Wizardry: The Five Ordeals on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
Welcome to the world of dungeon crawling! The classic dungeon crawler released back in 2006, returns to Steam with improved UI and more.
Wizardry: The Five Ordeals is a dungeon crawler, rpg and turn-based game
developed by 59 Studio
and published by Game*Spark Publishing.
Released on October 26th 2023 is available only on Windows
in 2 languages: English and Japanese.
It has received 482 reviews of which 410 were positive and 72 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.0 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 38.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Wizardry: The Five Ordeals into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Wizardry: The Five Ordeals through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 8.1 64bit
- Additional Notes: Maybe work on Windows 7, but we didn't provide any support.
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
The game is classic, dungeon crawling that usually focuses on the experience of exploring dungeons, mapping (on graph paper, if you're going full old-school!), and gathering loot and getting stronger. Though the included Five Ordeals are not at all well suited for novice adventurers, there is a lot of additional content, some official and some fan-created, that can be accessed and enjoyed even if you aren't highly familiar with the series. It, to a fault, sticks very closely to the gameplay and options of the first few Wizardry games. The mechanics for creating, adding, and manipulating party members both in the city and in the dungeon is not particularly intuitive or elegant -- similar to how they worked in the old games decades ago. While there is a basic scenario added post-release that tries to act as a tutorial and introductory dungeon, it can't cover up the fact that the interface itself is notably awkward and archaic. But these issues aside, the reason to get this game is to crawl through dungeons. Make your party, gather them at the Inn and send them through the town gate to head into dungeons to slay monsters and get loot, heading back to town to rest, recover and level up. Repeat. Get lost within twisty halls, learn which monsters are most dangerous and plan how to deal with them, learn spells that increase your firepower and defenses, kill a big baddie, recover a lost treasure, maybe unlock a new path to tougher dungeons, this game tends to be story-light -- focusing on the mazes, monsters, treasure and encounters and how you deal with them. One notable detail is the game auto-saves. If you use an item accidentally on the wrong person, it's gone. Failed to revive a fallen ally, too bad. Teleported into solid rock or into a room with no exit door? Time to make a new party. Though, there is a 'secret' key combination that can be used in a bad situation, so if you really don't like what is going on, you can 'reset' the game to reload from the last auto-save. Now while cheating the system like that might seem like heresy to some, for some of the scenarios... well. They don't pull any punches. Certain enemy encounters are incredibly deadly and recovering a party that was wiped out involves going back in with other adventurers, and is very risky, dangerous and inconvenient. Worse than simple dying are monsters that drain your experience levels, undoing hours of work, or permanently losing a cherished character. But it lends a sense of urgency and tenseness that you don't get with a simple respawn checkpoint or a Reload from Last Save menu. So it can be hard, ok. What makes this different from other retro dungeon crawlers? I'd say, it's the user content. There are a large amount of scenarios designed by various Japanese Wizardry fans, many translated into English, and each one has their own set of mazes, monsters, loot tables and items. Some are basic and fairly easy, some are incredibly large and intricate, and some are incredibly hard and punishing -- making the stock "Ordeals" look tame by comparison. You could easily spend weeks exploring some of the largest custom scenarios, You could go through a scenario with a heavily changed magic system, or find one that gives you incredibly powerful loot, or one that caps your experience gain -- leaving you relying on equipment and gear over grinding up numbers to get stronger. Note that due to these sometimes heavy differences it is not possible to import characters between any scenarios -- each one will be a clean start from level 1. I have not dabbled in scenario creation myself, but do note that the scenario editor is not fully English ready and is web-based, and requires a Steam login. Be wary that due to copyright issues, using names or content from other Wizardry games is strictly prohibited. Overall the Five Ordeals is a game package that by itself is kind of a tough sell for the price -- the fantastic Prisoners of the Battles DLC is excellent but tacks on even more of a price tag. It is the well-made custom content -- user created scenarios in particular -- that really help extend and elevate its appeal. If you're looking for some classic dungeon crawling in the vein of the first few Wizardry games, give this a look.
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I love this version of Wizardry. Out of all of the current options available - I like this one the best. Here are some things I like: - The game is *fully playable* with only the keyboard and it feels very response, almost like playing Rogue or NetHack. Alternatively, the game pad works well and the game plays very well on my ROG Ally so I'm assuming the Steam Deck would have a similar good play experience. - You can toggle between animated or snap turn. I found myself eventually landing on the animated turns. - If you look into the level editor you can see that there are a ton of parameters that can be adjusted. Mini map options, experience tables, items and monster tables, a lot in there. - One of the DLC packages here called Prisoners of Battles is the PlayStation 2 version of the game. If you check out old videos of the game, it's apparent where this one gets its influence. - The tutorial mission here, outside of the five ordeals, is called the Price of Deception. It teaches the ins and outs of the game - stuff that can be applied to other old school Wizardry games as well. It even shows the player how to save scum on the keyboard or the controller. I thought this was a cool touch and a good balance between other alternatives (save menu) and auto save. Five Ordeals lands on a good balance, a player can play with perma death and instant wipes if they choose. Update after hitting the 50 hour mark with the game: I completed Price of Deception and now am on to Prisoners of Battle. Really enjoying this so far. The free opensource software Gridmonger is really easy to alt+tab back and forth and great for notes. I find myself very addicted to this game and often thinking about it when I'm not playing.
