LAST EDITED ON Dec-10-01 AT 09:15 AM (Pacific)

I finished my first run through the game, and the following are my reflections:

Does Pvt. Sparke's voice deepen as he levels? I never recruited him.

What happens if you give Bela the ring from Wiz6?

The end game was disappointing. I expected it to be much more difficult then it was. I had a Fighter, Rogue, Priest, Psionic and 2 mages. My party did 300 damage per round. I expected the monsters at the end to be much tougher. Also, I expected to be another "Hall of Gorrors" type super-monster killing spree deal. Y'know, just for the challenge. I finshed the game at level 24/25.

I was also rather disappointed in the character development. I liek the way they did it, but my spell casters weren't even 100 in their stats. Many of the lvl 7 spells I couldn't cast at lvl 7. (You know what I mean...)

I liked the variety of scenery, cities and the graphics of monsters and NPCs. I liked the puzzles within them. I would have liked to be able to sail on the seas like in Wiz7 to move around a little quicker. Nessie was a nice touch. I wish they had found a use for the Jeweled Cushion and Lodestone and other anomolies from Wiz7. I think that the epic would have fit together better if they had. I would also have liked it if Bela could have been recruited.

It seems to me that spells aren't as powerfull in Wiz8 as in Wiz7. Nuclear Blast and Mind Flay don't seem to do nearly as much damage as they used to, at least against enemies you meet when you get the spell. Spells like Dehydrate and Crush (nice animation there) also didn't do an extraordinary amount of damage against most monsters. I got the same damage from my fighter. Since that was the case, the only point to having dedicated spell casters (not lords or samurai or ninja) is for area spells and magical healing so you don't have to carry as many potions.

My team was in the blue for CC for most of the game. I was carrying mostly potions and misc items for Antone and Ferro, and the Chaos Moliri, etc. It seemed a bit weird, always being burdened by that. In Ascention Peak, I just dropped most of what I was carrying right in the middle of a valley, and wrote a note on my map "Drop Point" in case I needed to go back. They didn't even thank me.

I created a new party which I am not terribly thrilled about so far. Samurai, Rogue, Ranger, Alchemist, and two bishops. I tried the gadgeteer and wasn't that thrilled by lvl 10 so I started a new game (the one I finished last night). I'm on lvl 5 now and I just left the monestary for Arnika. I was thinking about a Samurai, Ninja, Ranger, Alchemist, and two other spell casters.

And those are my thoughts about the game....

Thanks,
Pischle

• Sparkle? *HIS* Voice?,Llevram, 09:52 PM, Dec-10-01
• RE: Overall,Tiburon (Guest), 07:42 AM, Dec-11-01
  • RE: Overall,Warrior (Guest), 11:27 AM, Dec-11-01
• RE: Overall,kiwi, 11:56 AM, Dec-11-01
• RE: Overall,Markos, 03:17 PM, Dec-11-01
  • More than a few days,Llevram, 06:14 PM, Dec-11-01
  • RE: Overall,Pischle, 06:25 AM, Dec-12-01
    • RE: Overall,pearce (Guest), 10:18 AM, Dec-12-01

Uhm, Sparkle is a girl Their voices usually don't deepen and if they do, there is somethig fishy going on

Actually, I thin she must be intientioally annoying (just like the bank teller is so doldrum) and I plan on having a party setup one day just to obliterate her (and pust an end to that high-pitched tittering

Anyhow, good review. I imagine there are many points in the game that people will be less than thrilled with.

As for the end game, I had a real different take - at least the first time I played. I ended up trying that battle a few times (at 45 minutes real time per attempt), before realizing I needed new tactics. I really thought the way the end game played out (both the choices and the scenery) made it the best end game I can recall.

