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Demo 1st Impressions
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RPGDot Forums > Wizardry 8

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Aelhyn
Eager Tradesman
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Joined: 05 Sep 2001
Posts: 48
   

I must say, WOW!!!
I can't really think of a single bad thing to say about the game!

Gameplay is awesome. I love the battle system! Sound is great too - it's pretty cool when you walk on chunks of metal I love the music, especially in battle. Very epic! Graphics, while not state-of-the-art, are more than adequate, and the animations are superb (love those slimes!) Anyway, I'd take performance over graphics anyday - and this game runs very well. The only minor slowdown I've had is when casting a Fireball - and I'm running the game at high res (for me, anyway). The least positive note is that the controls are kinda hard to get used to at 1st. After playing about an hr, I like them (steep learning curve, like in Gothic). Didn't bother reading the readme

Overall, the game rocks!! It has a magic feel to it. Maybe it's the feel of old-school Wizardry (I wouldn't know cuz I'm new to the series). Anyway, back to the game!
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 12:27 pm
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Aelhyn
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Joined: 05 Sep 2001
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Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention one of the game's best features - the personality system. Simply put, I love it. The chars don't say stupid comments like in BG. Everything they say is related to the game. "I see some movement" "There's an odd smell here" "I see something interesting" Hehe, gotta love it!
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 12:30 pm
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Rendelius
Critical Error
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Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 16
Location: Austria
   

That's about my impression, too. I reall don't know why they had those troubles finding a publisher, even when they tried to link the publishing rights with fundings for 9 and 10. I just think the had a bad timing, but it wasn't their fault (fear of recession, well before September).

One thing you notice at first sight: this is an RPG made b people who know about RPG's, love RPG's and care about RPG's. Impressive, really impressive. This puts quite a few other big fanfare releases to shame. With Wizardry 8 and Gothic, we'll have plenty of opportunity to fill the time until Morrowind, NWN and Dungeon Siege are released

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Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 1:31 pm
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Moriendor
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Joined: 19 Jul 2001
Posts: 1306
Location: Germany
   

Objection Your Majesty and peasantry Honor .

While I agree on the depth and degree of detail regarding the characters I have to totally disagree on the topic of gfx. I hope I don't hurt anyone's feelings when I'm saying that even MM6 looked a lot better (BTW, I'm running the demo in 1024x768x32 OpenGL on a GeForce2 GTS - does D3D look any better ?).
But underneath the ugly hood, Wiz8 promises a deep and rich old school role-playing experience. Need to play more of the demo to tell for sure.

After having played the German version of Gothic in spring of this year it's still very hard for me to appreciate an RPG with downsides. Gothic was pretty close to perfect in terms of presentation (gfx) and depth.
Don't know if I'll buy Wiz8 since I'm also new to the series and so there's no nostalgic feelings about it. We'll see...
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 6:53 pm
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Incindium
Captain of the Guard
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Joined: 17 Oct 2001
Posts: 187
   

Have you played MM6 recently? Its graphics weren't good for it time and they don't hold up real well now, especially on a 19in monitor. But that doesn't stop it from still being an excellent yet dated game. I suspect you are remembering MM6 graphics being better than they are.
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 7:15 pm
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Rendelius
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Joined: 06 Jul 2001
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Location: Austria
   

Yah, MM6 wasn't even accelerated. Good game, ugly, pixelating graphics. Just reinstall the game and see yourself

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Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 7:22 pm
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Moriendor
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Joined: 19 Jul 2001
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OK OK, the comparison to MM6 was admittedly a little exaggerated (actually I'm just too lazy to install it and see for myself ).

However, I do remember the gfx of MM8 (had it on my HD until not too long ago) and I'd say that Wiz8's gfx are slightly, very slightly better than MM8's.
Everyone knows that RPG's have always been lagging behind in terms of graphics but even the more than 3 years old Half-Life engine (based on Quake 2 engine which again is a loonngg time ago) does better than Wiz8.

Don't get me wrong. Wiz8 may still turn out to be a good gameplay experience in other areas (char development etc.) but I don't think your eyes will be grateful for it .
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 9:46 pm
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correction: half life was a heavily modified quake 1 engine.
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 10:49 pm
 
Aelhyn
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Joined: 05 Sep 2001
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I think RPG of the Year will go to either Wiz VIII or Gothic (maybe Arcanum?).

As for the graphs, maybe they're outdated, but I don't think they're ugly. Well, I still think SNES games look nice

And RPGs won't be behind for long, with NWN and MWD coming up. Looking good!
Post Wed Oct 31, 2001 11:19 pm
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Raldor
Keeper of the Gates
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Joined: 27 Sep 2001
Posts: 107
   

I have to agree with Aelhyn and Rendelius about the demo. I expected a lot from this game, and so far it's even better than I expected.

About the graphics, I love them. While the engine may be dated as far as technology standards, I love what they did with it. Everything looks so clean and polished. The textures and colors are great. It also moves extremely smooth, which is a big plus for me. I've seen plenty of games with more impressive engines that just plain didn't look as good.

Moriendor: I was playing at 1152x864 32bit D3D. When I switched to OpenGL, I thought it looked better in D3D, but I don't know if it will be enough to change your mind really.
Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 12:07 am
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Bourrie
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Joined: 09 Jul 2001
Posts: 78
Location: Belgium
   

Oef!! Those Swallows are hard, but can be beaten with the necessary tactics! What can I say, I've totally forgotten time. I was completely sucked into the exploration of that monastery. That game has all a very good RPG must have! It's my first Wizardry-game and it really is something special, I'm gonna buy it for sure! Now I'm gonna sleep a few hours and then I'll complete this beauty!! A musthave for every RPG-gamer!

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Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 1:24 am
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Llama
High Emperor
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Joined: 11 Oct 2001
Posts: 509
Location: Earth
   

Played about 5 minutes worth to get a complete idea of just how worthless the game was for my taste.
Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 5:19 am
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Garrett
 
 




Joined: 13 Jul 2001
Posts: 74
Location: Munich, Germany
   

Well, I have to agree with Moriendor - the outdoor do remind me of the MM Engine used in vol 6 thru 8 (read my re-uploaded Wiz8 Preview based on the press demo) - BUT: I do really love the MM games despite their poor grafx. And Wiz8 does indeed look a lot better that the MM games - I just said they remind of the MM grafx. I defintely will get Wiz 8 and encourage everyone to do so to show the industry what terrible mistake they have made not to support Sir Tech with Wiz 9...
Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 10:13 am
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Aelhyn
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Joined: 05 Sep 2001
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I love the battle system! I keep getting ambushed! I love being surrounded by 20+ creatures and having to fight my way to safety. And the chars' comments are really nice - makes it more real.
Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 1:35 pm
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Raldor
Keeper of the Gates
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Joined: 27 Sep 2001
Posts: 107
   

Another thing I've noticed is if you're being attacked by 2 creatures of the same type, the one with slightly more hp will be slightly bigger.

It's really a small thing, but I like it. I don't remember seeing this done before, but I sometimes have a short memory.
Post Thu Nov 01, 2001 1:43 pm
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