Wizardry: The Five Ordeals
Wizardry: The Five Ordeals is a collective and eight entry in the new Gaiden series, developed by 59Studio and IID. The game was originally released on June 8, 2006. In addition, download sales of the original version were held from September 18, 2009 until April 1, 2021. A remastered version was available through Steam under Game*Spark publishing on December 17, 2021 as of Early Access (initially June 2021 before being postponed to another release date).[1][2] On August 25, 2022, it was announced during Gamescom Future Games Show that the game now supports in English with two downloadable-content based on previous scenarios released on March 30 and June 2023.[3]
As of October 26, 2023, the remastered version was officially released under stable version with new scenario The Price of Deception.[4]
Gameplay
The Five Ordeals gameplay borrows from Wizardry: Prisoners of the Battles and the data part scenario that runs on it. Users cannot just only play five pre-installed basic scenarios in parallel, but also can enjoy user-created scenarios with an external editor.
Each scenario is completely independent not only in the labyrinth, item and monster data, but also in the handling of some game rules.[5] It cannot be used continuously in a scenario. However, in a later version update, it became possible to transfer between scenarios while taking over only the basic statistical items that are not affected by the scenario: name, race, occupation, gender, personality, and the number of enemies killed. (Ability is the minimum value for race and occupation)
Official Scenarios
- Traveler's Property
- Children of the King Selene
- The Devoid of Apotheosis
- The Pickled Man of Galvan
- The Wheels of Flame
- The Price of Deception*
*: New to the remastered version.
DLC Scenarios (Steam)
Editor
A scenario editor that allows you to freely create stories, facility names, labyrinth structures, messages, monsters, items, etc. Since it focuses on being a scenario editor for "Wizardry with a system close to the initial work", it is not possible to add new races or new occupations. However, it is possible to change the rules of the game (such as whether to apply the rules for adding random magic effects to items similar to Prisoners of the Battles) within a set range.
Created scenarios can be passed on to other users via the Internet. An uploader for sharing scenario data and a bulletin board for obtaining impressions are also officially prepared, and users can download scenarios created by other users from a unified place for free.
According to development staff members Tokunaga Tsuyoshi and Kaneda Tsuyoshi in a chat interview in 2021, more than 110 scenarios were posted at the same time, even if they were just scenarios that could be played properly. Some scenarios had a degree of perfection that they recognized as surpassing official scenarios.[6]
Development
Like in predecessor, Wizardry: Prisoners of the Battles, this is also participated by Tokunaga Tsuyoshi and Kaneda Tsuyoshi, who were involved in the development of the Game Boy handheld Wizardry Gaiden series (herein after referred to as "old Gaiden") at ASCII.[7]
After the release of the previous work, IRI-CT (now IID), the publisher, wanted a sequel, but Kaneda judged that it would be difficult to prepare a new feature when making it into a series based on the development experience of the old Gaiden, so he was reluctant at first. had shown. In the end, it was decided to prepare a scenario editor as a feature, but Kaneda, who thought this was a "forbidden move", said, "If we incorporate this element, we may not be able to make a sequel anymore." In an interview with Kawasaki Seiichiro of 4Gamer.net in 2021, he recalled that he was reminded of the original. Kaneda didn't know if users could create excellent scenarios using an editor, so they decided to record five scenarios they created themselves so that they could enjoy it without an editor. Of the five scenarios, The Pickled Man of Galvan was written by the writer of The Absence of Misericordia.
Remastered version
Like the previous game, The Five Ordeals was also made to run on Windows 98, but for many years it was unable to support Microsoft's OS upgrade. Although the user community had unofficially communicated how to support the new OS, the development staff wanted to formally respond. In 2014, Apple said, "From February 1, 2015, the iOS port of Prisoners of the Battles will be 64-bit compatible. It will be deleted," and the development staff had no choice but to move. On the other hand, as of 2017, this work had iOS and Windows 10 versions, but Tokunaga decided to recreate the program in Unity with a view to the future.[7]
In addition, Kaneda consulted with the publisher, IID, and decided to sell the game as a download through Steam.[7]
At first, Kaneda was thinking of adapting The Five Ordeals to Windows 10 based on the iOS port of Prisoners of the Battle. On the other hand, Yo Horie, the director of IID, thought that it would be good to have a UI that allows players to play on a large screen, but also thought that it would be good to have a UI similar to the old-fashionedWizardry, so he created a new one. Also, the scenario editor was planned to be implemented as "Wiz Tools 2.0".[7]
On August 13, 2023, its official Twitter starts accepting closed beta registration lottery of the new editor scheduled for the next eight days. Users who interested must require being able to speak fluent Japanese due to the editor only supports said language and having Discord account.[8] The deadline for closed beta registration up until 28th.[9]
On September 26th, 2023, GameSpark has published article update regarding The Five Ordeals stable version will be released on next month with improvements to a more sophisticated UI and brand new scenario, The Price of Deception by Wiz Freak. An open beta of scenario editor has also started coinciding with said announcement.[10]
On October 26, 2023, The Five Ordeals was officially available under stable version 1.0, thus no longer in Early Access status. In addition, The open beta of the Scenario Editor started at the same time.
