Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant expanded the previous entry into a sprawling open world and became one of the most demanding turn-based RPGs PC ever offered. The party lands on the planet Guardia, where several factions and rival adventuring parties race after maps leading to an ancient machine. Crucially, the rivals act on their own: if you're slow, someone else grabs the artifact and the game moves on regardless of your plans. The party from the previous game can be carried over with its equipment, but you can also start completely from scratch.

Exploration happens in first-person, grid-based perspective, but the world isn't just a series of dungeons. There are forests, towns, underground areas, and whole territories you travel between on your own, with no destination marker. Conversations are again conducted via keywords, skills grow with use, and the class system with profession changes allows for building very unusual parties. Combat is turn-based, slow, and deadly; fleeing is often the only sensible tactic. Notes, your own maps, and the ability to endure even after several defeats are a necessity here, not a playstyle choice. The map is also full of places that only make sense much later, so the player learns to come back and try again.

Technically the game built on the sixth entry's engine with nicer scenery and a clearer auto-map, staying restrained musically and in sound. The charm comes more from the texts and the feeling that you're a small group on an alien planet where nobody is waiting for you. At the time the seventh entry was rated highly, though even then it was considered extremely tough and unfriendly to beginners. Its openness and rival factions moving through the world alongside you were unusual for their time and still feel modern today. Today's player has to swallow the pacing and the lack of guidance, but the reward is one of the most liberating RPGs of the nineties. A remade CD version later appeared with voiced dialogue and rougher three-dimensional graphics, but the core of the game remained just as tough.