what is this, exactly?

[Icedfate]

is this a remake of the original 5 games?
is it like. . .and rpgmaker thing that has the original 5 wizardry games in it "reimagined"?
the store page has a thing in the description says "this game has nothing to do with the original wizardry 1-5"
what does that mean? are they just saying that to mean like, that it's not borrowing any assets from those games?

[dinksinct]

It is very similar to the 1st 3 games, very fun so far.

[omeme(hidari)]

First of all, it is necessary to know the overseas expansion of Wizardry. It's going to be long, so do your own research.
"The Five Ordeals" was produced by the people involved in the Wizardry Gaiden series sold by ASCII Corporation in Japan and the staff of Game Studio Co., Ltd., who ported Sir-Tech Software, Inc's Wizardry to the NES.
"The Five Ordeals" was first released in 2006, and the ones currently available on Steam are high-resolution and updated.

[omeme(hidari)]

Continue further. The meaning of "this game has nothing to do with the original wizardry 1-5" is everything that the formula answers, so please consider my words only as a reference.
In the past when we were deploying in Japan, there were fatal troubles due to user scenarios. It also doesn't go into detail. Please check it out if you are interested. Behind the strong language of the official is a strong intention to aim for complex copyright issues and thorough risk management.
Again, the official message is everything. Please note that my words are only one opinion.

[omeme(hidari)]

PS.
I wrote and translated it in a hurry, so please forgive me if there are any mistakes.

[nftyw]

From what I understand, which is probably not 100% correct but:

Wizardry is very popular in Japan to the point where they licensed the name and made many games and offshoots (see: Elminage, Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Class of Heroes etc), so while it might be very familiar in gameplay and style to the original Wizardry games they are new stories and settings. Thanks to licensing rights and squabbles over who owns what, they are allowed to use the Wizardry name and release new games with the title but kind of have to avoid using assets which they don't have control over (the original games, spell names, character names)

So this package is a re-release of a set of officially made scenarios plus access to user-made scenarios. The actual revamp of the editor itself isn't ready yet, though. There are quite a few user scenarios that are released and a few that are even in English, a few of which are quite good (better than some off the official scenarios, even).

[Icedfate]

okay, yeah. i have the ither wizardry games on steam, in fact, i have been playing wizardry 8 for the last week and a half. . my steam profile,just doesn't show it because it's brokens going through the steam launcher on windows 10. i had to pull the files out of the steam folder and put them on my desktop and deleted a few sound files and just click on the dot exe file to make it work.

i know about sir tech going defunct and "Wizardry" IP being sold to a japanese company. i even had the playstation 2 game. .which i kind of liked. it had this interesting combat system where you could do special attacks based on the formations in your party

what i was asking is if this is an "official" Wizardry game or if it's more like a community tool like and rpgmaker thing where people can make their own dungeons and this is just providing the framework for that and they "included" dungeons that simulate the first 5 wizardry games.

or is this a remake of the first 5 wizardry games with a map editor imcluded as a bonus feature?
is it a reimagining where they put all new features in?
are the map layouts the same or is it a whole "new" thing?

[nftyw]

This is absolutely not a one for one remake of the earlier Wizardry 1-5. If you've played those games, these games will be completely different dungeons. In fact, because there is (I'm guessing) the fear of the original IP owners descending like rabid dogs upon the developer with lawsuits in hand, they make it clear that attempts to remake or reference the old games will be met with prompt moderation. As for if the game feels the same gameplay wise as the first few Wizardrys, you'd have to ask someone with more oldschool chops than me since I haven't played them at all.

I guess it's like.. comparing the New. Super Mario Brothers games on the Wii and Switch with the original NES Super Mario Bros? Similar feel and powerups, if you've played the older game you'll probably be able to jump straight into the newer ones no problem, but the levels and certain aspects will be different.

edit: For what it's worth, I only played thru 7 and 8, and a few spinoffs like Elminage and Etrian. Wiz 8 is really amazing, I hope you enjoy it, but yeah even as the 8th and last game by Sir-Tech it's suuuper ancient.

[Icedfate]

well, i mean, if they wanted to avoid copyright issue, why call it "Wizardry"? just call it something else, no? or is the name intended to boost their sales with brand recognition?

edit : i'm not trolling, i'm just confused by the nature of this game

[nftyw]

I think these are updates of an already existing set of games "Wizardry Gaiden: Itsutsu no Shiren – Five Ordeals" released in 2006 in Japan, which also had an online scenario editor available. The developers likely acquired rights to use the Wizardry name and can make new content in the style of the older games, but can't use specific names, settings, or dungeons from the older games. If they do, or allow people to publish content that infringes, they can be punished for it.

[スパくん]

This is a very complex and difficult issue, more than it appears.
All we can tell you is that, You should never expect the your said "original 5" itself in this game. Nor is their "reimagined".
This is a minor spoiler, but don't ask for those in a game that includes a scenario
where there is a bar on the B1F and vomit is an enemy.

