Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls - Coming to US

Brian sends word that the Japanese title Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls will be coming to the US on PS3 via XSEED. Apparently the gameplay is quite true to the original series (although the art style is different):

Those lovable importers of obscure or niche Japanese games, XSEED, are at it again. Today they have announced that they will be bringing the latest installment in the classic dungeon-crawl series Wizardry to PlayStation 3 fans in North America and Europe. While the series has been going strong in Japan, this is the first title to be released in the US in ten years.
This is classic, first-person dungeon crawl stuff and the series is responsible for some significant innovations in role-playing games. It's also a series which has stayed very true to its roots. If you like menus with options to select from, you're going to love playing Wizardry. Dale North will be all over this when it releases, no doubt.

Head over to Destructoid for the full story and half a dozen screens.
More information.

Well, won't be playing this due to being on PS3 only…this game was made for PC. I would like to go back and play the wizardry games, I never got into them when I was a kid. I tried wizardy gold but it felt way off, and the screen was tiny. Any suggestions on how to get into the series?

I did play wiz 8 a lot though.

They are making a gigantic mistake by not porting this to the PC. If this is anything like the old Wizardry games, the majority of console-owners will want no part of this. In a way, this reminds me of another PS3 only RPG that belongs on the PC: Demon's Souls. I'm not sure what some of these publishers are thinking by funding "hardcore" RPGs and then not releasing them to the "hardcore" RPG market, i.e., PC gamers.

I'm always impressed how Japanese can put so many "manga" cliché in a 6 people party. I can already tell you their respective personality just by their look.

And yes, too bad they didn't "port" it, but Japanese aren't that much into PC gaming.

I don't know about this. What I liked most about Wizardry was developing the characters in my party. But the one screen on characters stats looks very weak - HP, Damage, Accuracy, Dodge. That's it? Plus Anime art style is a big turnoff… Too bad for me.

I don't think that screen shows everything and is just a brief overview of the character.

I played Wizardry I and II back in the early 80s and then near 2005 tried to play Wizardry V but I didn't enjoy it at all due to how dated it had become in my view. However, to this day Wizardry VI and VII are very enjoyable and Wizardry VIII (created much much later) is great.

Would this company have rights to the older Wizardry games, too? Maybe they could do a deal with GOG?

I'm less excited after seeing some actual gameplay footage…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyIC5…eature=related

Video looks like it should be a DS game.

Looks like a platformer.

Think to remember - for a *long* time, most Wizardry games have been console games in Japan, and from what I hear they have ranged from average to dreadful. I know there was a DS game Wizardry Asterisk, but I could never get it at a reasonable price and eventually stopped trying since it was not supposed to be any good.

If this was coming to PSP I would have bought it because that is just the sort of idiot I am … so thankfully PS3 only saves me from that.

You know, I'm not sure wizardy's as they were would work today. They were not very accessable back when released and by today's standards basically unplayable.(I'm not talking wiz8 here, but the ones before.) You can still sit down and play the bards tales and ultimas but to sit down with a wizardry it doesn't seem as easy.

Funny enough, I found Cleve's game very close to the wizardry feel, but playable today.

I don't think they were as dreadful as some would say. The old ones still have that old one feel. There was a fan made translation done of the first three of the Lyllagym that were combined for the SNES that was only published in Japan and its considered the highest quality graphics of any any version of those games.

Zloth, if you look at the history of the legal problems Woodhead and Greenberg have had with Sirtech and trying to get their game back you might conclude that these Japanese companies do not have the rights to the old ones - Sir-tech Canada retains the rights, though the devs (including the Curries) have taken jobs with other companies - EA Montreal mainly I believe.

I believe the bankruptcy judge gave them $30k for the illegal transfer of the rights from Sir-tech to Sir-tech Canada in the summary. I am not sure why they didn't demand they be recognized as the owners of the license and let Sirtech Canada or Sirtechs creditors keep the pittance (I think they wanted something like $150k but only $40k was in escrow).

I'd like to ask them sometime. Regardless, the Japanese ownership issue is always one that left me scratching my head, especially when they published here. After all, they even use the same old logo.

The Wizardry game for PS2 that was released worldwide was an amazing game. It was dark and gritty, great atmosphere and felt fairly close to the traditional wizardry games. You could have easily mistaken it for being developed by a western company.

Unfortunately most of the other Wizardry games released in Japan are nowhere near as good. This one here looks like it may be an average game at best, with a heavy Japanese subculture influence.

Originally Posted by Scrav
The Wizardry game for PS2 that was released worldwide was an amazing game. It was dark and gritty, great atmosphere and felt fairly close to the traditional wizardry games. You could have easily mistaken it for being developed by a western company.

Unfortunately most of the other Wizardry games released in Japan are nowhere near as good. This one here looks like it may be an average game at best, with a heavy Japanese subculture influence.

Cool - thanks for that. I requested it on Goozex (game trading site) and hope to get the chance to play it on the kids' PS2

Originally Posted by txa1265
Cool - thanks for that. I requested it on Goozex (game trading site) and hope to get the chance to play it on the kids' PS2

Yep, very cool game for the PS2 if you can get it cheap. It is a very traditional dungeon-crawler, with not much story etc… but some deep gameplay. The graphics hold up very well too!

Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land for PS2.

If you just want to see the dungeon crawling, skip to around 3:20 of the video.

Originally Posted by Falchor
Yep, very cool game for the PS2 if you can get it cheap. It is a very traditional dungeon-crawler, with not much story etc… but some deep gameplay. The graphics hold up very well too!

It's one of my favorite games for the PS2, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes oldschool RPGs. I would have preferred graphics similar to Labyrinth of Lost Souls, because those 2D graphics looks gorgeous, but the 3D monsters in TotFL aren't half bad.

Also on topic I would like to add that I look forward to the localization of LoLS, hoping that it will do well enough to warrant other similar releases in the future.

Originally Posted by Jack
It's one of my favorite games for the PS2, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes oldschool RPGs. I would have preferred graphics similar to Labyrinth of Lost Souls, because those 2D graphics looks gorgeous, but the 3D monsters in TotFL aren't half bad.

I prefer the graphic style of TotFL. I think it's a nice mix of Japanese and Western fantasy art styles. On the other hand, Labyrinth of Lost Souls almost looks like a pure JRPG.