No. The first-person view is probably the only thing they have in common.
Well, perhaps I'll buy this, perhaps not. But knowing this won't play like Wizardry VIII made me more sad.
No. The first-person view is probably the only thing they have in common.
Worthplaying:
...Unfortunately for a game so based around dungeon crawling, Wizardry is visually a bore. The character designs are anime-inspired, but they're rather bland. While there are a wide variety of races to choose from, they're indistinguishable from humans except the pointy-eared Elves. I couldn't tell the difference between a Human or a Gnome, aside from Gnomes looking a little thinner and younger. Perhaps the most egregious example of silly character design involves the Dwarves. The male Dwarf character is actually the tallest character in the game and is basically a giant slab of huge muscle. The female dwarf, on the other hand, looks like a 10-year-old. Neither is remotely dwarfish and don't make sense as two sides of the same species.
The dungeon design is similarly uninspired. It's full of basically interchangeable corridors with almost no distinctive landmarks or noteworthy locations. This isn't so bad if you have a map, but if you're ding things the "hard way," e prepared to be bored stiff by the level design. Combat animations are simplistic, and enemies are mostly represented by simple pictures, which make them dull to watch after a while, although they're relatively quick.
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls is certainly fun, but it's fun for a specific group of people. Those who love the old school of RPGs before they became more about the cinematics and fast-paced action will find a lot to like. It's a classic Wizardry game through and through, almost unchanged from the older titles. In some ways, it feels even more archaic than titles like Etrian Odyssey or other dungeon-crawler titles. Archaic doesn't mean bad, though. If you don't enjoy the idea of wandering lost in a dungeon or spending hours puzzling over every bit of gameplay, then you'll end up more frustrated than anything else. On the other hand, if a plot-light and exploration-heavy, old-school RPG tickles your fancy, then Wizardry is exactly the right game for you.
Score: 7/10
Well, perhaps I'll buy this, perhaps not. But knowing this won't play like Wizardry VIII made me more sad.
We need Wizardry 9.
I would be all over either of those, honestly, Wizardry eight is so darn good I don't need an update to replay that awesome game!!! So my push would be for a sequel of sorts, or maybe an old-school expansion.
It would be interesting if you could mod this JWizardry with other Wizardry images to make it look more Western.