Wizardry 8 … Demo

I think Jaz has probably played every genre of game known to man/woman--her posts indicate a pretty eclectic range, to say the least.

I actually find the combat in Wiz 8 a plus, but that's my tb strategy background--I enjoy agonizing and replaying battles. But Wiz 8 is also quite strong on plot and story and not just a combat generator--all the classic role-playing elements are represented.

Originally Posted by cutterjohn
It really sounds to me like adventure games would be more your cup of tea then, if you really do NOT like combat in CRPGs as combat IS an integral part of RPGs, be they computer, console, or pen and paper.

I love adventure games. I also love adventure/CRPG hybrids. I did like 'Nemesis: the Wizardry Adventure' . And suddenly we're back at the 'what makes an RPG RPGish?' topic!
Personally, I don't consider combat in RPGs overly important - I managed to GM many a pen&paper RPG session without combat, preferring to have my players solve mysteries instead. Combat is perfectly in order if it doesn't stop the game's flow, but the Wiz8 demo somehow had a strobe feel to it.

Originally Posted by magerette
I think Jaz has probably played every genre of game known to man/woman--her posts indicate a pretty eclectic range, to say the least.

I just love computer and video games of all sorts . And I'm ancient! Not as ancient as Corwin, however - if he's Lucy, I'm Frozen Fritz.

Originally Posted by magerette
I actually find the combat in Wiz 8 a plus, but that's my tb strategy background--I enjoy agonizing and replaying battles.

I also like strategical combat, but I like it in strategy or tac games (Incubation, anyone?). There's a time for everything . In CRPGs, it often feels disjointed, like a minigame. For me, the only CRPG where the strategic combat really felt integral to the gameplay and story was JA2.

Originally Posted by magerette
But Wiz 8 is also quite strong on plot and story and not just a combat generator--all the classic role-playing elements are represented.

Mind you, I liked Wiz7, but at least the Wiz8 demo gave me next to nothing of the story. In short, the demo didn't inspire me to buy it.*
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*in fact, the only game I bought the very next day after I had seen the demo was a game I hadn't even heard anything about before I had seen the demo. It became one of my all-time favorites.

Well, Jaz, --I agree there is a great deal of combat, and much of it doesn't move the plot forward or support the story. Some of the mods address this--I think Flamestryke's is supposed to eliminate a lot of the random combat and replace it with more story oriented stuff--also the wizfast utility speeds things up a lot…removing all the combat animations and delays as 17 or 18 opponents each take an individual turn But right out of the box, yes, you are fighting a lot!

Also, I've found each time you revisit an area there is less to fight, so that after awhile you can use the X-Ray spell which highlights all the baddies on the mini-map, and thus avoid a lot of extraneous combat simply by sneaking around it.

If you can get past the mini-game aspect of the combat--and I do follow you there--when you spend an hour on a battle, it qualifies as a kind of mini-game for sure-- I think you'll find a lot of classic crpg goodies--wide and varied dialogue options; divergent paths,allegiances and choices, great depth to the scripting and voice acting so both the NPC's & your rolled chars are interesting, a good back-story and some well-fleshed-out factions.

Not that I'm trying to push the game or anything

btw, what's the mystery game you footnoted?

'Realms of the Haunting', an occult-themed action adventure from '96. Sales bombed, but critics liked it. Happened to be a real underdog .

See, your description makes me want to replay the Wiz8 demo despite my experiences with it!

Sometimes the underdogs--and the undocumented and unhyped games--are the best of all--you could make a major list of great ones that never got any attention.

If you do play again, remember the X-Ray spell

Originally Posted by magerette
Sometimes the underdogs--and the undocumented and unhyped games--are the best of all--you could make a major list of great ones that never got any attention.

It is a funny thing … I am (predictably, I suppose) part of a hardcore PSP group as well. Folks there lose all sense of perspective as well - the other day we were discussing a game, making references back and forth, everyone knew it … and then I looked it up and it had sold ~14,000 copies worldwide!

14,000 copies? You're elite!

@magerette: I will remember XRay for sure, thanks!

Originally Posted by Jaz
IMind you, I liked Wiz7, but at least the Wiz8 demo gave me next to nothing of the story. In short, the demo didn't inspire me to buy it.*

I really tried to like Wiz7 but I guess I'm one of the few who played it for about a week and got frustrated with how slow it was whenever a NPC popped up or combat encounter (there was a long pause for each sound effect). I only played Wiz gold though and I've been reading that Wiz 7 didn't have those problems.

Originally Posted by Jaz
'Realms of the Haunting', an occult-themed action adventure from '96. Sales bombed, but critics liked it. Happened to be a real underdog .

Now that game was great. One of the few that I actually finished. I still have the disks for it and replayed it all the way through about a year ago. Even though the graphics weren't the best, it is still better now than most of the first person games out there now, but most sheep who buy games only look to see how much "eye candy" there is in a game. That's just my 2 cents worth and that's all it's worth.