Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord - RPG, standing at the origins of the genre and second only to Ultima, the first game in the famous series, which set many standards for future role-playing games.

The plot of the game is straightforward - the ruler Trebor, who was called the Crazy Lord by contemporaries, always strove for unlimited power - but was finally furious when he managed to get the legendary amulet with great magical power ... just to be kidnapped by an evil sorcerer Verdna (Werdna). Not knowing exactly how to use the amulet, Verdna accidentally causes an earthquake that creates a huge multi-level labyrinth under the castle of Trebor. In order not to look like a fool among other venerable villains, Verdna announced that he had created the labyrinth on purpose — as a new refuge for himself and his "legions of evil." Trebor, do not be a fool, also made a statement - this maze is actually his new way to select the most worthy adventurers who can enter his honorable elite squad if they can survive in the maze - well, at the same time (so, in between times) to return Amulet of Treboru.

You begin your journey by creating a party where up to six characters can enter. You can choose from five standard races for fantasy RPGs and four base classes - painfully familiar warrior, priest, mage and thief. Having equipped your squad in the city, you begin your journey down the Verdna's labyrinth.

The style of the game is perfectly reflected by the concept of "dungeon crawl" - going down lower in the dungeon, you explore the mazes, kill monsters and gain experience, find more and more powerful artifacts and in the end meet the sorcerer himself. The battles in the game are turn-based, with great emphasis on tactics - you will need the coordinated work of the entire party so that your squad does not die in a skirmish with the first ghost.

The role-playing system is quite simple (compared to the later games of the series) - with experience, your adventurers can improve their characteristics, and when certain conditions are achieved, they can get something like a prestige class and become a bishop, samurai, lord or ninja, which, Of course, significantly expands their abilities. The magic in the game is represented by 50 spells - this should be enough for you to erase all unwanted ones into dust (if there is a worthy magician in the party, of course ... how, you made 6 warriors? ..).

The graphics are very ascetic (look at the year of release), there is no autocard in the game - in order not to get lost in the intricacies of the labyrinth, dungeon maps will have to be drawn by hand (hello, the old school of games and checkbooks painted in pencil). But this does not prevent a true lover of party role-playing games from enjoying this representative of the immortal classic RPG.