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This month marks the 45th anniversary of Wizardry, the hugely influential RPG series that was a formative influence on many series that continue to enjoy enormous popularity today, including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Shin Megami Tensei, FromSoftware’s Souls games, and Fire Emblem. Originally released in 1981 by the North American studio Sir-Tech, the series has had formidable staying power in Japan in the decades since its debut, spawning more than 40 Japan-only spin-offs. The latest of those is a port of the Super Famicom version of Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge<\/em>, which is coming to Steam in 2027. It’s being developed by D4Enterprise and published by Drecom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This first-person dungeon crawler was the first game in the Wizardry series to incorporate full-color graphics (!) and introduced more intricate character creation and progression systems than previous installments. Combat is turn-based, with various melee skills depending on weapon type and six distinct schools of magic. Like many subsequent RPGs, Bane of the Cosmic Forge <\/em>includes ample references to world mythology, beloved works of fiction like Alice in Wonderland<\/em>, and folkloric figures like hobbits and vampires.<\/p>\n Here’s an official description of the new and improved Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, <\/em>via Steam:<\/p>\n A hundred and twenty years ago, there lived a lord as wicked as any who ever ruled, and a sorcerer whose evil matched his own. The two joined forces and waged a magical war to destroy every evil power but their own.<\/p>\n In the midst of that war, they learned of “it” \u2014 a magic pen whose every written word becomes reality… the Cosmic Forge.<\/p>\n They seized the pen and began weaving terror into the very fabric of the cosmos. But it was not long before the two grew envious of each other’s power, and a final battle broke out to decide both their fates and the pen’s.<\/p>\n What happened after that, no one knows.<\/p>\n And now, adventurers who may yet change the fate of the pen and the cosmos are about to set foot within the castle’s walls……<\/p>\n The Super Famicom version of Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, released in Japan in 1995, comes to Steam with its original atmosphere intact. Experience the tension that only the genuine article of classic computer RPGs can deliver, through first-person dungeon exploration and turn-based command battles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you’re a retro RPG lover who can’t read Japanese, you may be out of luck on this one \u2014 there are no current plans for an English localization, or for ports on platforms other than PC. Still, it’s exciting to see some of these older games that aren’t playable on current hardware get a new lease on life.<\/p>\n\n