Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge
First game in the Dark Savant trilogy.
Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge is the sixth game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was the first in a trilogy concerning the Dark Savant, followed by Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant and Wizardry 8. Originally developed and published by Sir-Tech for the Amiga and MS-DOS in 1990, versions for the Super Famicom, FM Towns, and PC-98 were later released in Japan by ASCII.
Quick Facts
- Designer
- David W. Bradley
- Series
- Wizardry
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Amiga
- MS-DOS
- Mac
- FM Towns
- PC-98
- Super Famicom
- Saturn
- Linux
- Windows
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
David Bradley completely rewrote the system for this release, which is the first in the series to feature full color graphics. The game is mouse-driven and ran with EGA graphics. It does not allow character import from previous games. Character creation and level-up are more detailed than in earlier titles, with eleven races and fourteen professions. Skills are divided into three categories, and magic into six schools. Combat offers options such as thrust or bash depending on the weapon. The game is a first-person, tile-based, menu-driven RPG featuring mythological creatures like Sirens, Charron, the Amazulu, and the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.
Story
The player controls a party of two to six characters from races including Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Hobbit, Faerie, Lizard Man, Dracon, Rawulf, Felpurr, and Mook. They arrive at a castle abandoned for over a hundred years, rumored to contain the Cosmic Forge, a pen that controls the destiny of time and space. Whatever is written with it becomes instantly true. The fate of the King, Queen, and Wizard who once lived there is unknown. Once the party enters, the gates close behind them, preventing escape. The castle ruins are overrun by giant rats, vampire bats, and carnivorous vines; its basement is a den of thieves and pirates. The party finds a path through the castle into the mountains, where they encounter hostile giants and dwarves mining the rock, and a tribe of warrior women called the Amazulu in nearby jungles. In the mountains, they free the spirit of the lost Wizard, Xorphitus, who used the Cosmic Forge to learn everything in the universe. His essence split into two beings: a reflective, benevolent ghost and an insane, violent physical self. Xorphitus explains that knowing all things breached natural law, dividing him into two halves each containing half the universe's knowledge. He warns that using the Cosmic Forge outside the Cosmic Circle causes its Bane, twisting the user's desire into a mockery of intent.
Reception
In 1991, Computer Gaming World's Marc Clupper praised the detailed weapons and skills, user interface, graphics, digitized audio, and non-grid maps, calling the game a triumphant celebration of the Wizardry heritage. The magazine's Scorpia that year and in 1993 described it as weak in parts but better than Wizardry V. Dragon #168 gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, and the Macintosh version received the same rating in Dragon #174. Jim Trunzo in White Wolf #27 rated it 4 out of 5, noting many well-earned admirers and interesting new ways of handling familiar fantasy roleplaying facets. Lisa Stevens reviewed the Macintosh version in White Wolf #28, also rating it 4 out of 5, praising the graphics and adventure flow while noting the dungeon crawl nature and an annoying door quirk. Strategy Plus Magazine named it Best Role Playing Game in 1991, and Computer Gaming World nominated it for Role-Playing Game of the Year in April 1991. GamesMaster ranked it 73rd on its Top 100 Games of All Time in July 1996. In 2013, the game was ported for modern systems and re-released on Steam by Night Dive Studios.
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