我们会时不时地找些新玩家来办公室里测试一下我们的新想法和新理论：他们能明白吗？他们能理解我们试图去做的事情吗？这个理论对他们来说是很好理解还是需要 40 页的手册来帮忙？目前为止，在我和 Linda [Currie] 的设计中，这款游戏是彻头彻尾的“巫术”游戏，如果你觉得它不是，那我们还是很有发言权的。但是这游戏并没有人们期待许多年的新体验和新内容。

We regularly sacrifice Wizardry virgins here at the office to test out new theories on them. Do they get it? Do they understand what we're trying to do? Is this easy for them or would it take 40 pages of a manual's help to comprehend? So far in our design, the game is clearly a Wizardry, believe me, Linda [Currie] and I would be super vocal if it weren't, but it does have new things, new touches, that people have wanted for years.

Brenda Romero,
《巫术 8》制作者

Brenda Romero,
Wizardry 8's designer

《巫术 8》的对话系统可以说是 RPG 史上最为丰富的那么几个了。对话系统基于玩家输入的关键字进行，受到玩家声望影响，可以进行交易、魅惑、偷窃甚至是招募 NPC，而这一切都是全配音的。

The dialogue system is one of the richest in all RPG history. It's based on keywords that you can type in, factors in your reputations, allows you to trade, charm, steal or recruit NPCs and it's fully voiced.

游戏庞大的开放世界是由一条条道路和小径连接的，其中潜伏着无数不仅会无限再生，其等级还会适应队伍等级变化的怪物。

更糟糕的是，尽管回合制战斗系统在提高系统战斗惯例方面上做的挺不错，但是它的动画表现实在是太慢了。如果不想在每次碰见一大堆怪物的时候都怒退游戏的话，最好还是打上一个战斗加速的 Mod 。

这些缺点，再加上难度上的一些不遂人意的遗憾，让很多玩家从未能通过山金车路。不过《巫术 8》还是很快地恢复了它的光彩。

玩家的目标是找到传说中的宇宙熔炉（在《巫术 6》中开始的一个故事），这个目标可以由玩家自行达成或是在一些 NPC 和在游戏世界中交战不休的不同派系的帮助下完成。很多任务都有不同的解法，游戏出色的对话系统也带来了更多的灵活性，你甚至可以雇佣友好 NPC，把队伍拓展到八人规模。只需要记住他们各自都有不同的人格和目标就好了。

The game's large, open world is connected by several roads and paths, crawling with monsters that not only respawn, but also scale to your level.

Moreover, while the phase-based combat does a great job at updating the series' formula, its animations are excruciatingly slow. Do not play Wizardry 8 without using mods to hasten the animations, or you'll want to rage-quit every time a large group of enemies appear.

These flaws, combined with a spike in difficulty, is why many players never managed to cross Arnika Road. A shame, as Wizardry 8 quickly recovers its brilliance.

Your goal is to reach the legendary Cosmic Forge (a story that began back in Wizardry VI), and this can be achieved by yourself or with the aid of some of the NPCs and warring factions that inhabit the world. Many quests offer multiple solutions, and the game's rich dialogue system provides plenty of flexibility – you can even recruit friendly NPCs, expanding your party up to eight characters. Just remember that they each have their own personalities and objectives.

《巫术 8》有几个 mod 是采用“宇宙熔炉工具箱”（Cosmic Forge Tool）开发的，我们非常推荐玩家采用《巫术 8》强化 mod （Wizardry 8 Enhancements mod）进行游玩，该 mod 修复了动画速度并提高了游戏的整体平衡性。

Several mods for Wizardry 8 were made using the Cosmic Forge tool. We recommend starting with the Wizardry 8 Enhancements mod, as it fixes animation speed and improves the overall balance of the game.

《巫术 8》向玩家提供了很多选择，不过也需要玩家自己的理解：如果你够聪明，就能组建一支超大规模的联军或是玩成一个双面间谍；如果你脑子不太灵光，可能最后会发现被所有人敌对并不得不杀出一条血路。这听起来不算很容易，但是让人成就感满满。

也因此，《巫术 8》深受评论家和老派 RPG 玩家的喜爱，但是从来都叫好不叫座。不管怎样，为时已晚：Sir-Tech 现已解体。《巫术 8》成为了献给粉丝们的遗作，而不仅仅是一款简单的商业游戏。

开发者表现出了对系列粉丝足够的关怀：玩家可以从《巫术 7》中导入自己的队伍，并根据前作游戏结局在《巫术 8》世界中的不同区域里开始冒险。游戏甚至为从《巫术 6》中导入队伍提供了便利，那可是十多年前发售的游戏了！

当《创世纪（Ultima）》和《魔法门（Might and Magic）》这样的 RPG 系列最终以烂作收场时，对于很多玩家来说，《巫术 8》甚至是这个久负盛名的系列游戏中最好的入门游戏。它就像一颗孤星，没有任何一款 RPG 追随了它的脚步，不过这一切只是让它更加光芒闪耀。

Wizardry 8 offers, but also demands, a lot from players – if you're clever, you can form a large alliance or play as a double-agent; if you're foolish, you might end up hated by everyone and be forced to fight your way through. It's not easy, but it's very rewarding.

Thus, Wizardry 8 was praised by critics and loved by old-school fans, but never got popular. Regardless, it was too late – Sir-Tech had dissolved. More than a commercial title, the game became a farewell to fans.

For them, developers showed a great deal of care: you could import your party from Wizardry VII, starting in different areas depending on how you finished that game. It even ties loose ends for those who carried their party all the way from Wizardry VI a game released over a decade earlier!

While series like Ultima and Might and Magic ended on a sour note, Wizardry 8 is for many players the best entry in an already venerable series. It remains a lone star – no other RPG ever followed in its footsteps – but that only makes it shine even more brightly.