Wizardry: The Five Ordeals
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Wizardry: The Five Ordeals is a collective and the eighth 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 GameSpark 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] A Nintendo Switch port is scheduled for January 30, 2025 release digitally,[5] and February 27, 2025 physically.[6]
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.[7] 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 exclusively to the remastered version
DLC scenarios (Remaster)
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.[8]
As of September 5, 2024, the scenario editor is now supported and translated in English.[9]
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.[10]
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 Prisoners of the Battles, 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.[10]
In addition, Kaneda consulted with the publisher, IID, and decided to sell the game as a download through Steam.[10]
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".[10]
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.[11] The deadline for closed beta registration up until 28th.[12]
On September 26, 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.[13]
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.
During Tokyo Game Show 2024, it has been announced that The Five Ordeals will be ported to the Nintendo Switch for January 30, 2025 release window. The Collector Edition includes the base game, The Absence of Misericordia DLC download code, CD soundtrack, 20 monster cards with binder set and special acrylic stand.[14][5] Two months later after its announcement, the only physical edition was delayed to February 27, 2024 due to pre-orders for the Collector's Edition exceeded than initially expected, and unable to secure the necessary materials in time.[6][15]
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.
Nomenclature
| Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
 English (United States) |
Wizardry: The Five Ordeals |
As of remastered version. |
 Japanese |
ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練Uizādorī Gaiden Itsutsu no Shiren |
Wizardry Side Story: Five Ordeals |
Gallery
Original game logo.
Remastered logo.
Key art.
Cover artwork of the original Microsoft Windows release.
Japanese cover artwork for the Nintendo Switch release.
Screenshots
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Official screenshot of Steam Remaster.
Videos
References
- ↑ Sal Romano, Wizardry: The Five Ordeals for Steam launches in Early Access on December 17, Gematsu, Published: December 13, 2021
- ↑ 『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』Steam版12月17日早期アクセス開始！, IID, Published: December 17, 2021
- ↑ @wizardry_fo, We finally have English! New update includes English translation for the official scenarios., , Published: August 25, 2022
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sal Romano, Wizardry: The Five Ordeals coming to Switch on January 30, 2025, Gematsu, Published: September 26, 2024, Retrieved: September 26, 2024
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Akira Horie, 『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』ニンテンドースイッチパッケージ版が発売延期。想定以上に予約数が集まったため―ダウンロード版の発売日は変更なし, Game*Spark, Published: October 29, 2024
- ↑ Masaichiro Kawasaki, ウィザードリィ・外伝 ～五つの試練～, 4Gamer, Published: July 14, 2006
- ↑ Masaichiro Kawasaki, Wizardryは今も日本で進化し続ける―――シリーズ最新作「ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練」Steam対応版の開発者にインタビュー, , Published: June 3, 2021
- ↑ Scenario Editor - Wizardry,
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 https://www.4gamer.net/games/570/G057016/20210513135/index_2.html
- ↑ @wizardry_fo, 【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。, Twitter
- ↑ @wizardry_fo, 【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。, 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
- ↑ IID, 『ウィザードリィ外伝 五つの試練』Nintendo Switch版、2025年1月30日にパッケージ/デジタルで発売決定！パッケージ版予約も開始, PR TIMES, Published: September 26, 2024, Retrieved: September 26, 2024
- ↑ @wizardry_fo, 特にコレクターズエディションについては当初想定していた製造数を大きく上回るご予約をいただき、必要部材の確保が間に合わず製造スケジュールの変更を余儀なくされました。ギリギリまで関係各所と慎重に検討を重ねました結果、パッケージ版の発売を延期することといたしました。(3/4), X (Twitter), Published: November 29, 2024
External links
- Official website (Old)
- Official website (New)
- Official X profile