Actually, Wiz 8 is very popular here and Grimoire has many similarities with it. However, I'd say it was actually closer to Wiz 7!!
Would you share what combat encounter flaws you're referring to? Not looking for a fight, just curious.I didn't like Wiz8. I thought the story was weak and uninspired and the world itself lacked any personality. Technically it was flawed in the nature of the combat encounters and it was a game killer for me.
Perhaps he played it with out the wizfast patch, in which case I can understand the comment; walk 3 steps have a half hour battle, walk 3 more steps, rinse and repeat, especially on a certain road!!
Less of the egotistical denigrating claptrap like the above (glass houses indeed), and more actually releasing the game you've been promising us for what seems like an age.W8 was just actors. If this was not the case, then the team of W8 would have gone out and gotten much better jobs in the IT industry than they did. Many of them work for peanuts now as gophers at obscure game companies. I probably spent more on lunch and gasoline last week than these guys make in a month. It's because the W8 staff were not really seasoned technical, just kind of going through the motions.
While I loved the JA games and was entertained by Wiz7, the Wiz8 demo was a proper warning to not buy the game. I played it twice because I knew of so many folks who enjoyed the game, but playing the demo twice didn't help at all.The games Wizardry 1-8 are about battle. There are among the best turn based combat games I have played, ever. Only the Jagged Alliance series (from Sirtech, too!) comes close.