Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom

released on Nov 01, 1988

Despite the defeat of Trebor, Werdna, and L'kbreth, dark times once again threaten the kingdom of Llylgamyn. So once again a party of adventurers must venture forth to vanquish the evil. Wizardry V represents a complete revision of the gaming system used in the first four installments, with larger mazes, new spells and character classes, and an expanded system for combatting and interacting with creatures. It is also the first game in the series that allows, but does not require characters imported from a previous scenario.


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Quando criança eu passei horas e horas tentando sobreviver nessas dungeons, "Envelheceu mal/10"

As the final game in the Llygamyn uhhh.. Quintilogy? of games. This is without a doubt the best and most polished title in the series. Unlike it's predecessor, Wizardry V takes a return to the traditional party building and dungeon crawling that the first three games had to offer. It still has the same classes but it has a lot of notable improvements to make the experience more interesting.

- Additions of MANY more weapons and a range system, including stuff like Bows for Thieves, and magical medium-range weapons for Bishops and Priests. This allows them to offer physical damage from the back, making Thief especially a much more versatile unit past just a trap stopper. By the end of the game, every character but my Mage could offer some physical damage regardless of their placement.

- Higher EXP throughout the campaign, this is great since you're able to experiment more with class changing, which is a very fun mechanic. In earlier Wizardries you were basically stuck in your class since by the time you got to a point you could class change, you were basically already done and you wouldn't be able to level up to a higher level again.

In Wizardry V, you'll be getting enough EXP to reach level 13 twice over, everyone but my thief had a class change to gain extra spells or get more HP, and some of my characters even class changed twice and got to a good level by the end !

- More involved puzzles/NPC interaction and MUCH bigger maps. This is a bit of a double edged sword, on the bright side, there's a lot of really colorful characters that give the dungeon a lot more life, and the dungeon is HUGE, 7 massive floors that can go up to like 50x50 areas! (there's also an 8th but it's basically just the final boss), and lots of cool item puzzles that can make you think.

On the downside, some of these npcs that give really important advice are hidden behind secret doors, that unlike the oriignal wizardries where you just had to cast a light spell, you actually have to SEARCH for, it's a really annoying change and makes the game near impossible to beat, especially with how obtuse the puzzles get around floor 6. I would reccomend playing the PS1 version where you have an automap that shows hidden doors without actually searching for them instead of FM Towns.

In conclusion, Wizardry 5 despite some annoying issues with obscurity and general obtuseness, is the one Wizardry of the Llygamyn Saga I would geniunely reccomend to any dungeon crawling fan, it's tough, exciting and has a lot of fun mechanics, and I'm SO looking forward to the Dark Savant Trilogy!

4 Failed Steal Attempts/5