The spell effects (while most of us profess to not be here for the eye candy) were really an awesome part of the game. The other night I got tsumani cast at me and I had eye for an eye in effect .... you should see the water shoot and spray in every direction when that hits

Tools for Wizardry(r) 7

When I first saw Sparkle, I just said....no. No way. I am NOT recruiting this one. I do not need a bouncy, cheery high school freshman type (no offense intended to those who read this that are).

As a rule, I've found that scrolls and potions banked as party items aren't a serious problem. I keep some specific offensive items with my rogue (cursed melee weapons) for use in the first round, and everyone has healing or Pickmeups on hand for combat restoratives. But I don't use them in combat that much; my priest doesn't dish out lots of damage, so if I need healing, it's just as easy to cast a spell, and let the character who can dish out the damage, continue on fighting. The weight problem for me, is ammunition...you can burn through a WHOLE lot of ammo even in a single round of ranged combat.

Another source of weight for some classes is, of course, seriously heavy armor. I've been pushing Speed and Dex a LOT on most characters, so I can win initiative when I want to. This has the side benefit of increasing everyone's base AC, so I can afford to shave some burden by using the lighter armors. And of course, as you get into the middle and latter stages, you start finding very good armors (jazeraint tunic, for example) that give very nice AC boosts while not being overly heavy.

My plan for the second run-through is to probably run a single-race party, just for grins. An all-Mook party would be fun, just to see if you get in on that 'Mook business' after the first visit to the hologram, but would be seriously weaker...lower starting stats. Felpurr and hobbit are likely choices; they're versatile enough. Starting guilds might be affected by race, but I'm leaning towards ranger, bard, ninja, and 3 others TBD, at least one of which would be a pure spellcaster.

I am still on my first time through, I saved Marten for last, cause I missed that tunnel in the sea caves, but the game upped the monster levels for me, so it didn't matter much, it was still fun.

Only complaint I have about the game is the annoying npc push that occurs when you ally, and have hoards of them pushing you around the halls, as in Rapax Castle. I also killed Barlone in this game, so the next one I am going to try a diffrent approach.

My favorite battle so far has to be the Sorceress, very challenging, except my Ninja got his favorite critical in...

It's too bad you didn't stick with the gadgeteer... at lvl 13 or so, they start getting powerful...

hmm nice review, i'm just wondering (as i still don't have mine copy) is the game so short that ppl have already finished it? i mean, it took me i'd say several hundreds hours to finish wiz7 even with a hint book and now it seems like some of u have finished it in few days....that would prolly be the most disappointing thing for me

It has been out for almost a month now. It takes a good while to finish and there is much replay value.

Tools for Wizardry(r) 7

LAST EDITED ON Dec-12-01 AT 06:26 AM (Pacific)

It is NOT short. I played all day every day on the weekends and holidays and any days I could get off from work, and then every night, straight from 5:30 to 11:00 or 12:00. Also, I got the clue book a few days after the game so I had some hints to go by. I got the game 2 days before the scheduled release from EB and it took me about a month to finish.

Also, I like to build my party up very well, and I didn't this time. I just wanted to see then ending. This time, with my new party, I plan to take more time.

Thanks,
Pischle

Ja, I also felt that the 'final' battle was way too easy. My characters were in the level 25 range and not even buffed up at the time. I just did it on a lark assuming that I'd die horribly and would need to restore a save. But lo and behold, I finished the game. Party consisted of Fighter/Ranger/Rogue/Samurai/Priest/Mage.

My biggest character disappointment was with my human samurai. He must have had a 'kick me' sign stuck on his back because in every battle he was the one that got drained or paralyzed or swallowed, etc. Nomatter where I put him in the party, he ended up getting brutalized. Offensively he could do awesome damage, but that was only when he wasn't asleep or otherwise useless. He also had the kickass samurai armor, but that didn't seem to help him any.

My biggest surprise was my hobbit rogue. With duel weapon skill and a thieve's dagger in each hand he was a wall of death.
Who needs a dwarf fighter when the hobbit can do 150 points a round AND have a 120% locks and traps skill!

Pearce