![]() Riddles where the solution had to be typed in on computers offer a small selection of multiple choice answers now, which of course makes them much easier. The dungeon walls are very pleasing to the eye, although they’re the same for all levels, and the floors and ceilings are just deep black. The town has different graphics for each location, and some monster types that used to look identical have gotten individual sprites. ![]() It not only contains CD audio, but also a voiced narration for the new intro and some of the NPC dialogs. The PC Engine port for once makes thorough use of the CD-ROM medium. ![]() Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (PC-98) Being a contemporary of Dungeon Master, which caused countless jaws to drop for its detailed dungeon graphics and lively monster animations at the time, Wizardry V‘s visuals were rather embarassing. The monster graphics are bigger and better than ever before, but all the computer versions still use the wireframe dungeons. According to Bradley, the game was actually completed well before Return of Werdna, but it was held back for an extended period of quality assurance to publish the games in order. Bradley didn’t touch was the engine for rendering the dungeons, so the graphics were hopelessly outdated when the game was released. Bows and crossbows finally allow to attack anyone from anywhere, and there are even some magic staffs that provide mages with ranged attacks. Each weapon now has a range value – while the regular swords and axes can only be used from the front row, a pike or a halberd makes it possible to attack from the back, and also puts the backup monster groups within reach for the front row. Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (Commodore 64)Īnother big update applies to the weapons. For nearly any secret, it is possible to find an NPC from whom the necessary information can somehow be extracted, but given the size of the dungeon and amount of NPCs, that doesn’t offer much consolation. That means finding secret passages can be a really daunting task, especially since one never knows whether there simply is no secret door, or the party is not yet skilled enough to find it. This can be done at any place in the dungeon, and only affects the currently occupied tile. Not tied to the thief class, even though they technically fall into the same skill set, are the options to search for hidden items and secret doors. The traps all have new names, but that doesn’t change anything in the way to deal with them. There are also a lot of locked doors that need to be unlocked by a thief at a sufficient experience level, although like disarming traps, the job can also be done with a spell. This finally makes them useful in combat, even though in the computer versions the success rate is still very low, and the thief has to try and hide again after each attack. Wizardry V was the first game to introduce the option to hide in shadows and launch vicious ambush attacks from the back. Quest items always come as unknown and need to be identified to use them, too, so a bishop in the group is even more indispensable than before.Īnother class that got its value boosted are the thieves. Since many of the puzzles rely on trading and using items – and some of those have to be kept around as keys – the party always operates on tight inventory space. The dungeon dwellers are a rather goofy lot: They include a laughing kettle who gives cryptic hints for gold, drunk dwarves that constantly ask the adventurers to buy them booze, or a prince who was turned into a monster and cursed with itching feet by his arch-nemesis, condemning him to keep hopping around the dungeon floors in search for relief. They also might be rather grumpy at the next meeting, but fortunately it’s possible to charm them with a spell or bribe them with gold. Some of them are necessary to complete the quest, so they can be resurrected at the temple in town afterwards. Less trustworthy parties can even steal from them or attack, but many of them are quite strong. An adventurer can talk to them for information by typing in keywords, buy or sell, or hand them key items. For the first time in a Wizardry game, there are actually NPCs to interact with in detail. There’s a ton of riddles and puzzles, and strange encounters with the inhabitants of the depths. Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (Apple II)īut the dungeons are not only expanded in size, but also in content.
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