ID: 5580
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Wizardry 8 is a direct sequel to Crusaders of the Dark Savant, the previous installment of the Wizardry series. All hell breaks loose as The Dark Savant takes flight with a device called the Astral Dominae, an incredibly powerful artifact containing the secret of life itself. Following him are two powerful races, the T'Rang and the Umpani, as well as the player's own brave party of adventurers. Everyone is heading to Dominus, a world on the cusp of the Cosmic Circle, birthplace of the Astral Dominae and home of the Cosmic Lords. Many paths will converge on Dominus, and many long-hidden secrets will be revealed.

The basic gameplay system is similar to the previous entries in the series: the player-controlled party of up to six characters roams the world viewed from a first-person perspective, completes quests and fights enemies to gain experience and become stronger. Unlike those, however, Wizardry 8 has a real 3D environment, where enemies visibly approach the party (rather than appearing randomly). The party is also able to move during combat, sometimes using terrain to its advantage. Character formation plays a role, the player being able to use tactical setups for the party in order to be better prepared for upcoming fights. Though still turn-based, the battles are more flowing than in the earlier games, since the characters act depending on their personal statistics rather than being confined by rounds.

The eleven races from the two previous games return, encompassing traditional fantasy RPG representatives such as elves and dwarves, as well as the more exotic rawulfs, felpurrs and mooks. A new character class, the Gadgeteer, has been added to the other fourteen imported from the previous games. The player can customize the statistics of these characters as he sees fit during the party creation phase. It is also possible to add personality traits to each of the characters. These do not affect the gameplay, but provide commentaries from the party members during conversations with the NPCs. A skill system is used for all the character types, ranging from weapon and magical proficiencies to pickpocketing and communication. Skills, as well as main attributes, can be manually developed by the player when the character levels up, but they also increase with repeated use.

Similarly to its predecessor, Wizardry 8 has several beginnings depending whether the player has imported a party from Crusaders of the Dark Savant or not, and which faction that party was allied with in the previous game. The game also has three different endings, which are achieved by making choices before the final confrontation.

Spellings

  • Wizardry 8: Возвращение легенды - Russian spelling
  • 巫术8 - Chinese spelling (Simplified)
  • å·«è¡“8 - Chinese spelling (Traditional)

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Credits (Windows version)

239 People (231 developers, 8 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 27 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 64 ratings with 6 reviews)

Surprisingly engaging

The Good
There's many things to like about this game. For starters, combat is very involved and deep due to the wide range of spells to be used. Since you'll nearly always be attacked by mobs, the right combination of spells can do great amounts of damage which is very satisfying. The ability to reposition your characters is great as well

Exploring and finding hidden items is always pleasing as is the ability to pick pocket, shoplift, trade, ask NPCs about a whole range of subjects and many other elements that enhance the game.

There's also loads of stats which is refreshing after many years of "dumbing down" of RPGs - stats which actually make sense and aren't too hard to keep track of. It's clear what they do and every stat has its use in the world.

The Bad
Despite the positives, there's also several negatives:

  • the mini map doesn't show anything except dots for items and enemies so you have to check your map a great deal

  • the game only renders a fraction of the world ahead of you which makes it very easy to get lost or to get confused in towns.

  • there's waaaay too much respawning going on - you quickly get "battle fatigue" because there's simply too much of it.

  • once you figure out the best combat tactics, it becomes a case of "rinse & repeat" - levelling slows down quickly as well meaning you won't get many new spells after a while, leading to the game becoming rather repetitive.

  • the world isn't very detailed and lacks interaction

  • there's definitely auto-levelling going on here where enemies become stronger as you level up. I'm not fond of this - especially when you go back to old areas to find them crawling with tough monsters.

