This game is simply a top-notch RPG, incredibly fun and addictive, and providing a worthy challenge for all who play. To think that the Wizardry franchise started out with pictures of monsters made from straight lines on the Apple II computers, its just amazing at what it has become. After creating your party, you'll set off on your adventure. You'll quickly become caught up in the plot of the game, and eventually will have choices to ally yourself with differing factions. There's really no right choice, but you choice will somewhat affect the flow of the game. The battle system is excellent, deep, yet pretty simple to use. Spell-casting provides the real mental workout. You'll have to learn just where to place area-of-effect spells, as you'll decide where they go before enemies have finished moving, at first causing you to place a fireball and sadly watch as it hits nobody. Don't worry, you'll figure it out without too much difficulty. While early battles will be simple, you will later encounter hordes of enemies which can take some time to learn to manage. Even weaker creatures can kill you off when faced with 2 dozen of them. Graphics are good, but not spectacular. The soundtrack and sound effects in general are great, and the voicework professional, though some characters have slightly irritating voices. Along the way, your party will be joined by NPCs, of which there are many to choose from. My only gripe with the game is how each of them is "scared" of certain areas you will have to go to. This leaves you the option of venturing to a dangerous area shorthanded, or schlepping all the way back to another NPC, dismissing the scared NPC, and adding the new one. You'll need to do this many times sadly, and I'd advise this route, as the battles are tough enough with a complete party. Overall this is just a fantastic game and should not be missed RPG fans.
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