This is a “Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord” review, played and tested on Sony PlayStation 5. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is available for the Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X & S, and PC with prices ranging from $29.99-39.99/€ 29,99-39,99
The legend of Wizardry
For those reading that are still young and enjoying their Baldur’s Gate 3, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth; those game wouldn’t exist (at least in the way they are now) if it wasn’t for Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. It can be considered the OG when it comes to the Computer Role Playing game genre. The game by Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead was released in the infant years of home computer gaming back in 1981 on the Apple II Computer. Before its release was a playable beta version of this game shown in the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. Sir-Tech’s, Norman Sirotek, liked what Greenberg and Woodhead were demoing there and offered them to release the game under the wings of Sir-Tech. This is among the first “Dungeons & Dragons”-like games and the first party-based RPGs ever made. The release was highly successful and would kick off a three year run of sequels with The Knight of Diamonds and Legacy of Llylgamyn coming out in 1982 en 1983.
Remake
To celebrate this almost celestial game, the king of Remakes, Digital Eclipse, is teaming up with Sir-Tech to put Wizardry I back into the spotlight. Digital Eclipse is known to be one of the best retro/remaster video game developers in the current market with a slew of collections and remakes on it’s name after it reinvented itself in 2015. Most recently it released the awesome “Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story“. The Wizardry remake was initially launched last year on PC only, to great success to new make it viable to release it on consoles as well.
As for many other gamers, Wizardry has a special place in my gaming heart. The original series of Wizardry were the very first RPGs I have ever played, starting with the Nintendo Entertainment System version that was released in North America in July 1990 and Japan in December 1987. I have spent more time on this game than any other RPG in my very long gaming career. Ever since I was a child I always wanted to see a fully visual release of this game. The closest I ever got to that was the February 1998, Japanese PS1 release where for the first time shown some form of true graphics on the mazes but still had that old interface. It was the best we had until this release.
What is Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord?
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the 1st of an initial trilogy of games in the Masters Series that later got further expanded into an eight-game series. Wizardry I starts you off in town where you need to recruit upwards to six characters.
You can mix and match several races like humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and hobbits. With gathered points you can specialize these characters with special elite classes. With enough points you can be a samurai, bishop, lord, or a Ninja. You can als create completely new characters (which you will as this game is very punishing and tough), which you will to keep your party full, as this game is notorious for it’s perma-death gameplay. Yourself created creatures can have all sorts of characteristics ,alongside their overall nature, which can either good, neutral, or evil (unless the class is one that can’t be good).
After the character creation you can purchase items (with the limited gold you have) before you start your adventure. Once you have your party, and all the special items you need you may proceed to the maze where there are ten very difficult levels to explore.
Difficulty
If you have not played the original ones in the past: Patience is a must. The things you need to do before you even go on your journey can be a bit overwhelming. You will have to tinker with a lot just to start this game, like in the previous versions. In many regards Digital Eclipse has managed to capture the magic of the original release and make the experience in this century as accessible as possible without tinkering to it’s much acclaimed and threaded difficulty level. While the 1981 release on Apple II was about as good as it got, there was always room to improve, something Digital Eclipse have certainly done.
Graphics
With this 2023-2024 remake, for the first time, everything in the game is fully graphically represented. The town as well as the mazes. In contrary to all of the previous versions of this game from the 1981 Apple II release, to the special Playstation 1 release in 1998, Llylgamyn Saga. The game’s visuals in general are excellent. The original main menu from the 1982 has been translated into a visualized town square representing all the different features, which sets the mood quite well. In the center of the town you’ll will find the maze where you will go to explore the world. progressing through the maze itself very snappy and improves the playability quite a bit. Overall, the whole package feels very appealing to anyone that is a Role Playing Game fan.
Rule sets
Speaking of Apple II, the original 1981 release is also incorporated into the game and serves as the inspiration of the game, everything you do is based off that version with some options to all Old-School Options and Newer Options, which make this game play pretty much like any version of Wizardry I that you played in the past. This game was originally released on the many computer versions and on least five separate gaming consoles. This version allows you to swap options and rules from the NES Version, Commodore 64, Super Famicom, Sharp X1, among many, many other versions.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is without a doubt legendary game and this remake kept that original flair and gameplay loop in tact while adding nice visuals and solid UI to it. The additional retrospective features makes this a solid title for both gameplay and historical interest perspectives.
The Good
- Intact Wizardry gameplay
- Smooth and fast dungeon crawling
- configurability of the rule set
The Bad
- Difficulty can be overwhelming for new players
- Price won't persuade many new players
