The original Wizardry turned many heads upon its original release in 1981 on the Apple II. It was a winning combination of Dungeons & Dragons-style gameplay with graphics unlike anything seen before. The series went to find success both in the west and Japan, where it was licensed to ASCii Soft. It gained such a level of devotion in the Far East that it remained relevant many years after its popularity waned in North America and Europe. The original games in the series were ported to virtually every micro computer system in the west while in Japan many were converted to Famicom, Game Boy and even Super Famicom.
If you happen to be a fan of the series, here's some rather special news: Wizardry Gaiden IV: Taima no Kodou ("Throb of the Demon's Heart" - oo-er!) has now been fully translated to English. This is a project which took AgentOrange, D.D.S., Helly and MrRichard999 about three years to complete, and thanks to their combined efforts you are now able to fully understand the joys of dungeon crawling with your party while fully understanding exactly what the spell you are about to conjure actually does.
A word of caution to series vets and newcomers alike: Don't let that "IV" fool you. This is not the fourth game in the series (that was released in 1987 as Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna). As the "Gaiden" name suggests, the is a side story which is exclusive to Japan and as such you will probably not be surprised to find the medieval fantasy of the original games replaced with feudal-era Japan.
Even more alluring for long time fans of the series is the fact that the game uses the basic rules from the first three outings, which were also released in a single cartridge for the Super Famicom in 1999 (and fully translated to English by Aeon Genesis in 2000) - but it features character races and classes from VI, VII and VIII.
If you're a fan of the series and own a RetroN 5 or Retro Freak then this game is now worthy of consideration. We know these dungeon crawlers are not everyone's cup of tea, but it's worth keeping in mind that the series was a major influence on the first wave of JRPGs, including both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on the Famicom.
How about you, Nintendo Life readers? Any "Wizardry" memories to share? We admit to having spent way too many batteries with ASCii Gaiden titles on the Game Boy...
Comments 16
Love seeing games translated so they can be enjoyed by people who don't speak/read the original language
There's a lot of translated SNES games.
That new Project Naga translation (even if it's not technically finished yet) for Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War borders on professional localization. It's just that good.
This looks a little old school though, even for me.
@JaxonH I think I might be showing my age here...
@Shiryu
Ya well, I think we all do by the mere fact we're still playing Super Nintendo games
@JaxonH Nah, that is just called good taste.
@Shiryu
I'll play to that
"I Can't See ****: The Game" may not have been the wisest choice to put one's spare time and effort into, IMO, but I'm always happy when one of these fan-translation projects actually get finished, regardless of the quality of the game itself.
@Shiryu No way, you're awesome for exposing new audiences (like me) to new experiences! (PS - I don't have a Super Famicom, but you sold me on Wizardry for the Famicom; apparently those ones can be switched to English anyway).
Although to be fair, I read that these games inspired Etrian Odyssey, so that's all the sales pitch I need!
@CanisWolfred Trust me, there is a lot of depth into this. It's all about making the best possible party and tackle on all the dungeons, slowly making progress for better equipment and experience.
@World Most of the games released in Japan have the option to turn text into English, but not all of it, usually just menu options and such (which was always a big help anyway). In this one's case, there wasn't an English option for town dialogues and spell descriptions, making the game very confusing for any wanna be Western Gandalfs.
@Shiryu I know. I've played it, at least through the first floor. I just think it's not very good in comparison to other games like it. Except maybe it's better than most Wizardry games? There's a reason only 6, 7, and 8 were re-released on GOG, the early games were RNG Hell, at least until the developers remembered that people are actually supposed to play their games.
I'm glad it inspired games like Dragon Quest, Etrian Odyssey, and Shin Megami Tensei, not to mention one of my favorite games of all time is The Dark Spire, aka, "I Can't Believe It's Not Wizardry Gaiden DS!", complete with its "I Can't See ****!" color pallette.
But "inspiration" is the key word here. They took the lessons these games provided, and used them as a springboard to provide more polished, fairer, and well-rounded experiences. I can go back and play Dragon Quest 1 or even the Apple II Ultima games and still have a swell time, but I think that's just because they've aged - they offer something different that you don't see anymore, either because it was an idea forged through the new frontier that was Video Games, or just because it wasn't something new games felt they needed anymore.
However, they still make Wizardry games, both in name and spirit. The things that don't work here are simply due to a lack of polish, and there are plenty that can offer the same experience, now with 20+ years of hindsight-brand elbow grease, and a color pallette that won't destroy my eye-sight...
@CanisWolfred I had some fun with the I-II-III Super Famicom compilation / re-imagining in the past. It is certainly hard to go back to the 8 bit originals after playing that one...
As for this "IV Gaiden" it was meant as a "Japanisation" of the series in order to have even more of a cult follow in Japan. Unsure if it succeed or if was even needed, but for a game released in 1999 if I'm not mistaken it certainly is a very polished package.
@Shiryu I editted my earlier reply. I'll agree to disagree, though I'll admit that it's been a while since I played this one, and obviously it wasn't in English then, nor do I know much of any moonspeak (not for a lack of trying, but my rote memory sucks). Knowing my teenage self, I probably bulled my way through the menus, although I know I had to look up a guide for the items.
I'll probably give this another shot now that it's fully translated, if only to give me a break from platformers for a while...I definitely need it...
...Not a big fan of the visual style. Game looks kinda confusing as well.
Still, nice to know another game got translated.
The final patch will came out soon. Hope anybody can walkthrough this game.
Sorry for late. Final Version is arrived.
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