SOE Brings Wizardry Back to North America as MMORPG

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By Kevin Parrish
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The classic RPG series is now available in MMORPG form and ready for hardcore players here in the States.

MMORPG junkies now have another virtual world to pillage and conquer, as Sony Entertainment Online (SOE) has launched Wizardry Online here in the States.

Originally developed and produced in Japan by Gamepot, Inc., this new MMORPG is based on the classic Wizardry RPGs published by Sir-Tech. The first installment arrived on the Apple II way back in 1981, becoming one of the most popular fantasy adventure games on the platform at that time. The last official sequel published by Sir-Tech was Wizardry 8 in 2001 for Microsoft Windows.

Now fans of the classic series can experience Wizardry in a free-to-play, persistent world. SOE calls it a "fully re-imagined Wizardry game" that stays true to the franchise's trademark features including hardcore gameplay, intense difficulty, party-based combat and permadeath, or rather, your dead character stays dead.

"Wizardry Online is the most hardcore fantasy MMORPG ever created," said Todd Carson, Senior Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. "The difficulty level delivers a challenging, immersive free-to-play experience that today’s players want and demand, while also capturing the true essence and heritage of the Wizardry franchise that players and fans have come to know and love over the past 30 years."

Many features found in Wizardry Online include a Lost system which essentially wipes characters from the server if the player fails to revive the character twice. Also included are massive dungeons, skill customization, a Bounty Hunt system, and familiar races like humans, elves, porkuls, gnomes and dwarves.

"The difficulty level is insane," reads the Wizardry Online website. "The dungeons are brutal. There is no auto-healing. You will earn your levels. Your crimes taint your soul. Your allies could betray you at any moment. And when you die, you die forever. Are you ready for the challenge?"

Intimidated hardcore MMORPG players can get started by heading to the official site here, or by grabbing the client from Steam here. For more information about subscribing to the MMORPG, head here – the monthly fee is the typical $14.99, but SOE also offers discounts for 3, 6 and 12-month bulk payments.

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Kevin Parrish
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • abbadon_34
    I can remember playing wizardry on a Apple IIc in the 80's. But it wasn't 1981, more like 84 or 85, and it was the only game I played except for choplifter until 86. Still never beat it because of a game breaking bug. Games lasted a lot longer back then,
    Reply
  • The_Trutherizer
    How is $15 a month "free-to-play"?
    Reply
  • djfv
    It is free-to-play. 15$ a month gets you "experience accelerators, power boosts, valuable discounts, additional storage and in-game gold bonuses", according to their website.

    But still, as a big fan of Wizardry 8, I am bitterly disappointed in Wizardry Online's anime-inspired style. They have replaced Mooks, Hobbits and Rawulf (Rawulf priest, anyone?) with Porkuls (chibis) and Gnomes (Japanese high-school girls). Anime-style tint makes it to look like any other Asian mmorpg...
    Reply
  • mousseng
    I've heard nothing but bad things about Wizardry Online. Anyone know if it's actually that bad, or is it just really niche?
    Reply
  • alidan
    The_TrutherizerHow is $15 a month "free-to-play"?
    Royal Membership unlocks experience accelerators, power boosts, valuable discounts, additional storage and in-game gold bonuses.

    djfvIt is free-to-play. 15$ a month gets you "experience accelerators, power boosts, valuable discounts, additional storage and in-game gold bonuses", according to their website.But still, as a big fan of Wizardry 8, I am bitterly disappointed in Wizardry Online's anime-inspired style. They have replaced Mooks, Hobbits and Rawulf (Rawulf priest, anyone?) with Porkuls (chibis) and Gnomes (Japanese high-school girls). Anime-style tint makes it to look like any other Asian mmorpg...A long time ago when they launched EverQuest two in Japan, they found out that the Western world wanted the Japanese look opposed to the look they had for the North American market.

    Really most people will put up with it in North America, but if you don't have the Japanese looked in an Asian country it hurts you a lot more. From what I've seen of this game playing doesn't look good, it really just looks like a caching game and not even a good one that. I don't see this game lasting too long, well it's SOE so the game will basically last forever but I don't see the player base staying around.
    Reply
  • hate machine
    I tried it in beta, the lag and responsiveness was atrocious. I followed it on forums and they stated it never got better. Since it is on Steam now I might give it another go. The anime look is kinda harshin' my buzz on the game though.
    Reply
  • Pherule
    Sounds like it's Pay2Win. No thanks. Tera already looks better than this. Besides, perma-death sucks.
    Reply
  • kinggraves
    This game will bomb in the US. WoW babies can't even handle a slight grind to get a level these days, nevertheless completely losing their character and all their work. The forum is going to be the most epic battlezone of this game.
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    Does it have the TILTOWAIT spell? Would love to see the animation of that one.
    Reply
  • QEFX
    No Felpurr samuari ... it's not Wizardry!
    Reply