Before there was Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, or even Gauntlet, there was Wizardry. Now, a smartphone game based on the groundbreaking 1981 RPG video game will be released in 2022.
There hasn’t been a new game in the Wizardry franchise since Wizardry 8 came out in 2001. However, there have been spin offs and a short-lived MMO.
The new game is tentatively called Wizardry VA. Presumably the VA does not stand for Virginia. Japanese game developer Drecom released a promo video for the game on Monday:
It’s hard to say if this would be considered a sequel or a remake, when the original game dates back to the Showa Era. The original, also known as Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, was a dungeon crawler. Somewhat unique for video games at the time, the game allowed a party of up to six people of various races, alignments, and classes. (Of course, this was fairly common in tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons.)
The new game will apparently be a 3D RPG. As you can see in the promo video, the game will involve plenty of first-person dungeon crawling (with your party members by your side), monsters for your party to fight, and treasure chests to open. And at least one cute pointy-eared elf girl.
According to reports, the game will be available worldwide. The game just opened a Twitter page.