    The Bottom Line
    All in all, it's a good PC game with plenty of stats, engaging and satisfying combat with a proper loot system. Partly old-school, partly modern RPG. If it wasn't for the constant respawning (which forces you in combat all the time) and the rather bare world, this would be a true classic like Baldur's Gate and Morrowind. As it stands, it focuses too much on combat which is a mistake once you figure out the ideal spells - then it becomes a matter of repeating things over and over. I'd still recommend it, especially if you don't mind lots of combat, but if you look at the best RPGs out there (Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, etc.), they had a good balance between combat and story/roleplaying and this game lacks the latter.

Windows · by Icarus Lytton (19) · 2012

You finally have a chance to finish off the evil Dark Savant!

The Good
When I heard that Sir-Tech was making this game, I couldn't wait to play it. Over a decade ago, Bane of the Cosmic Forge and Crusaders of the Dark Savant enthralled me with their turn-based combat systems, truly different, imaginative and intelligent monsters and a captivating, original story of good versus evil. The ending in Crusaders left you wondering what the Dark Savant would do next ... what would become of the world now that he had taken off with the Astral Dominae? Yes, Wizardry 8 concludes the story ... and does it very well!

To help tie the old to the new, the introduction is presented to you in shades of brown and ivory as still pictures slide across the screen during the narrative. Choosing characters for your party comes next (in full color) .. and they are a diverse group with a good variety of faces and talents. Veterans to the series will notice several new classes and races in male as well as female. Choose the ready-made "sample party" or create up to 6 of your own from scratch. The designers made an intuitive and helpful character creation interface - a right-click answers all your questions about every aspect of it.

In between performing your "hack and slash" functions, an intricate, evolving story is told. Your main objective is to retrieve a trinity of objects (including the Astral Dominae) and then take them to Ascension Peak where, as legend has it, someone will ascend and become "Cosmic" Lords. Numerous sub quests are incidental to securing those items, but, of course, give you essential experience points.

You'll meet two opposing factions who, although both want to destroy the Dark Savant as much as you do, are convinced that the other is their enemy. With a little forethought, you can form an alliance with both factions and, in the end, bring about a truce and have them join together with you against your common enemy.

Character dialogs (both of your party members and NPCs) are the best part of this game, and I must say the same for the people who voice-acted them. Your party members will randomly make comments about the quest at hand, the city or place, the people and more. Each person has his/her own way of telling you that they are hurt or sick, are out of ammo and to confirm your orders. In battle, each one also has a unique "Heave Ho!" .. and they even exclaim differently when they've done well. (When my Ranger has an exceptional "kill", she cries out "I remain dominant!", while my Lord says simply, "Excellent!") And .. NPCs have changing dialog and can be asked about a large variety of topics on which they will answer. You can set the dialog to an "automatic" type mode so that key words, people, places are added as "topics" to ask about. Plus you can add your own words and phrases! Makes it mighty interesting!

In my opinion, the character animations and battle actions are "a cut above", making the fight sequences really fun to watch. The graphics of the world around you is pretty darned good and drawn very well. Another reviewer mentioned "monsters partly in walls" ... well, yes, that happened occasionally, but usually it was a crab with sharp claws coming through the walls of a grass hut! Now that's realistic!

And speaking of battles, the fight interface is really good. Right-click your mouse or touch a key (or combination thereof) to select an action (i.e. M to cast a magic spell, U to use an item, L to repeat the last command). I chose to play in the turn-based "phased" manner for the whole game rather than "continuous" because I like the most control. Casting a magical spell is as easy as using a potion. Even low-level spells can still be effective with later game monsters since their intensity gets higher as you get stronger.

The "creatures" seem to be pretty smart and dexterous too, dodging, moving about the screen, and casting spells on their own. And there are hundreds of them, some familiar and some brand new, to keep you mighty busy -- all with unique animations and sounds for their species. If you have a ranger in your party, you can select him/her and right click on a monster to see its unique strengths, weaknesses, type of attack and immunities, and then plan your attacks accordingly. If your foe is 100% immune to Fire, for instance, you'll have no effect whatsoever with a Fireball spell! And just when you've become used to casting magic all the time, you'll enter a "no magic" zone ... or you'll find yourself under water where no fire magic works! That's where the numerous potions, powders and bombs come in handy!