Trivia
- Oddly, Wizardry: Prisoners of the Battles and Wizardry: The Absence of Misericordia scenarios were made as downloadable contents for remastered version despite both being standalone game initially.
Gallery
Original cover art.
Original game logo.
Key art.
Screenshots
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 1.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 2.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 3.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 4.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 5.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 6.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
- SS WIZFO Steam Remaster 7.jpg
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Videos
References
- ↑ Wizardry: The Five Ordeals for Steam launches in Early Access on December 17 (via Gematsu)
- ↑ https://www.iid.co.jp/news/press/2021/121701.html
- ↑ 『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』公式 (@wizardry_fo) / Twitter: We finally have English! New update includes English translation for the official scenarios.
- ↑ RIKUSYO, 追加シナリオも実装！『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』正式版がリリース, Game*Spark, Published: October 26, 2023
- ↑ https://www.4gamer.net/review/wiz_gaiden_fo/wiz_gaiden_fo.shtml
- ↑ https://www.4gamer.net/games/570/G057016/20210513135/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 https://www.4gamer.net/games/570/G057016/20210513135/index_2.html
- ↑ "【お知らせ】ユーザーの皆様へ、お待たせいたしました。8月21日よりエディタサービスクローズドベータの募集を開始いたします。" — @wizardry_fo, [1], Twitter
- ↑ "【お知らせ】エディタCBTの抽選募集を開始しました！ご興味のある方は、下記のフォームより注意事項をお読みの上ご応募いただけますと幸いです。締切は8月28日(月) 23：59を予定しております。" — @wizardry_fo, [2], Twitter
- ↑ 『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』10月26日から正式版へ！より洗練されたUIへの一部改良やWizフリークによるシナリオ追加も, Game*Spark, Published: September 26, 2023, Retrieved: September 27, 2023
External Links
- Official Website (Old)
- Official Website (New)
- Official Twitter Account
| Llylgamyn | Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (remake) - The Knight of Diamonds - Legacy of Llylgamyn - The Return of Werdna - Heart of the Maelstrom |
| Cosmic Forge | Bane of the Cosmic Forge - Crusaders of the Dark Savant (Gold / PSX) - Wizardry 8 |
| Gaiden | Suffering of the Queen - Curse of the Ancient Emperor - Scripture of the Dark - Throb of the Demon's Heart - Dimguil - Prisoners of the Battles - The Absence of Misericordia - The Five Ordeals (Traveler's Property / Children of the King Selene / The Devoid of Apotheosis / The Pickled Man of Galvan / The Wheels of Flame / The Price of Deception) |
| Starfish | Wizardry Empire - The Staff of Resurrection - Princess of the Ancient - II (Plus) Legacy of the Princess - Ancestry of the Emperor - Asterisk: The Scarlet Seal |
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| Cancelled | Stones of Arnhem - Wizardry Gaiden VB - Strange Tale of the Rising Sun - Wizardry XTH 3 - Wandering Dark Lord |
| Compilations | The Wizardry Trilogy: Scenarios I, II & III - I-II - The New Generation - Trilogy 2 - III-IV - VI & VII Complete - The Ultimate Wizardry Archives - Llylgamyn Saga - New Age of Llylgamyn - I-II-III: Story of Llylgamyn - Twin Pack - Perfect Pack - Wizardry Legacy: BCF, CDS & 8 |
| Tabletop games | Wizardry RPG - Wizball |
| Novels | Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord - The Story of Alavik and Margda - Knight of Diamonds - Legacy of Llylgamyn - Heart of the Maelstrom - Ash & Youth Side by Side - The Wind. Has it reached the Dragon? - The Return of Werdna - Suffering of the Queen (Futabasha) - Suffering of the Queen Iris - King of the Sands - Llylgamyn War - Prelude/Expansion - The League of the Crimson Crescent - Blade & Bastard |
| Media | Quest for Hrathnir - Wizardry (anime) - Gaiden (manga) - Apolon Game Music Box Memorial Sound of Wizardry - ZEO (manga) - Record of Wicked Sorcerer: Ash & Youth - Blade & Bastard (manga) |
| Other related | Ultima - The Bard's Tale - Deathlord - Centauri Alliance - Elminage - Generation XTH - Class of Heroes - Wizardry Clone - Wizardry references in popular culture |
| Collaborations | Demon Tribe - Dungeon Dive: Aim for the Deepest Level - Final Fantasy Agito - Rise of Mana - Samurai Schema - Darkest Dungeon II |
- Games
- Wizardry Gaiden Series
- The Five Ordeals