Wizardry Reborn: Revisiting the Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord in 3D

Gaming Staff • April 25, 2024

Early Access Indie Game Pc Games Role Playing Game Nintendo Switch Sony Playstation Microsoft Xbox

In 1981, SirTech released the groundbreaking role-playing game (RPG) Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord for the Apple II, which directly inspired many enduring RPG series like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Demon's Souls. Digital Eclipse, a studio dedicated to video game preservation, is remastering this genre-defining game in 3D, built on the original Apple II game's code while incorporating modern graphics and improved features.

The remastered Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, which has been available in Early Access on Steam and GOG since September 2023, will be fully released on May 23 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The game features new graphics, improved party management, navigation, spellcasting, and combat, while retaining the original game's code and allowing players to view the original interface. Players can craft their own party of adventurers and battle monsters in the labyrinth to retrieve the stolen amulet from the evil wizard Werdna.

The Early Access version of the game has received positive feedback, with improvements such as new graphics, user-selectable options, an in-game Bestiary, a lush musical soundtrack, and a controller-friendly interface. The game is fully localized into English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, and German.

Wizardry was created in 1981 and was the first game to recreate pen-and-paper, Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing games for home computers. SirTech, which is committed to acquiring and licensing iconic IP, has licensed the Wizardry trademark from Drecom and the copyrights to Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord from SirTech. SirTech retains the exclusive license for the first five Wizardry games.

Digital Eclipse, a game development studio focused on digital restoration, has partnered with SirTech to remaster Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. Drecom, an entertainment company in Tokyo, acquired the copyrights to Wizardry 6, Wizardry 7, Wizardry 8, and Wizardry Gold, as well as the domestic and international registered

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