Other things I liked:

  • Multi-layered area "auto" maps on which you add notes
  • Unlocking doors, chests with an unusual (and challenging) "lock-pick" technique
  • Much more for your Bard and Thief (2 professions often ignored in other games)
  • Varied landscapes and locations
  • Unlimited Save Game slots with 3 Quick Save and Auto-Save functions
  • Decisions made during gameplay can change your ending
  • Teleport over long distances using "Set Portal" and "Return to Portal" magic spells (for characters high enough in magic) plus 2 permanent ones
  • So many magical spells that you may never see all of them
  • A well-written, truly useful manual
  • Radar screen that shows locations of collectible items and monster locations
  • Good value for the buck ... it takes a -very- long time to finish
In addition, there are 4 different endings! One depends upon whether an important quest was finished, while the other 3 are based upon a decision you make during the "end game" portion.

**The Bad**
My complaints are few. I loved Wizardry 8 so much that, even with these quirks, I wanted desperately to finish it!
  1. The minimum system requirements aren't enough! While the game will install and run on a Pentium II 233Mhz machine, attempting to perform even the smallest of functions (like moving the mouse cursor on the screen) is literally painful. The game crawled on my PII 400MMX (even with 256Ram), but it flies on my Pentium III 1000Mhz laptop. BTW, no "recommended" system requirements are contained in any of the written material.

  2. Evidently the first release of the game was produced on inferior CDs and they can wear out! (This according to a message on the Sir Tech forums). Because files on my CD#3 refused to load (the game hung up as soon as it was inserted), I had to buy the game again. My second copy is the "Game of the Year Edition" which seems to be much better. Because of the copyright protection, I failed in all attempts making a personal backup copy.

  3. I got tired of the battle music, but after awhile I "tuned it out" and really didn't notice it. Each locale does have unique music but none of those tracks were really exciting.



**The Bottom Line**
This game has been added to my "Top 10 RPG Favorites" ! Wizardry 8 is simply marvelous! It has all of the elements you'll want in a Role Playing Game: turn-based combat - easy to use, intuitive interface - complex, interesting story - loads of characters and monsters with personalities all their own - plus user customizations for keyboard shortcuts - and so much more!

Windows · by Jeanne (75956) · 2004

Though it was the swan song of the series, it was a proper pinnacle.

The Good
Though I was leery of the change to free motion and 3D modeling, these were well used and added to the game instead of hurting it. All the things that were great about the Bradley part of the Wizardry series were there - real role-playing decisions, a plot with the right degree of complexity, continuity with the predecessor games. In the Wizardry tradition, some of the puzzles were quite obscure but they mostly made sense.

The Bad
Sometimes there were problems with controlling your party movement. Some fights were rendered artificially difficult because of 3D problems like monsters partly in walls.

The Bottom Line
If you liked the earlier Bradley Wizardries, you will likely love this one. It manages to be pretty without failing to be Wizardry.

Windows · by weregamer (155) · 2003

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Bored... Unicorn Lynx (181788) Sep 5, 2013
Samurai, Valkyrie, and Bishop Walk Into Bar St. Martyne (3648) Oct 18, 2008

Trivia

Distribution

The developers of Wizardry 8 had a really tough time finding a North American publisher for the game. Eventually a deal was worked out with Electronics Boutique to get the game distributed exclusively (or near enough) in it's stores.

In-game advertisement

SirTech must have known that many players would experience "slow downs" caused by frame rate problems.

Each time you select Exit, an advertisement screen appears with the words "This is No Time for a Slow PC". The ad is for Falcon Northwest, a PC builder, with their phone number and web address.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2002 (Issue #213) – Role-Playing Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Jeanne and WildKard

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by OnlyBlue.

Macintosh added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Entorphane, Jeanne, Klaster_1, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, marquisor.

Game added January 9, 2002. Last modified February 13, 2024.