Best versions of the early Wizardry games?

[1upsuper]

Hello, everyone. I've gotten into the mood for some turn-based dungeon crawling, and I've never actually played the early Wizardry games, outside of I for the NES. I have the two or three offered on GOG (VIII and IX, or VII and VIII, I can't recall), but I'd really like to play earlier ones, but I can't find them for sale on any such websites. So I was wondering what the best version is for I-VI? I don't want to use an abandonware site or anything. Does any website like GOG have the rights to sell them digitally? I think there might be a collection on Amazon from the late 90s. Is that good? I feel kinda stuck with how to get ahold of these. What are your favorite versions of Wizardry I-VI?

Thanks a lot for any help!

[Deleted]

My personal favorite way for playing I - III is the SNES version. The translated ROM is great, though it carries over the bug that was present in the original cartridge. For some reason Knight of Diamonds is actually listed as part III, and part II is actually Legacy of Llylgamyn. Even so, I'd highly recommend playing all three this way.

[ReyVGM]

In Japan the order is inverted. Part 3 is 2 and part 2 is 3.

[Deleted]

Ah, so it's not a glitch after all. Good to know.

[derboo]

Apr 20, 2014 22:10:19 GMT -5 ReyVGM said:

In Japan the order is inverted. Part 3 is 2 and part 2 is 3.

Only on the Nintendo platforms (and possibly Llylgamyn Saga, don't quite remember), though. PC Engine and computer versions have the correct order.

The SNES versions are hands down the best for Wizardry 1-3 and 5. I prefer the SFC for 6, too, but YMMV and the translation patch is strangely incomplete. The PC version's dungeon graphics are just so terribly monotonous (always grey brick walls, no matter whether you are supposed to be exploring a mine or a forest). I didn't like 4 very much but if you have to play it, I'd go for the version on New Age of Llylgamyn, the arranged mode there is streamlined and has more involved combat (in the computer versions you can only command Werna and your summoned monsters just do what they want).

[Deleted]

The main drawback to the SNES version of VI is that you can't import it into VII. Otherwise, I'd agree that it's the better way to play.

[Seth0708]

Anyone ever play the Turbo CD versions of 1-4, and if so how do they stack up to the Super Nintendo versions?

[derboo]

I can say of the first game that the balancing is completely messed up. You can basically sleepwalk through the first floor even if you've never played the game, and then you go to the second floor and get immediately slaughtered by ninjas (which are third floor enemies in other versions). They also aren't particularly pretty.

4 on the PC Engine has simplified puzzles compared to the original, and you have some limited control over the monstes (you can choose fight or spell, but not which spell). Enemy graphics look actually better than on PSX.

[Deleted]

I have absolutely no scientific proof to back this up, but Llylgamyn Saga feels an entire order of magnitude easier than the NES versions. There are still some tricky parts, but nothing anywhere as bad as the original console releases.

[raziel]

Not sure about the Japanese version, but the first Wizardry on NES has a bug with AC. Not sure what exactly, but I recall reading something along the lines.

[kaoru]

+1 for the SNES versions.

Thanks to them being on one cartrige, you can import your team across the games. They start at level 1, but at least you don't have to rebuild them to the point of being able to make a lord/ninja/samurai. And II is a lot more fun, since you start at level 1 and the game being re-balanced that way - in the pc originals your imported end-game party is still on that end-game level, so the whole dungeon is basicly geared towards that, which feels a bit stagnant.

You also don't have to back up your whole save just to not lose your party on defeat and can cheat with save states. Though, in case you are at one point feeling like having to look up a floor's map on the internet to not get lost, have in mind that for some reason they changed the layout of floor 6-8 of Wiz1, and only those floors for some reason (besides making the first floor of Wiz2 traversable without an end-game spell anyways).

Wiz6 with the 0.99 or whatever English patch is just fine, btw. There are quite a few grammar and spelling errors (probably more than I cought, seeing how I'm not that good at it either), but nothing really important is untranslated as far as I remember. It's basicly like playing Elminage Original, but a bit cleaned up, very ealy 90s console RPG localization. But yeah, no importing to later versions, obviously.

Apr 20, 2014 23:07:57 GMT -5 derboo said:

I didn't like 4 very much but if you have to play it, I'd go for the version on New Age of Llylgamyn, the arranged mode there is streamlined and has more involved combat (in the computer versions you can only command Werna and your summoned monsters just do what they want).

Arranged Mode isn't playable in English though, right?

[derboo]

Apr 21, 2014 11:15:00 GMT -5 kaoru said:

Arranged Mode isn't playable in English though, right?

Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry.

[ZenithianHero]

This series is confusing.
I saw V SNES at a pawn shop, how is that one? I think it was a Capcom release.

[derboo]

It's pretty good. Graphics are not as good as 1-3 on SFC, but I like the quest more than any of the earlier ones, because you meet and interact with NPCs in the dungeon. The US version is censored, though (references to religion, alcohol and death removed, skimpy outfits for female enemies modified). Japanese version can be completely switched to English.

[kaoru]

Not a fan of V, personally. I didn't like all the puzzles in it and having to schlepp around the necessary items to re-solve them every time you need to pass them. Final boss is hell, too.