This is also true in user scenarios.
See below:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1308700/discussions/0/3323114398575664889/

Imagine from what all the kind users seem to be answering to you.
However, We will tell you that it is still a hardcore and simple RPG experience.

About the Wizardry brand, partly because it is a "Engine & Selling site update" of the 2006 edition (in fact, the selling site itself was about to disappear, as it was previously only sold on a local Japanese selling site). in Anyways, we have more many pretty earnest reasons beyond increasing brand awareness.

On the other hand, there is no particular reason why it should be a "five" ordeal any more than it was in 2006, and we are always considering whether we can increase our unique pool of official scenarios. It is odd that there are six or seven, maybe even more official scenarios in the "five" ordeals, but We don't think it is a bad thing.

[acslacker]

Originally posted by nftyw:

This is absolutely not a one for one remake of the earlier Wizardry 1-5. If you've played those games, these games will be completely different dungeons. In fact, because there is (I'm guessing) the fear of the original IP owners descending like rabid dogs upon the developer with lawsuits in hand, they make it clear that attempts to remake or reference the old games will be met with prompt moderation. As for if the game feels the same gameplay wise as the first few Wizardrys, you'd have to ask someone with more oldschool chops than me since I haven't played them at all.

I guess it's like.. comparing the New. Super Mario Brothers games on the Wii and Switch with the original NES Super Mario Bros? Similar feel and powerups, if you've played the older game you'll probably be able to jump straight into the newer ones no problem, but the levels and certain aspects will be different.

edit: For what it's worth, I only played thru 7 and 8, and a few spinoffs like Elminage and Etrian. Wiz 8 is really amazing, I hope you enjoy it, but yeah even as the 8th and last game by Sir-Tech it's suuuper ancient.

The Mario example isn't too far removed.

5 Ordeals' gameplay is closest in comparison to Wizardry 1-3. Wizardry 4 is a completely different animal. Wizardry 5 (available on SNES too - great port!) builds off of the solid foundation of 1-3 and adds much more complex NPC interaction. That's missing from 5 Ordeals, unfortunately.

I played maybe 1/3 of Wizardry 6... it didn't click well with me. Wizardry 7 clicked even less well with me. NPC groups are vying for important items and stealing them from dungeons if you don't make it in time... never seen anything like it. I did make it to the final dungeon though and it was pretty brutal.

I've beaten Wizardry 8. I don't hate it, but in terms of balance it's a dumpster fire. It also long overstays its welcome. Enemies become nearly 100% magic-resistant damage sponges at the end, and there are hordes of them.

[ultimatecalibur]

Originally posted by Icedfate:

is this a remake of the original 5 games?
is it like. . .and rpgmaker thing that has the original 5 wizardry games in it "reimagined"?
the store page has a thing in the description says "this game has nothing to do with the original wizardry 1-5"
what does that mean? are they just saying that to mean like, that it's not borrowing any assets from those games?

The original Wizardry I-V were games for the Apple II computer in the 80s that were later ported to a number of different systems. Ownership of the games themselves is a confusing mess preventing modern rereleases and remakes. This also causes things that are the same through every version of those games (Proper Nouns, Character and Spell names) to be off limits in order to avoid causing further conflict between the various entities that claim ownership.

Many of the Monster image assets used in this game originated in the SFC ports of Wizardry V and the compilation Wizardry I-II-III The Story of Llylgamyn. The rights to those designs are not in dispute and neither is the branding.

This game itself is basically an interface to play a number of custom Wizardry scenarios. There are 5 official scenarios that come preinstalled with the game, 2 more official scenarios planned as DLC after the full release of the game, and a number of custom scenarios made by fans with the game's scenario editor.

[omeme(hidari)]

Originally posted by Icedfate:

well, i mean, if they wanted to avoid copyright issue, why call it "Wizardry"? just call it something else, no? or is the name intended to boost their sales with brand recognition?

edit : i'm not trolling, i'm just confused by the nature of this game

The copyright issue on the title itself has been cleared. So we can use the Wizardry name. It should be. Otherwise, it will not appear in the world.
On the other hand, there is still the risk that users' malicious attempts or unknowing mistakes could lead to trouble, and it is necessary to proactively prevent this.
Imagine what would happen if a dishonest user scenario that copied Sir-Tech #1-5 was published. Changing the name doesn't make the risks go away.

In a typical game title, this kind of confusion is rare. I empathize with the confusion you feel. I myself am one of those people who has been feeling anxious since 2005. (2005 is the release year of "Prisoners of the Battles")

[Giblets]

aww i was hoping this would be like Wizardry 8 or continue that story, (W8 is one of the best of it's kind) I guess this is just Wizardry in name only for marketing purposes, might stll be worth a proper look maybe.

[ultimatecalibur]

Originally posted by Giblets:

aww i was hoping this would be like Wizardry 8 or continue that story, (W8 is one of the best of it's kind) I guess this is just Wizardry in name only for marketing purposes, might stll be worth a proper look maybe.

Wizardry 6/7/8 are closer to Wizardry in name only. This game is pretty much a reconstruction of the engine used in the first 5 games.