(Just my thoughts, and how my world was opened to these SciFi Fantasy games...in jest of course)

Bought Wizardry 8 on a whim. I looked at the screenshots and watched a 30 minute video of Wizardry 6 on youtube. I was like, "This looks cool. I like dungeon crawling RPGs." I watch the trailer on GOG for Wizardry 8, and I saw it had free roam when compared to the grid movement of 6. Heck Yeah!

I read a few reviews... I enjoyed them much more than even Morrowind & Oblivion... What! I loved Morrowind, alright time to stop reading reviews and buy this master piece.

Okay, so at this point, I am assuming a D&D setting like the Elder Scrolls titles or Ultima titles.

Load up the game... O.o

Spaceships, wookiees, robots, magic, swords... eh? What is going on O.o

After my initial shock, I felt like I had entered Wonderland. The story and setting are so absurd. I keep thinking, why I am i using a sword, where is my laser rifle! Why am I walking every where, where is my space ship?

A weird game indeed. Thank you 90's, you were almost as good as the 80's.

Don't worry though, I wont be fooled again. Ooo, Might and Magic, I always wanted to play that classic D&D like game. Well, at least there wont be SciFi non-sense in this.

Yes it is, and it does all this without so much as a wink to the audience. Wizardry is wild as hell and totally unabashed, and it expects you to take its space arachnids, cyborg warlords and samurai dragons at face value. I miss that kind of attitude in fantasy.

I love Wiz 8.


I own wizardry 6-7 on my Commodore Amiga.....The graphics on that game are far superior to the DOS version offered here.

the 80's and the 90's were definitely the time of the Commodore machines.

PC's were truly horrible until the late 90's..

And yes the game is a lil weird.

You can have a gun or two. You just need a Gadgeteer and/or an Umpani in your party

Wizardry 8 is my favourite party RPG - it's just so much fun. Just wait until you get to the Rapax castle - at least that's one of my favourite parts. There are so many in this game.

I think if you've played Wiz 6 & 7 where the Dark Savant is first introduced the Sci-fi elements may make a lot more sense. However I started with Wizardry 8 and just embraced the madness - it's the only way to go. :)

Wizardry 6 is mostly standard fantasy (aside from the reference to one playable race being otherworldly)... but ends up with the party taking off to Guardia on a spaceship (possibly in the company of an android). Wiz 7 and 8 both end up as an odd mix of sci-fi and fantasy that actually clicks in a wonderful way.

Well. actually Might and Magic series have Sci-Fi elements at latter parts (I don't want to spoil them, so not talking the detail)...

No you won't indeed >:)

It's rather interesting how the main Wizardry series adopted science fiction elements, especially in comparison to other early cRPGs. Ultima had science fiction elements starting in the first game (complete with a mandatory space flight minigame), but ditched those elements as the series went on (they are minimal in 3 and nonexistant in 4). Might and Magic has its science fiction elements, but from what I've read, they disappear later in the series as well. (I've not played past MM5)

By the way, the original Wizardry actually did have two elevators in its dungeon.

Actually with Might and Magic, they go as far as IX with sci-fi. But X ditches it entirely going completely sword and sorcery. And "Heroes of Might and Magic" seemed to mostly ditch it as well, as fans of that spin-off who have never played the main series were rather confused when aliens started appearing in HOMM3

All too many people miss a great game because they come into it expecting it to be something other than what it is--and those "great expectations" prevent them from enjoying some very nice games. Morrowind is Morrowind...not Wiz8 and vice-versa...;) I see this mistake made a lot and people cheat themselves out of great games by insisting that they be something else.

Wiz 8 should be played with an Open Mind. It's an original game in many respects. It's definitely not a Morrowind, but neither is Morrowind a Wiz8. I thoroughly enjoyed this game.

There were sci-fi genre references in the latter games, but they tended to be easter eggs rather than in-your-face. The most obvious of them was the crashed Kilrathi fighter in the farmer's field (and the accompanying story given by the farmer) in The Black Gate, and more subtly, the Isle of Cats in The Serpent Isle (which was eventually cut from the plot due to time constraints, but still has a few references scattered around). Some in-game books had sci-fi references (mostly involving other Origin games) and characters like Smith and the wisps would occasionally offer out-of-genre comments or references too.

Most dungeon crawlers / first person CRPGs actually do have some sci-fi elements. Might & Magic has, Wizardry has, Legend of Grimrock has...

Also going by Wizardry 8's plot it makes perfect sense that you don't use "laser weapons". The group you are playing is not familiar with any of this "modern technology" and the one who flied the spaceship dies in the introduction scene.

You are basically playing people from a medieval world stuck between high-tech creatures fighting each other and you just try to survive.

Actually, I believe that in Wizardry 7, you actually do get a laser weapon late in the game. There is, of course, the issue of finding ammo for it.

In Wizardry 8, you can find the ammo that a laser weapon would use, but no weapon for it.

Then again, Wizardry 8 *does* have the gadgeteer and her* gadgets.

* Bards and Gadgeteers should be female because there are many female-only items that give stamina regeneration. Why developers include gender restricted equipment, I have no idea.

The Wizardry 7 story is in nuts like W8.

Wizardry 6 doesn't have this sci-fi nonsense, only a reference in hidden alternate endings.

Most Might and Magic games have sci-fi elements but they're woven into the story far better.

Wizardry was nuts since part 1.