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- Digital Eclipse
- Digital Eclipse
- Digital Eclipse
- Digital Eclipse
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Remaster
Released On: May 23, 2024
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Digital Eclipse's stylish and subtle retooling of a classic retains the spirit of the original while providing just enough quality-of-life aids to make it approachable to modern gamers for whom having to fetch a pen and paper and ‘bad design’ are one and the same. The team's genius lies in recontextualising classics in such a way that they also serve as great introductions, and for genre newbies to have this Wizardry remake potentially be their first old-school dungeon crawler is a real gift. Be prepared for the grind, but Wizardry's unforgiving style has been back in mainstream vogue for a while now, so if you're at all curious, Trebor's mission is absolutely worth accepting.
Your enjoyment of Wizardry in 2024 is going to depend a lot on the amount you’re willing to put into it. I quickly became obsessed with taking a quick run into a new corner of the dungeon every night before going to bed. But a lot of that was built on an existing interest in old western RPGs, an understanding of Dungeons & Dragons mechanics, and a willingness to look up the older rules. The game itself isn’t really interested in helping you with any of that. Instead, they’ve made some smart adjustments to smooth out some of the aging gameplay while still staying very true to the original. It is also worth noting that every quality-of-life change can be toggled on or off, so if you want this to play exactly like it did in 1981, that is an option. You can even swap to the dungeon layouts from the later console ports. This is an extremely faithful update of an important game. And if you’re willing to give it the opportunity, you find it is just as addictive today as it was forty years ago.
Digital Eclipse’s new take on Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is an impressive and ambitious attempt to bring historical flavor and contemporary approachability and appeal into one neat, modern package. I may prefer the sprites and chiptunes of the Game Boy Wizardry remakes, but the effort and passion for video game history is just as powerful here as it is in other Digital Eclipse works. I would have loved some more museum-style content these folks are known for, but the laser focus on the game here is a fascinating new approach.
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Summary Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is a full 3D remake of the first game in the legendary Wizardry series of RPGs.
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
- PC
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date: May 23, 2024
Developer:
- Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Digital Eclipse
Genres: