Dark Wizard is a phenomenal game and one of the few games of its kind. As stated before it is somewhat like Master of Monsters and Brigandine, but only on the surface.

The thing that sets Dark Wizard apart is the fact that it is the TRUE definition of a Strategy RPG. It has massive battles where you recruit monsters and troops whose alignment (Lawful, Neutral, Chaos) determines their class/skills. You move them across huge battle fields and overtake the enemies’ castles yet at the same time it shares standard RPG elements that would be at home in any Final Fantasy.

You can have characters enter towns and talk to people. You can acquire fetch quests and many side quests like in a standard RPG. You can send characters back to previously conquered battlefields and search suspicious areas for secret weapons, armor, and items (and there are TONS). There is just so much depth without ever seeming like a burden.

I have played Dark Wizard off and on for the past 9 years and have tried to document EVERYTHING. From troop/alignment/class/skill charts to the location of all the hidden items on the battle fields. I literally have a spiral notebook filled front to back with notes.

It should also be noted that Kenji Terada, as it proudly proclaims as the game loads, was the man that conceived DW. He was also one of the main guys behind the first 3 Final Fantasy games for the NES.

But the one thing that places this game above all for me it the beautiful redbook soundtrack. I used to listen to it all the time in my CD player and my parents thought it was a Star Wars CD. The score is truly epic in every sense of the word. I give enormous props to the composer for delivering an OST that, for me, will probably never be outdone.

On a final note, if you have watched the intro to DW then chances are you are one of the few that would recognize my Avatar.