Wizardry Series - Sequel, Spin-Off, Start Over, or Stay Dead?
Diehard Gamefan argues over whether or not the classic Wizardry RPG series ought to be revived or not.

Not that it has any bearing on whether that would even be an option. And yes, there is not an insignificant amount of discussion over how the series has been picked up by Japanese game developers and is now enjoying popularity there that we don't even get most of the imports of over here.

The consensus? Half the reviewers would like to see the series continue here in the west, half think it should remain dead. The rationale is the interesting part. Go over and check it out:

"Wizardry - Sequel, Spin-Off, Start Over, or Stay Dead?" at Diehard GameFAN

Me, personally? Oh, heck yeah, I'd love to see a Wizardry 9. The thing is, I pretty much skipped the middle games - I played the Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and a little bit of the second one (Knight of Diamonds? ) waaaaaay back in the day. And then I played a little bit of the sixth game - Bane of the Cosmic Forge, but just after I started Wizardry 7 came out - Crusaders of the Dark Savant, and I totally gave up on the previous (borrowed) game while me characters were something like zeroth level. Never finished Wiz 7, either, though I have been intending to do so for YEARS. But I chronicled my expedition to victory in Wizardry 8 in quite some detail. The tedium of combat was the only serious blemish on what has become one of my favorite RPGs.

(And I think it's kinda cool how a game can become one of my favorites in spite of being a a half-decade past its prime).

The first game in the series was magical just on account of it being there, where it was, and offering so much in an era when computer games were new. It boldly forged new territory, and it was full of awesome.

Wizardry 8 was likewise full of awesome, but it faced another problem: It was born in an era where hardcore games of its kind could no longer find the mainstream audiences they needed to sustain their development. If the game can't be made for less than four million, and the aggressive sales plan only sees sales potential of three million... well, that's a problem. If there's no way around those two numbers, it clearly means no game.

And yes, I'm totally channeling my earlier blog post.

Bottom line: I would like to see games like Wizardry 8 somehow thrive in the modern era via indie-dom. And I'd like to see the series make a return to development in the west. And Brenda Brathwaite designing them, too. As long as I'm wishing...

Oh, and a hat tip to RPGWatch for the link.

Labels: retro

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:22 AM (Permalink)