Green_Hilltop: Cool! I haven't played Wizardry except a little bit the GBC ones, so I forgot you have additional unlockable classes you can't get at character creation. How do the alignments help though? Do you start as neutral, unlike in MM, and you have to work your way towards an alignment, so you can import a party of Ninjas and Lords, for example, which would be impossible at char gen and that's why advantage of importing in the Sir-Tech and Gaiden Wizardry games?
I've thought of starting a Wizardry game lately, you haven't played this one yet, right? Which one would you recommend to start with if I'd like a game that isn't too hardcore (deleting your save/making it permanent when you characters are teleported in stone with no way to fix it) and if I enjoy having various skills and combos (esp. debuffs that work) to experiment with? I prefer having logical, narrative-heavy games where you don't need to do multiple New Game+ playthroughs to get the "real ending" (like in the Dark Spire) and the game concludes normally (so no extra ultra hard dungeons to get some more lore/closure), but the GBC port of Wizardry 1-3 didn't seem to have any story, so I'm not sure if the PC versions have.
Interestingly enough, I've found reviews from back when the game came out and supposedly it wasn't that bad, so let me know how you've enjoyed this one! :) Personally I'm not too much fan of the anime graphics, but at least it's better than having a mix of anime and 80s/realistic graphics like in Elminage Original. That just looks very jarring.
You chose alignment at character creation, but it is possible for it to change during the game. In classic Wizardry, a character's alignment can change between good and evil, but can't change to or from neutral. (Apparently Labyrinth of Lost Souls is an exception.) The main effect of alignment is that certain classes have alignment restrictions, which are enforced when you create a character or change class in town; later alignment changes don't have such restrictions.
Lords and Ninjas are impossible to create in Sir-Tech Wizardry 1-5, though apparently they can be created in some console versions, but with extremely low probabilty (like 0.1% or even less); transferring characters lets you start the later games with one. Also, transferring into computer versions of Wizardry 2 lets you keep your level (and you *need* MALOR, which is a level 7 Mage spell, to get past the first floor). Transferring to Wizardry 3 does not let you keep your alignment if it wouldn't be valid at character creation or class change.
The GBC versions of Wizardry 1-3 have the same amount of story as computer versions do, so if you're looking for story, that would not be a good choice.
I have not played Labyrinth of Lost Souls yet, but if the GOG version works in WINE and on my hardware, I plan on doing so as soon as the game comes out.
Anyway, it sounds like you might be better off checking out the later Sir-Tech Wizardries. Wizardry 8, for example, has status ailments that work and are often more useful than damage spells, and there are plenty of skills (though no combos); just be aware that the Dark Savant trilogy is quite different from the early games and Japanese spin-offs. (For example, Wizardry 8 has no RNG in character creation or leveling up, and you can create any race/class combination at the start, though creating a Lizardman Bishop might not be the best idea.) One drawback of Wizardry 8 is that combats can sometimes take a while.
