Wizardry 8 Vs. Wizardry 7

[avir]

Although I am an avid follower of the Wizardry series, having played the original one on my old Apple ][ (ca. 1982) I got Wiz 8 only recently.

I finished the game once. I have to say that it was a bit disappointing.

IMHO, Wiz 7 was the best single player RPG ever. It had an interesting plot, fantastic logic puzzles, a huge scope, and great character development. I played for months, and had a big notebook, which was essential.

In contrast Wiz8 was a bit disappointing. It is much more limited in scope, the puzzles were a bit too easy. Yes the graphics and sound were improved, automapping was better, and character development a bit more tricky. I liked the Gadgeteer, although he is too much like the Bard.

I also have a feeling that the game is unfinished. Alas. Nevertheless, I am sure that had this game come before CDS, it would have been a riot. It is still great fun, and I think my money was well spent.

I am saddened that the series is coming to an end.

Avir

[Oruboris]

Agree with most of what you say-- 7 held my interest for much longer, as the environment was so friggin HUGE. Often played it more as an excersize in making the most kick a$$ possible solo character-- switching professions, choosing just the right cursed objects, etc.

Still, 8 is a great game, unfinished though it is. A good buy, all in all.

Much more fun with a small party, though.

Thinking about it, though, I could never have gotten through 7 without the strategy guide: having to ask the old rat in the city about 'archives', when there was nothing to indicate that particular word, or the complex pattern for the levers in the ratkin funhouse, etc. Glad the internet has largely freed us from having to buy a $20 book in order to play a game we'd already payed $40 bucks for...

Oru

[ 10-16-2002, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Oruboris ]

[Wereboar]

having to ask the old rat in the city about 'archives', when there was nothing to indicate that particular word,

Don Barlone told you this one.

[Oruboris]

OK, must have missed that clue, but I still found it impossible to finish without the strategy guide: so many of the 'puzzles' were just collections of random pull this/push that combinations, and getting one wrong often had bad consequences.

Course, a LOT of games of that era were set up the same way-- why sell a game if you can sell a game and a book?

Oru

[Wereboar]

so many of the 'puzzles' were just collections of random pull this/push that combinations, and getting one wrong often had bad consequences.

Which ones?

I remember the rack in the funhouse (before the chest with the map) and the room where you get the boat in New City.
For both puzzles, there were clear hints on the maps you find. I din't need any outside help for them.

Then there was a puzzle in Munkharama. It was like a game of 'mastermind' (at least thats how its called here). You get hints like 'black-black-white-white' after each try. With these, you could solve it in ~3 tries.

Which one did i miss?

Anyhow, i didn't have a strategy guide, but needed some help from other people.
One of my biggest problem was in Orkogre Castle - i used the right item at the right place, but didn't realize that i have to view the right direction too (RPG newbie).
Another one was that i dropped the (IIRC) serpent staff - it was cursed, so why keep it.
And i needed a very long time to find the correct answer for the well in Munkharama (but in wiz, you can do lots of things elsewhere while you are stuck at one place).
And there were two things near the end that i didn't find out for a while, and asked a friend (who found out one of this by accident, and know of the other one from another friend - playing the same game in a group helps a lot)

[Vaprakgruumsh]

One of my biggest problem was in Orkogre Castle - i used the right item at the right place, but didn't realize that i have to view the right direction too (RPG newbie).

DOH! After all these years, I could never figure out why I couldn't get it to work... didn't realize ya had to face the correct direction... lol... omg...

[HolyWarrior]

Unfortunately I played Wiz8 first, and have gotten spoiled. I tried playing Wiz7, but it's like going back to the dark ages. I eventually uninstalled it since the interface and game mechanics are such a PITA compared to Wiz8.

[vesselle]

i know. sad but true.

V***V

[jsalsb]

Although Wiz 8 was well worth the money, IMHO Wiz 7 is still the best CRPG ever made. It was VAST, it was complex, it was about as non-linear as you can get, and it took for ever to play. This last point is the clincher, and one that I think separates all games from upto the early 1990's from today's games: there was no internet for instant gratification! When you hit a snag, you had to either dish out for the hint book, call the long-distance help line (I remember agonizing over each decision to call the sir-tech hotline... "press 1 for New City; press 2 for Orkogre Castle; press 3 for Tower of Dane...), or just hunker down and solve that sucker! Sometimes I'd get so frustrated that I'd walk away from the game for weeks, then come back with a fresh perspective on the problem and solve it in a matter of hours. The game took me the better part of a year to complete, Now that's satisfaction! By contrast, I finished wiz 8 in just over a month.

Another thing that made older games seem more involving was that you moved through them in that primitive yet suspenseful step-at-a-time pace. Each square was ripe with potential for instant horror. Kept you on the edge of your seat, and slowed you down as you mapped out each step (automap or not). Yes, I may be romanticizing old dinosaur technology, but hey, you can only compare what you've got to your contemporaries, and at the time the tech of wiz 7 was just fine. I'm sure in ten years we'll wonder how we were able to stand the primitive play of today's games.

And of course, the one thing that wiz 7 (and 6 and 5) had that wiz 8 does not was the genius of DWB. Period.

[avir]

Originally posted by Oruboris: Still, 8 is a great game, unfinished though it is. A good buy, all in all. Much more fun with a small party, though. Thinking about it, though, I could never have gotten through 7 without the strategy guide: having to ask the old rat in the city about 'archives', when there was nothing to indicate that particular word, or the complex pattern for the levers in the ratkin funhouse, etc. Glad the internet has largely freed us from having to buy a $20 book in order to play a game we'd already payed $40 bucks for... Oru

I agree that Wiz8 is a good buy, and also that it is more fun with a small party. I am running a solo faerie bishop now. Delicious.

However, I never used a strategy guide for Wiz7. In Wiz7, you often had to wait until later in the game to get the right clue. This happens also in Wiz8 but to a limited extent. I did keep a large notebook, with maps and remarks. (Don Barlone tells you about the archives, for example). The only puzzle which was realy tedious was the water slide in the fun house.

And also we didn't have WWW and browsers back then, there was usenet. There was an alt.games.rpg.ibmpc.wizardry7 news group. It was very active, and you could get a spoiler or a strategy hint any time.