Review - WiZmans World Re;Try

Developer: CITY CONNECTION

Publisher: CITY CONNECTION, GRAVITY

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5

The Nintendo DS is a legendary handheld, known for many titles and franchises. I personally have had a blast visiting Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia on the handheld, along with indies like Gunman Clive. The DS was a JRPG and RPG powerhouse from Pokémon to Xenoblade. Though with the systems' region-locking, some games never made it to the United States. However, in this age of resources and digital distribution, games can have a second life and make it to the United States. Games such as WiZmans World Re;Try.

A 2009 JRPG, WiZmans World Re;Try is a remastered re-release of a classic game that has never made its way to the West until now. Featuring a compelling story and a unique take on turn-based combat, WiZmans World Re;Try is a solid and engaging JRPG that's well worth your time, but it could have benefited from a little more polish.

Magic and Mystery

An ancient mystery and a mysterious forest. Deep within the center of an unnamed land lies the city of Wizarest, with magic as its cultural and societal center. Everything runs on magic and keeps its citizens alive. Surrounding them is a forest and a series of deadly dungeons. Following a series of great calamities, the dungeons surround the village. Venturing beyond Wizarest is a death wish. No one knows what lies beyond the city. The city is isolated, and its citizens are amnesiac, losing their memories. Suddenly, a mystery unfolds.

Renowned mage Giselle approaches the Archmage. She has discovered a boy who was wandering the forests and survived the dungeons. Raising him as her own, this boy becomes a man and is given the name Claus. One day, Giselle goes missing. Venturing into the forest, Claus comes across three Humonculi, special waiors that have been tasked with aiding Claus. What was Giselle trying to uncover? Could it be the answer that generations have spent decades searching for? Claus and his team set out on a quest where their choices shape the very fate of Wizarest and themselves.

Remastered for a New Generation

WiZmans World Re;Try is a remastered version of the 2009 JRPG WiZmans World. The original WiZmans World was a Japanese-only exclusive to the Nintendo DS. WiZmans World Re;Try remasters the entire game, including new UI, new music, cleaner visuals, and the ability to save anywhere, along with English translation for its many boxes of dialogue.

WiZmans World Re;Try is a JRPG from a much simpler time in the genre. There are no sophisticated systems or multiple game modes. Here, this is a pure JRPG through and through. Players play as the main protagonist, embark on main quests, participate in side quests, and ultimately progress the story through these quests. The goal is to save Wizarest and discover the truth beyond the dungeons.

Gearing Up

Controlling Claus is as expected. Claus interacts with the various citizens and is sometimes offered side quests. The game does a good job of establishing the main objectives and pointing to where players need to go. The main quests progress the storyline and bring players to various dungeons. The dungeons shift through their calamities. A forest may appear normal, only for a calamity to shake and transform the forest, making it deadlier with more dangerous enemies. The meat and potatoes of WiZmans World Re;Try is its combat and gameplay system.

WiZmans World Re;Try is a turn-based combat adventure reminiscent of older JRPGs for the time. Players line up in formation with Claus standing behind the Humonculi. The goal is to defeat the various monsters surrounding Wizarest using physical and magical attacks. WiZmans World Re;Try steadily orients players into this combat, first pitting Claus solo against various monsters. The game introduces using physical attacks and magic abilities as well. Eventually, Claus comes across the Humonculi, and the gameplay opens up.

Put Your Soul Into It

The humonculi have the special ability to absorb the souls of defeated monsters. Each monster defeated holds a soul. The Humonculi grow more powerful through Fusion. By fusing a monster soul with a humonculi, the humonculi change shape and form, growing far more powerful. They inherit the speed, power, attacks, and abilities of the monsters. They can also use physical attacks, but most importantly, they can use special magical attacks. These attacks are unique to the chosen form.

The system goes deeper. Players eventually learned to fuse with catalysts. A special item can be selected in the fusion process that can further enhance a humoncoli and its monster form. Furthermore, skills can be inherited from form to form. Players can select specific abilities to be passed on to each form, making them more powerful. With various biomes and dungeons, there are literally dozens upon dozens of potential fusion combinations, making the combat system in WiZmans World Re;Try unique as well as strategic.

Master the Elements

There is a counterbalance to the combat. Elements are important for each battle. Water is greater than fire. Fire is greater than wind. Wind is greater than Earth. Earth is greater than water. The battle system can identify enemies' weaknesses as well, so players don't have to think about the elements too much, but it is important when choosing monsters and fusing them for battle.

Health and Claus's magic power can be regenerated between battles. The humonculi attacks use SP, and that can only regenerate if players rest. Resting means returning to the city and sleeping, which regenerates the monsters in the dungeon. Some beacons act as checkpoints in the dungeon, but they require a special crystal to activate. If players die in the dungeon, it is a full game over, with only the last save able to allow players to continue.

Wizards and Might

The combat in WiZmans World Re;Try is old-fashioned, meaning it is very grindy. Players encounter monsters and fight them in rows. If players interact with multiple monsters in the dungeons, they face successive battles. Encountering three monsters yields three rows of monsters. One battle is one row. The first couple of rounds of monsters are pushovers, but WiZman's World Re;Try does ramp up the difficulty.

WiZmans World Re;Try features a chain system in the battles as well. Chaining attacks levels up XP and special attributes, like AGI. There's a risk versus reward to this as the chain has to be successive, but the rewards are great, especially in the opening hours of the game. Knowing the HP of the enemies and the order of the enemies' turns are important for combat as well.

Choosing the Right Strategy

While there is an auto-battle option to breeze through the initial monsters, it is ill-advised to use it, especially with stronger enemies and multiple successive battles. The first few hours are a strong grind. Fight monster, win, repeat. However, leveling up is essential in the opening hours. Additionally, some monsters are remarkably strong. Fortunately, in WiZmans World Re;Try, you can save anywhere and save up to 10 slots. Regrettably, there are no autosaves, so put those manual saves to use!

WiZmans World Re;Try is sharp, remarkably engaging, and surprising in its tactical depth. I found myself cheering when a successful battle against a tough enemy was won. The visual monster designs are neat, and their unique abilities created a tactical depth that is wonderful to explore. It's an old-fashioned JRPG, but it harkens back to simpler, more straightforward times in the genre.

A New Look

WiZmans World Re;Try featured revamped visuals. The illustrations are amazing, and the pixelated sprites look sharp, even if the game was meant for the smaller screen on a Nintendo DS. The revamped soundtrack rocks, and the new UI is intuitive, though I wish there were a means to see the larger dungeon map without having to rely on the minimap. To see the larger map, one has to pause the game.

WiZmans World Re;Try is a solid remaster, but it isn't perfect. The game does not feature any voice-over, meaning players read many boxes of text. I do applaud the team for translating this significantly large game and all the text that comes with it. However, just be prepared to do a lot of reading. Furthermore, the grindy combat might turn off those looking for a more modern experience.

The World of WiZmans World Re;Try

WiZmans World Re;Try is a good remaster and a strong JRPG. While players may need to step back in time into its systems and style, the compelling story and gameplay make this one a worthy title to sink time into. Let us hope that WiZmans World Re;Try continues the trend of seeing these lost games find a new light. Magic is everything. Use it wisely and save Wizarest!

WIZEMANS WORLD RE;TRY IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A review copy was provided for the purposes of review, thanks to Overload PR.