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**Edited my review to better reflect the difficulty of Traveler's Property vs. The Price of Deception** I had never played any Wizardry game before. It popped up from time to time throughout my life, but I thought it to be some vestige of the past, an archaic game missing quality of life features that I've come to rely upon. The first installment is four years older than I am. I never paid it much mind. Somehow this game showed up in my recommendations. I saw it was relatively recent. I bought it because other players wrote reviews that contained words that I like. Words like 'unforgiving' and 'extremely unfair' and 'game design from ages past'. Turns out I do take a liking to archaic game systems and lack of quality of life. I started the game, liked what I saw and man, did the Wizardry rabbit hole open for me. Turns out there's 40 years worth of dungeon crawling to explore, spread out over franchise titles and clones that are Wizardry in all but name only. I'm hooked. I didn't want to wait to write this review until I have played over a hundred hours. I wanted to write it now, while I'm still new to these games. I've only played the tutorial scenario, The Price of Deception and a few floors of Traveler's Property. But as a beginner in the world of Wizardry I feel I'm now at the point where I'm not thoroughly spoiled on the game's shenanigans and not yet a veteran who's seen it all in these games. This is a fresh perspective on a franchise that has flown under my radar all my life. If you, like me, never played Wizardry, play The Price of Deception first. It does a good job of introducing mechanics slowly and one at a time. It also does it in context of the dungeon. It's really good. After a couple of floors the training wheels come off but I feel reasonably well prepared to take on other scenarios or other Wizardry games now. Wizardry rewards slow, meticulous and painstaking gameplay. Do not rush. Run from battles that seem hard. Prepare backup characters that you keep within arm's length of your main party level-wise. Retreat often to the town to buy upgrades. Yes, a scenario will take dozens of hours that way, but I feel that is the way they intended this game to be played. To facilitate this slow process, I've taken to mapping the dungeon floors using Gridmonger (wholly recommended dungeon crawling mapping tool, and free!). There's a map in most scenarios, but I feel that mapping out every step helps me in not rushing and it provides better information about where I am than constantly having to switch to the in-game map, which also costs spell uses. If you're serious about delving deep into the game, use a mapping tool like Gridmonger. You either go big and nerdy, or you go home. This game will treat you unfairly, but using the above steps I've minimized character deaths so far. Which is good, because even The Price of Deception can overwhelm you with Wizardry 'unfairness' a couple of floors in. Traveler's Property is so much harder and extremely unforgiving if you've never played any Wizardry so I'd very much advise against starting with that scenario if you are a beginner. But it's all in the game. Like traditional roguelikes and games like Dwarf Fortress, dying and losing progress is part of the experience. Go into this game expecting just that and it won't be a tough pill to swallow. There's a couple of user scenarios too, with more on the way it seems. I've not looked into those yet, but it's great to know that they are there. If they are anywhere near the quality or better than the scenarios that come with the game out of the box, you're in for a treat. This game will provide hundreds of hours of gameplay to those willing to commit themselves to this difficult game. Wizardry and dungeon crawlers in general have gained a new fan.
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I lost an entire Lv 10 party to a enemy that decapitated everyone in a single turn. 10/10 the most fun ive had with a Dungeon Crawler RPG
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First things first: it's worth the price if you like Wizardry or if you're interested in getting 6 full scenarios in a single package. This is easily the best version of Wizardry you're going to find anywhere, and it may be the single best Wizardry collection I've ever seen. It has all the interest of the original game, all the quality of the best Japanese Wizardry titles, fantastic artwork, an excellent set of options that will appeal to rookies and veteran players alike, a small handful of the best innovations from the Bradley-era games, and some absolutely stellar music that contributes to an overall fantastic atmosphere. If you like these kinds of games at all, it is absolutely worth the price. Yes, there are a lot of old school mechanics: you will get lost, total party kills are possible and even likely, characters you have spent hours nurturing will suddenly vanish, items will curse you in truly challenging ways, and there will be fights that seem impossible.... the first time. If you don't care for that kind of gameplay, then this isn't a game for you, which is fine. But if you love exploration, map-making, and the challenge of dealing with tall odds, then there's few games out there better than Five Ordeals. The game also now includes a beginner scenario that is a great place for new players to start, so don't let the big challenge stop you from giving it a try. "The Price of Deception" provides tips, offers a very reasonable difficulty curve, and introduces newcomers to common Wizardry traps and puzzles in a sensible and measured way. That alone is worth the price of entry, but then you get the five scenarios originally included in the game, plus access to a bunch of user-made scenarios that are now available in English (the list keeps growing, too). Beyond that, the game is just a pleasure to play. The graphics, sound, and music are all great and the improved interface (compared to virtually every other Wizardry game I've ever played) is top notch. This is a serious hidden gem on Steam, and probably one of the better games I've played in the last 5 or 10 years.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 01 April 2025 12:00 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 26 March 2025 21:02 |
| Steam price | 02 April 2025 04:46 |
| Steam reviews | 02 April 2025 09:45 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Wizardry: The Five Ordeals, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Wizardry: The Five Ordeals
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- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Wizardry: The Five Ordeals compatibility
Online players
24
Developer
59 Studio
Publisher
Game*Spark Publishing
Release
26 Oct 2023
Platforms
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