Good game – Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls Review

This is a good game as long as you: A) get over the first bad impression from graphic (at the moment this is not a universal application - if you use 2x view on iPad the graphic looks a bit blurry - I wonder why a port of a PSX3 game cannot have better graphic which is certainly there in original...) B) think a bit when starting playing- this is the MUST here... If you quickly start, create hero/party without thinking, skip the text and eagerly go to dungeon... Well, you will suffer - you will end up in a dark, confusing maze without map and the first group of monsters will wipe you out... I know, I did this... Then there are two options - either you will decide the game is crap and write a nasty review here, or you will do the "thinking"... This is a classic old RPG - you must have proper party (fighters in the front row, spell casters hidden behind them). The game itself reminds the need for MAP and some sort of light in dungeon. So buy these in the shop (for map scroll down to the bottom of the list - it is not visible normally!). The game is not so difficult if you do the above mentioned - the only enemy which wiped out my party on the first level was in a place marked by death sign and warning that novice adventurers should not enter... Of course - if somebody runs to the dungeon with a lonely mage, he will not survive long, but that is his problem, not the problem of the game... I though long about buying this game because misleading reviews complaining about confusing maze impossible to move around... Those reviews were lying, the game is very well playable (I play on iPad 2). That does not mean that the game is perfect: - anime graphics does not belong to wizardry. Normally I like sexy anime girls, but they do not belong here... - party portraits take too much space when in dungeon, forcing to check the map more often (to avoid missing a passage/door - they are visible but not so good as they could be) - tapping to move/swiping to turn is ok for me on iPad, but always shown DPad would be nice - IAPs could be integrated better. Not that they would be needed (apart from buying the full game - this is also IAP), just they are done in a way that at least on me makes impression of greediness (they are in menu/when creating a character/there is a special shop in the game itself). This is supported by the fact that the game itself was updated just several times shortly after release and since then nothing (what about universal application with support for iPad - I guess the bad first impression from the graphic had to cost the developers quite a lot of money - not everyone is prepared to give some effort into checking what is below it). - it would be good to provide preconfigured party for beginners (with proper members and equipment, including maps) - documentation is minimal - there is a good description for every spell etc., but this is no replacement for a manual. Fortunately Google usually quickly helps, but that is not an excuse... again I think this laziness of developers put off a significant number of customers.... In conclusion - a good game damaged by laziness of developers who cannot be bothered to provide manual and some easier entry for beginners (I talk about things like documentation/optional preconfigured party/tutorial/better iPad graphic, not about changing core rules - these are ok).
Review by frederickjohnson on Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls.