The core gameplay in this remake is mostly identical to the original Apple II version of the game and you can even press a button that brings the original version onto the screen. What we have as a result is a gorgeous recreation of the original game in today’s visuals, with the dungeon looking stunning as the environment is detailed in lush graphics and lighting. Each spell has a unique visual effect, and all the monsters have their own unique animations which makes this stand out more.
The changes are more than skin deep, however, as there have been a number of quality-of-life improvements added to help the experience. These include an on-screen automap, some in-game hints and changes to character creation to make things smoother. Of course, if you want the old-school experience, then you can just switch these off at will.
The map is handled in an interesting way and seems to have some issues right now, where when automapping, the map is generated according to what is going on directly to the player in the game. If you are walking down a hallway, the map will reflect that, but if you accidentally trigger a teleporter trap, then the map will not reflect this, and this will cause many issues. And this is something else to keep in mind, the game just launched in Early Access and development is ongoing, with multiple bugs and glitches still to be fixed.
Digital Eclipse has already stated that the plan is to fix the issues and add more assets to the game throughout Early Access. Digital Eclipse has detailed plans for more character portraits, more music, and some revisions to the monster art, and hopefully, they keep adding more quality-of-life optional changes and updates, because many of the original game’s issues are still present. Ideally, Digital Eclipse will go all out and not only improve the experience but add in the content from Wizardry II and III, which were originally additional scenarios for Wizardry 1 rather than new games, like the Japan-only remake for the SNES did.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord’s remake is a great start and while there are still issues, they will no doubt be fixed over time. This is a work full of love for the classic, and hopefully, Digital Eclipse can also give some love to other classic CRPG classics as well, such as Ultima IV or the VII Duology. Either way, this is recommended, but with a warning for now that this is an Early Access game. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is currently available on Steam and GOG.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided.
