Just wanted to say hello, Im new here (but have been lurking quite a while)
I just beat Wizardry 8 for the first time and wanted to just post my observations on it. I did it with a full party consisting of mage, priest, valkyrie, fighter, lord and bard and I picked up RFS-81 and Vi Domina along the way. At first I was reloading A LOT because simply, this game is just plain hard at early levels IMO. After about level 15 or so, (and after I found the dulcimer of mending) fighting almost got trivial. Im assuming that has to be because of the makeup of the party since it seems pretty well balanced to me.
The second I beat the game with that party, I started up a new game with the following- bishop, bard, ranger and fighter. I dont plan on picking up any NPCs along the way. So far its more challenging Id say.
The biggest complaint I have are the following: some fights are just too hard early on and they are seemingly unavoidable. Like if you camp several times or reload an older game, huge packs of mobs will be in the same spot impeding your progress. Great example would be on Arnika Road on the way back to the monestary after picking up the wheel key. With both parties Ive played in this spot Ive encountered like 8 plants and 7 higardi badguys at a time. So yeah, in a nutshell the biggest complaint I have is how it seems like some fights that are completely irrelevant to the storyline the game "makes" you fight them whether you like it or not. I guess the other complaint I have is the fights take too long and with all the fights you get into it can often take hours to get from one place to another
I have too many praises to list them all here but I will say this game kept me glued to it and anxious to get home from work to play it like no other game in recent memory. The replay value seems enormous, even more than morrowind. The leveling system is great, and the mobs increase in level with you...so you arent annoyed with fighting trivial mobs worth 0 xp at high levels (caugh...everquest)
Sorry that was long