Digital Eclipse Is Remaking One of the Oldest RPGs Ever Made

Summary

Digital Eclipse is currently working on the remake ofWizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and an Early Access version is available for PC right now.Wizardryis among the most influential games in the genre, but it’s one of thoseclassic RPGs that are almost impossible to play todayin their original versions, so a remake is great news for fans of old-school PC games.

The firstWizardrywas released back in 1981 for Apple 2 and it became one of the most successful dungeon crawlers of its time. Together with theUltimaseries,Wizardrybecame one of themost influential RPGs ever made, as not only did it inspire several Western RPG series such asBard’s Tale, but also the JapaneseDragon Quest, one of the first prominent games of the JRPG genre.

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Now, Digital Eclipse announced out of nowhere that it’s working onWizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and that an Early Access version of the old-schoolRPGis already available on Steam and GOG. The goal of the remake is to modernize the graphics and gameplay of the originalWizardrywhile keeping the core experience as intact as possible. To achieve this objective, Digital Eclipse has been working for two years using the original code from the Apple 2 release. When playing, gamers can expect a fully new interface, though, as well as easier methods for party management.

Right now, the entire game is playable in Early Access, according to Digital Eclipse. However, a few more textures, animations, and environments will be added before the title is considered complete. Players can also expect text localization to other languages, a guide to enemies, and other special features for the 1.0 release.

Digital Eclipse is specialized in remaking retro games, so it feels like a good fit for this project. Last year, the companyreleased theAtari 50: The Anniversary Celebrationcollection, which compiled several classic Atari games, as well as interviews, design documents, and documental footage regarding these projects.

2023 has been an excellent year for remakes and remasters so far. Among the most well-known examples of the year, it’s easy to rememberMetroid Prime RemasteredandResident Evil 4. PC gamers who like old-school classics had nothing to complain about, though, as they gottheSystem Shockremake. The game is a very faithful adaptation of the immersive sim from the 90s that overhauled the graphics and gameplay, modernizing how the game feels but maintaining its design.

TheWizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlordremake is currently available for PC in Early Access.