The Legend
The Dark Savant has come to the planet Dominus. Somewhere on its surface lie three ancient artifacts — and whoever sets them upon their pedestals at Ascension Peak will rise to the Cosmic Circle and become a god.
Your party crash-lands on Dominus with nothing but wits, steel, and sorcery. Ahead lies a world of warring factions, each clawing toward the same divine prize: the rhino-like Umpani and the spider-slug T'Rang, locked in a bitter war; the rat-like Rattkin scheming in the shadows; the gentle Trynnie in their city among the trees; the savage bull-like Rapax; and the technologically advanced Higardi.
Whom you befriend — and whom you betray — carves one of four distinct paths through the game, leading to three different endings. In 2001, no RPG trusted the player this much.
"The ultimate aim of the game is to collect three artifacts and place each on its pedestal in the final zone. This allows ascension to the Cosmic Circle, where the player becomes a god."— the stakes, plainly stated
Scenes from Dominus
Actual in-game vistas, captured from the 2001 original. Click any image to view it full-size.
The Party Forge
11 races. 15 classes. Choose a lineage and a calling — or let fate assemble a full fellowship of six. Every hero arrives with a name, a personality, and something to say about it.
✦ CHOOSE A RACE
✦ CHOOSE A CLASS
Powers of Dominus
Every faction wants the artifacts. Every faction wants you — as ally or as corpse.
UMPANI
Rhino-like soldiers of rigid honor, locked in eternal war with the T'Rang. Do their dirty work, earn their steel.
AT WART'RANG
Spider-slug schemers who prize cunning over courage. They'll use you — the question is whether you'll notice.
AT WARRATTKIN
Rat-like rogues nesting in their warrens, always dealing, always watching. Everyone's friend; no one's ally.
WILDCARDTRYNNIE
Gentle tree-dwellers of Trynton, caught between monsters and empires. Kindness here is a strategic resource.
BEFRIENDABLERAPAX
Bull-like zealots of blood and fire. Diplomacy is possible. Survival is not guaranteed.
SAVAGEHIGARDI
Peaceful, technologically advanced humans of Dominus. Proof that this world was never just swords and sorcery.
BEFRIENDABLEChronicles & Curiosities
- Nine years passed between Wizardry VII (1992) and Wizardry 8 — and it was worth every one.
- Lead designer Brenda Brathwaite and producer Linda Currie helmed the project at Sir-Tech Canada.
- You can import your party from Wizardry VII or Wizardry Gold — veterans literally continue their saga.
- Characters have personalities and will bark commentary at events. A cunning rogue never misses a chance to mention profit.
- Classes can be changed mid-journey if attributes allow — a Mage can detour through Rogue for stealth, then return mightier.
- Combat is turn-based and tactical, wrapped in a first-person world you explore in real time.
- Sir-Tech declared no sequel would follow — and closed its doors in 2003. This is the farewell.
Final Verdict
The last word of a legendary series — and arguably its greatest. Twenty-five years on, no party-based RPG has matched its wit, its freedom, or its heart. Ascend, hero.