| Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sir-Tech |
| Publisher(s) | Sir-Tech
|
| Designer(s) | David W. Bradley |
| Series | Wizardry |
| Platform(s) | DOS, FM Towns, PC-98, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows, Mac OS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (originally known as Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Sir-Tech. It is the seventh title in the Wizardry series and is a sequel to Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge. It is also the second entry in the 'Dark Savant' trilogy. The game was originally released in 1992 for DOS. A port for the PlayStation developed by Japan Studio[2] was released by Sony Computer Entertainment in 1995 only in Japan. In 1996 it was remade into Wizardry Gold, designed to work on Windows and Macintosh, and distributed by Interplay.
The setting is a science fiction/fantasy universe, featuring interplanetary space travel and cybernetic androids, alongside high fantasy arms, armor and magic. The story picks up where its predecessor left off. The recovery and subsequent theft of the magical artifact known as the Cosmic Forge in Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge has revealed the planet Guardia, the hiding place of another power artifact, the Astral Dominae. Multiple factions have converged on Guardia attempting to locate this artifact, including a party of adventurers controlled by the player, and the principal adversary, the eponymous Dark Savant.
The game is notable for featuring an early example of a well developed diplomacy mechanic. It features multiple competing factions with different interests in the world of Guardia. The player may engage in diplomacy when key NPCs of the factions are encountered, and may attempt to bribery, peaceful negotiations, or threaten force.[3] It is also an early game to feature NPC competition with the player; as time progresses NPCs may beat the player to obtaining certain quest items, forcing the player to change their priorities.[4] It was also the first game in the Wizardry series to feature 8-bit VGA color graphics.
- ^ A. Curtis, Terris (May 28, 1996). "Wizardry Gold Press Release". Sir-Tech. Archived from the original on February 6, 1998. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "JAPANスタジオ作品一覧 1998年～1994年" [List of Japan Studio works 1998–1994] (in Japanese). Sony Interactive Entertainment. 2021. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Wizardry VII Gold Player's Manual, p. 417. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
- ^ Jitawa (2006). Wizardry VII Review: Introducing a persistent world. Retrieved 2013-09-24.