I have never in my life played a Wizardry game until this recent steam Summer sale... So here are a few of my failings as a first time player! You can get the game that I bought here.
Let me preface this by stating that I am not complaining! None of these points have negatively impacted my gameplay, and may have instead made my experience all the more enjoyable! I think it's just neat to note what a first time player has experienced as some sort of reference point, or to reminisce if you're a veteran of the series. Maybe also just in case you wanna laugh at my misfortune/stupidity LOL.
The game is super fun, I'd highly recc it! I haven't played any of the other titles in this series so I'm not sure how it compares, but this isn't a game review (you can find that in my media log). This entry exists simply to detail my failings...!
Obvious, but spoilers for gameplay mechanics below!
My first run lasted all of 5 minutes — Let me elaborate... I picked a gnome priest because the character was cute and I love healing. Though I understand that in most, if not all, (j)rpgs, it's not advised to be a solo healer. But I figured I'd probably pick up some party members along the way, forcing them to do the fighting as I sit back and just heal them. So I load in with absolutely zero instructions, which is fine, but I figure it probably best that I head towards the guild to check for quests since that's where they usually are. And indeed, I got my first quest! Kill some kobolds to gather some rusty daggers. Thus, I immediately entered the dungeon I was directed to visit by the quest giver (this info is NOT kept in the quest log so I made sure to remember the name!) and ran into a random encounter of three bats, four kobolds, and two orcs. Alarm bells started ringing, but I thought surely not... But of course, I immediately died and was faced with a GAME OVER screen because I went into the dungeons alone. Honestly? Deserved.
Similarly, I had no idea that I should, or even could, buy a map. Or a torch. — I'm so used to these items being commonplace! Maps moreso than torches of course, but after my horrible first run of the game, I figured I should probably talk to every single person I can to gather more info about the game before diving deep into the dungeons again. Lacking any sort of formal tutorial, this felt like the next best thing. And I was right! Finding the innkeeper did wonders for my confidence, and she helpfully clued me in about maps and torches. Among other various tidbits now that I've played a bit longer, but it's all thanks to her info and my exploration of the inn to find various party members, that my second (and current run) is going much better! In hindsight this all makes perfect sense, but I'm so used to these sorts of games holding my hand some more I guess. I do enjoy the more tedious fuck around and find out manner in which this game teaches you things though LOL.
I didn't know how to select newly learnt magic spells — As I got more comfortable with the game given the above points, I started to actually explore and level up! This, of course, earned me some more magic spells for my healer and mage... But I couldn't find them! I knew how to access their basic spells, but the new ones were lost to me... Anyway, turns out I just had to press left on the magic menu to access higher tier spells... Maybe I'm just stupid, but I only worked that out four hours into gameplay. Which was actually so helpful and made my battles so much easier, duh!
Duel wielding daggers — I had no idea until I gave my samurai a new dagger four hours into my save file and the option for 'sub/main' weapons arrived. I think it's because my samurai is the only one who CAN dual wield so I didn't consider it, but again... Upon retrospect, it makes so much sense! I thought she was just lame and did no damage, but turns out I was failing her this whole time! Now she's my biggest damage dealer.
I genuinely forgot I could lockpick doors — I accidentally figured out that I could do so by chance in the first dungeon, but by the second I had immediately forgot, and left several lock doors alone because I assumed I would find a key to unlock them at some point or another... WRONG! I had to retrace my steps through so many floors to unlock all of the doors I left behind, just for them to only be hiding another trapped chest that my party couldn't disarm, and then the chest itself contained nothing. Regardless, I'm glad I remembered lockpicking is a thing and I never have to be disappointed in past me again!
And lastly... I equipped an obviously thorny crown then got confused when my party member started losing health — This is pretty self explanatory, but in my reasoning, the game wouldn't allow me to wear something that is negative... Right? I should have been more prepared given one of my fav games ever is F&H2, but alas, I was too trusting and it didn't click until my party member died. Oops! Never again!
In spite of all of this, the learning curve has genuinely been so exciting for me to experience! I love not knowing things and learning by doing, y'know? Though I may have been conditioned by various levels of hand holding previously, to have no hand to grasp is equally as enjoyable, if not more. I really recommend you play the game if you enjoy the genre! The character and monster designs are gorgeous, and the slow, tedious gameplay is perfect if you enjoy grinding!
I'm going to play more Wizardry now...!