// Previews // 9th Oct 2023 — 1 year ago // By Simone Brown

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Preview

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is old, almost as old as I am, released way back in the before times of 1981 for the Apple II computer. It is also arguably one of the most influential game series of all time, introducing mechanics that would affect numerous RPG genres forever. This 3D remake by Digital Eclipse aims to reintroduce the series to a modern-day audience.

Updated visuals allow you to see the full extent of the enemy party.

It is not hyperbolic to say that Wizardry is so influential; it introduced or coalesced many concepts we take for granted in many genres now, such as controlling a party of characters, the idea of permadeath and the use of character formations. It is easy to see how some of these elements would influence later designers of all genres, not just old-school dungeon-based RPGs.

It is perhaps odd then that this title and series has never seen much fanfare in the West, with any re-releases over the years being mostly relegated to the Japanese market. While the core series consists of eight games, in Japan there are dozens of official games. For whatever reason, this whole genre really resonates in Japan.

The status screens benefit hugely from the overhaul.

Digital Eclipse wants to bring the series back into the limelight with this lovingly crafted remake of the original game, built on top of the original Apple II code that is still running things under the hood. This title brings all the modern niceties you’d expect, from completely new 3D visuals and an auto-map to friendlier party management and things like gameplay hints to make the game more approachable to new players.

These changes are also toggleable, so if you are a stickler for the way things were back in your day, you can make it play exactly like it did originally. One element that I find extremely charming is that, by default, you can see the original Apple II game screen in the corner as you play to really drive home both the nostalgia factor and how far we’ve come.

Having the original Apple II screen visible really shows changes.

The game is currently in Early Access and has a lot of work-in-progress elements, although the game can be beaten as-is. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what changes occur to this classic as it nears release.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is currently in Early Access and is available on PC via Steam and GOG.