Wizardry Daphne is a good dungeon-crawler, the devs clearly love Wizardry a lot... but it's also a gacha game. It's "free", but if you wanna dungeon-crawl old-school style without monetization & game-as-a-service drama, here's a short thread with some alternatives with a similar vibe🧵 - ThreadSky

felipepepe.bsky.social • 85 days ago

Wizardry Daphne is a good dungeon-crawler, the devs clearly love Wizardry a lot... but it's also a gacha game.

It's "free", but if you wanna dungeon-crawl old-school style without monetization & game-as-a-service drama, here's a short thread with some alternatives with a similar vibe🧵

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Comments

residenteccentric.bsky.social•84 days ago

I'll be honest I really enjoyed Bard's Tale 4: Director's Cut even if it is a flawed game. I found it really charming and much of the combat and exploration fun. Not to mention the Celtic setting is great: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1091980/The_Bards_Tale_IV_Directors_Cut/

felipepepe.bsky.social•84 days ago

It has good moments and amazing environments, but also has that weird InXile pattern of unnecessary bloat... The memorable moments get washed in hours of bland content. Still worth a play, but it's not high on my list :/

avantharis.bsky.social•84 days ago

I once wrote a short blog on GB, list a couple of those wizardry inspired dungeon crawlers - https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/valorianendymion/blog/a-handful-of-wizardry-successors/260135/

Stuff like Elminage (wizardry with bits of gothic vibes), Operation Abyss/Babel (Wizardry + High School setting), Strange of Sword City, Mind Zero and a few others.

felipepepe.bsky.social•84 days ago

Good stuff on the Elminage games. Did you know Abyss/Babel are actually remakes of a Japan-only trilogy called Generation Xth? Unfortunately they streamlined a lot of the game, it lost some of its bite...

Also, check the Wizardry V map size for a surprise ;)

avantharis.bsky.social•84 days ago

I didn't know that, now I really need to check the Wizardry V again.

avantharis.bsky.social•84 days ago

Oh, now I see it, I played wizardry v a long time ago, so I did not remember well, each level is sort have it own size! Some quite huge! Fascinating!

felipepepe.bsky.social•84 days ago

Yes, it's one of the best player trolling I've ever seen. Players would all be hand-mapping it expecting a 20x20 grid, so it would completely break their maps until they figured out what was going on.

joe-byron.bsky.social•84 days ago

These all look like great recommendations! I don’t know whether I was playing it wrong but Operencia’s combat drove me mad. The enemies which spawn others, which in turn spawn others seemed like overly frustrating design to me. Great environments though! And an interesting story :)

coldember.bsky.social•84 days ago

And if you want some weird dungeon crawling I got you with Dice'n Goblins https://store.steampowered.com/app/2945950/Dice_n_Goblins/

(My amount of shame and self consciousness is lowered each day that separate me from release)

coldember.bsky.social•84 days ago

I lied I feel ashamed

suikojunkie.bsky.social•85 days ago

zanki zero is brutal! lol

stardustbunny.bsky.social•85 days ago

Are there any good mobile dungeon crawlers that don't push any annoying monetization schemes? I don't mind paying up front but I don't want a gacha game or ads.

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

The Quest is real-time but might scracth that itch:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hu.redshift.thequest&hl=en

Siralim has top-down exploration but a very complex combat system about summoning & fusing creatures:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thylacinestudios.siralimultimate&hl=en

mycrabisfight.bsky.social•84 days ago

The Quest is turn based as well, was playing it not long ago. Whether I'd call it *good* is another question but it does work well om phones.

stardustbunny.bsky.social•85 days ago

I dunno if a real-time game is my vibe on my phone but Siralim looks up my alley. Thanks!

natalhia.bsky.social•85 days ago

📌

bigfattyplus.bsky.social•84 days ago

I haven't had to play it yet, but also how about Dreams of the Awendale!

https://x.com/Dreams_Awendale/status/1762448637232332898

sulik2.bsky.social•85 days ago

Wizardry 8 from like a decade ago was really solid too.

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

A decade... you mean 24 years ago lol

And yeah, Wizardry 8 is a fantastic game, still has an active modding community.

