Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls

Wizardry: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls is a classic turn-based RPG game, which is a continuation of the age-old Wizardry series, the first version of which was released in 1981. It was the forerunner of the genre and one of the first attempts to transfer the rules of paper role-playing games to computer screens. The Japanese studio Acquire is responsible for the title's productions. This is quite an exceptional situation, because over the years successive editions of Wizard were created only in the West. However, as it turns out, the series has always been and still is very popular in Japan. It is so large that local developers have acquired the rights to the title by releasing at least a dozen or so games related to the brand on their market so far.

The game takes us into the world of Athlas, once ruled by the mighty Draguun race, descendants of dragon gods. Its representatives possessed a great deal of magical knowledge, but the ignorance that they showed in its use brought them destruction and the empire they created collapsed. Since then, the world has been ruled by people whose three kingdoms have formed an alliance that guarantees constant peace and prosperity. Despite this idyll, in the abandoned ruins of Draguun cities there are still hidden artifacts that can release incomprehensible evil. The search for these treasures is carried out by brave heroes counting on fame and wealth.

We observe the action of the game from the perspective of the first person and, as in previous editions of Wizard, we will spend most of it exploring multi-level labyrinths of dungeons and undergrounds. What is important, we do not move freely on them, because we can only travel on designated paths. The locations we travel through are made up of square blocks and inscribed in a numbered grid for easy navigation. All the roads in the dungeons turn at right angles and the chambers and rooms are ordinary rectangles. The simplicity of the visited locations only emphasizes the essence of the game, which is the fight and management of a multiplayer team of adventurers.

Players have at their disposal five races and eight basic character classes, whose abilities with their development are enriched by additional professions. Each hero describes a number of statistics, as well as character (good, bad, neutral). Up to six heroes can enter our team, which we will create and hire in the city. Since the game does not lead us by the hand, we have to make sure that they differ in classes and complement each other in battle.

We fight in the above mentioned underground, at the same time performing tasks commissioned by the inhabitants of the city. The skirmishes are generated randomly, so we don't see our enemies just before they start. The fight is conducted in a turn-based manner. In the center of the screen we see an image of enemies, and on its two sides - portraits of our heroes, on which the state of their health is marked. From the menu we give commands to use magic, special skills, items, etc. During our travels we will come across 120 different opponents, about which we can learn a bit more from the mini encyclopedia built into the game.

Wizardry graphics: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls is extremely minimalist. Monsters and other enemies as well as independent, static two-dimensional graphics encountered in the city. The city itself and the shrines located there, such as a tavern or a temple, as in classic games of the genre, are limited to illustrations and menus in which we choose the commands we are interested in, e.g. renting a room or healing the wounded. Hero sounds made during combat and other short spoken issues are left in the original Japanese language version.

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Last updated on 16 June 2011