So tell me about this game

[Brak]

Reviews for this game are not exactly flooding the internet, but the ones I have read so far seem very encouraging. However, they do not answer a few of the questions I have about the game, so maybe some of you could help me out with them.

I have never played an RGP from first-person perspective before and am curious...first-person generally means you are seeing it through the eyes of the character. But in a game where you are playing 6-8 characters at a time, how is this accomplished? Does the view change based on whose turn it is in the round, etc?

And as a seperate but related question...How can the game be immersive/realistic, if my fighter can't turn and look at my mage, etc? The screenshots are giving me the impression that everyone in my party will be invisible the whole game and rather than first-person meaning "through the eyes of my character(s)" it will be more like it is an eye-level camera the floats somewhere in the middle of my invisible party. Please say it ain't so.

[Dan Speziale]

quote:

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Originally posted by Brak:
I have never played an RGP from first-person perspective before and am curious...first-person generally means you are seeing it through the eyes of the character. But in a game where you are playing 6-8 characters at a time, how is this accomplished? Does the view change based on whose turn it is in the round, etc?

And as a seperate but related question...How can the game be immersive/realistic, if my fighter can't turn and look at my mage, etc? The screenshots are giving me the impression that everyone in my party will be invisible the whole game and rather than first-person meaning "through the eyes of my character(s)" it will be more like it is an eye-level camera the floats somewhere in the middle of my invisible party. Please say it ain't so.

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Hi Brak. Welcome!

I have to tell you that it IS so. [img]smile.gif[/img] But it's not as bad as you think it is. I happen to love Wizardry 8's approach to RPGs. It is surprisingly immersive and it really does retain the turn-based approach of a party system. I think that they've done this the best way possible. Yes, your party is technically "invisible" as you say, but I think that a changing view would be very disorienting.

I do recommend that you locate the demo and try it out. It's probably the finest demo that I have played in giving you LOTS of gameplay for free. Although you only get to see one area of the game in the demo, you can level up and change classes for quite an extensive amount of time. A great amount of bang for your buck and, frankly rare.

You can find the demo here:
http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?...340&file=81227

Dan

[ThulsaDoom]

think of it as a 6 headed Tiamat . its really the point of view of all of your characters as they walk in unison . but that doesnt subtract at all from the immersion . it might even add to it with the use of your imagination . trust me [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Brak]

Hmmmmmm...I thought that might be the case. So can this six headed beast turn around and look behind him and realistically have a look around (kinda like a FPS)?

And this makes me wonder, in none of the screenshots do I see a weapon of any kind. Are my party's weapons "invisible" too. I was thinking it might be like the Hexen games where you see you sword or spell lashing out from in front of you, but if you are not seeing the world through one of your PCs eyes, but rather all of their collective eyes, it would seem impossible to see any one weapon. That sucks...what about ranged weapons, could I see an arrow streaking toward an enemy in the distance?

Thx for the replies BTW.

[Merkin]

For some reason they chose not to show your party's melee weapons at all, not sure why. But you do see your missile weapons streaking toward their target, including an accurate model of how well you "rolled". (A character with a very low bow score is apt to send missiles into the dirt, for example, where a better bowman when they miss is apt to at elast get the arrow close enough to cause the target to duck and flinch.

I was wooried about the first-person thing myself, but you adapt very quickly, and this game is incredibly immersive. And yes, you can pan and rotate the camera at will, you have 100% camera control at all times, unless you choose to let the computer manage it during battle (and the computer does a pretty good job with it, always panning to the monster currently attacking, or the one being hit. You also have a little "radar" screen to show you mosters not currently in your field of vision, but close enough that you can see them if you turn around.

The system works amazingly well. I would like to know why they left out the animations for melee weapons, though.

The environment is 3d which means you can in fact turn around, look behind the bushes or rocks or fall off a waterfall...or into a river (don't ask)

[Hooptie]

First of all, dont believe ALL of the hype. Wizardry 8 is good, but its not the best rpg i've ever played. There are some people who are really setting high expectations for this game and if anybody really believes everything they read then they will be sadly dissapointed when they do purchase and play. On the other hand there is very little hype on this game other than from Gamespot and the various boards, it deserves more attention than its getting because it was marketed with a low budget i guess. It depends what you like in rpg's, since every one of them is different.

To answer your questions...

1) You can see your arrows fly as well as your bullet stones and other things. I think you can see your weapon swing, cant remember exactly, getting this mixed up with MaxPayne since i'm currently playing that too.

2) You cant see your other characters, and i was disappointed in that as well. Its something your going to have to adjust to, but once you do it works ok. Dont believe the hype tho, the interface isnt as great as some have made it out to be. It could be better, but i'm not complaining, at least its unique.


I think Wizardry 8 is one of the better rpg's out right now, and probably the best since there havent been too many unless your including mmorpg's in that category. I enjoyed Pool of Radiance, but i think Wizardry 8 is better, just because of the size of the game. I'm not a big Wizardry series fan, although i always thought Wizardry was ok, just no Baldurs Gate. So while i think it could be RPG of the year, the competetion isnt that great imo. If it were up against Baldurs Gate 2, i'd take BG2 anyday of the week. But its not, so Wizaardry 8 is a good game if you enjoy rpg's.

I'd say the best aspects of the game have to be its customization options. The variety of races and classes that you can choose is more diverse than most other rpg's i've ever played. The customization with actor voices and putting points into skill specializations is also a strong aspect of the game. The gameplay isnt that great, but not terrible. Kinda reminds me of a console rpg since it just looks like that when the monsters surround you. Maybe its me, dunno. If your not sure, just download the demo. I'm sure some people wont think the game is that great, especially when the praise seems to be abit too over-emphasized. Nonetheless, its a very good rpg imo.

[Saltheart Foamfollower]

A very enjoyable and compelling game. It has been worth the wait to finally put a comclusion to the end of a fabulous series.

Game play is pretty easy, graphics are eye catching, and it has a pretty decent plot. What more can you really ask for in a CRPG?

[Brak]

Thanks for the replies. Another question then:

I read some info about the game that mentioned being able to move a character during combat to better position him/her. This seems impossible given what has been described. Is it possible to moves characters separate from each other...to move them out of the formation? For example, if I notice a big group of enemies coming at my party, could I send a couple tanks toward them while my archers and magic users stay back, away from the melee, relatively safe?

[Dan Speziale]

quote:

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Originally posted by Brak:
Thanks for the replies. Another question then:

I read some info about the game that mentioned being able to move a character during combat to better position him/her. This seems impossible given what has been described. Is it possible to moves characters separate from each other...to move them out of the formation? For example, if I notice a big group of enemies coming at my party, could I send a couple tanks toward them while my archers and magic users stay back, away from the melee, relatively safe?

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Yes, you can do this. It takes a turn for it to take affect, though. There is a small party formation screen that you can move your characters about depending on where the enemy is facing (if you get attacked from behind or from the sides, for instance).

Dan