Wizards & Warriors is also a must-play if you want old-school dungeon-crawling in 3D and don't mind some jank.

sulik2.bsky.social•85 days ago

Ubisoft released a grid game rpg that was really good last decade. Maybe it was might and magic not wizardry?

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

Ah yeah, that's Might & Magic X: https://store.steampowered.com/app/238750/Might__Magic_X__Legacy/

sulik2.bsky.social•85 days ago

Yeah thats it! That game slapped, also hard as hard as hell and had some great puzzles.

meridok.bsky.social•85 days ago

Legend of Grimrock 1 & 2 are great grid-party-dungeon crawlers! And include an "old school" mode to turn off auto-mapping.

raelaluz.bsky.social•85 days ago

I'm not gonna act like i'm well versed in the genre, but isn't Cryptmaster pretty cool?

azzurraleamonde.bsky.social•84 days ago

📌

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

These are a good balance of old-school & modern touches:

- Operencia - Story & fixed party are average, but exploration, puzzles & combat are quite fun - https://store.steampowered.com/app/985950/Operencia_The_Stolen_Sun/

- Undernauts - Extremely polished and has a fantastic setting:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1570510/Undernauts_Labyrinth_of_Yomi/

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

If you want something more unusual:

- Labyrinth of Galleria - Basically Wizardry + Disgaea, with tons of complexity and an insane story: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1998340/Labyrinth_of_Galleria_The_Moon_Society/

Zanki Zero - A truly bizarre Dungeon Master (real-time combat) + Danganronpa blend: https://store.steampowered.com/app/819020/Zanki_Zero_Last_Beginning/

felipepepe.bsky.social•85 days ago

And if you want TRUE old-school:

- Wizardry: The Five Ordeals: if you want old-school, this the GOAT. No automap, many modules, custom portraits & smooth menus - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1308700/Wizardry_The_Five_Ordeals/

- Paper Sorcerer - A Wizardry IV homage full of style - https://store.steampowered.com/app/263560/Paper_Sorcerer/

grauken.bsky.social•85 days ago

To be honest, while I didn't like the idea of it initially, the remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is pretty good

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2518960/Wizardry_Proving_Grounds_of_the_Mad_Overlord/

themudman.bsky.social•85 days ago

Operencia and Paper Sorcerer are on GOG, for anybody who prefers that. Good sale on Operencia right now, too.

bearji.bsky.social•84 days ago

Paper Sorcerer looks dope. Somehow slid under my radar. My fave Wizardry-likes are Elminage: Original and Stranger of Sword City. More recently the Quester games scratch the same itch really well with a bit of a different approach/presentation.

coldember.bsky.social•84 days ago

Quester was quite relaxing. Loved it. I wonder how much they will change the formula in the next one. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3399400/Monochrome_Echoes__white/

coldember.bsky.social•84 days ago

Oh wait it's out???

ofelipelee.gamedesignhub.com•85 days ago

@drinkrust.bsky.social

drinkrust.bsky.social•85 days ago

woooah eu não sabia do Paper Sorcerer não,, ele me lembra o The Dark Spire de DS visualmente

noakf.bsky.social•84 days ago

I LOVE Paper Sorcerer. I always felt it's classes design was ahead of its time.

Finished it multiple times so I could play with all classes

felipepepe.bsky.social•84 days ago

I suggested these because IMO they match the vibes of Wizardry Daphne, but if you want something with real-time combat and more focused on exploration & puzzles, you should try Legend of Grimrock II and Cryptmaster:

- https://store.steampowered.com/app/251730/Legend_of_Grimrock_2/

- https://store.steampowered.com/app/1885110/Cryptmaster/

eduardolsd.bsky.social•84 days ago

Pra quem quiser uma experiência portátil, o primeiro Grimrock tem um ótimo port pra switch tb

h-arlequim.bsky.social•81 days ago

comecei a jogar essa semana e curti vários aspectos, mas fiquei preocupado por parecer ser fácil demais. ainda estou no início, mas quase tudo se resolve no auto-combat—isso muda eventualmente?

felipepepe.bsky.social•81 days ago

No Daphne? Ele é bem difícil, só o comecinho é de boa.

h-arlequim.bsky.social•81 days ago

Opa, vou continuar então! Tentar jogar sem entrar na nóia de Gacha de logar todo dia/fazer todas as dailies 😬

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