Wizardry 8 Old-school depth, six lives at stake

Before anything else, you make the six adventurers who will live or die by your planning. Eleven races and fifteen classes, from a gnome gadgeteer to a faerie ninja, each with their own perks and roles. A party needs a front line to take hits, ranged fighters behind them, and someone who can cast, so every slot is a real decision. Skills are both bought with points and trained through use, so what you pick at creation shapes what your characters grow into. Get it wrong and the early game will punish you for it; get it right and you have a group you built from nothing, which is exactly why people start a new party the moment one run ends.

Fights play out in 3D space with your party on a grid: what faces the enemy matters, because attacks from behind hit your rear-line casters first, and your front-line fighters can only reach what is in front of them. Formations, positioning and choke points keep a bad fight from becoming a fatal one. There are over 300 monster types, and the creature AI does not wait politely: roaming monsters hunt you. Combat is also where consumables shine, from powders that blind a pack of enemies for three turns while you reposition, to the potions and tools that undo poison, panic and worse. One honest note: some fights, especially against large groups, run long.

Dozens of characters have things to say, and how you treat them decides whether they become powerful allies or deadly enemies. Each of your characters also has a custom personality, Kindly or Chaotic, burly or surly, and speaks over 100 lines of dialogue in that voice, so your own party argues and comments its way through the story. The plot is non-linear and continues the Dark Savant trilogy: gather the artifacts, race your rivals, and try to ascend to the Cosmic Circle before countless worlds fall to darkness.