Fan translator Remisse has successfully patched the Saturn version of Sir-Tech's Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge into English, reports Sega Saturn Shiro.
Data East released the game exclusively in Japan in 1996; it's a port of the PC original with features unique to this console version, and was bundled together with its sequel in Wizardry VI & VII Complete. A Western release was mooted at one point, but never came to pass.
Remisse has released the patch in two versions, one of which offers several enhancements over the original game, such as a larger mini-map and improved music variety. Both the standard and enhanced versions restore a lot of removed content and include multiple fixes.
Speaking to Sega Saturn Shiro, Remisse explained why this version of the game is so notable:
"It’s based on W7’s ruleset, meaning more spells, more traps, and more skills (though most of the extra skills do nothing in 6, unfortunately), and the art style too is very reminiscent of 7. And it’s also got a much easier early game, which a lot of new players have notoriously struggled with when playing the other versions."
The translator actually began the project using gertius1's attempt to apply the PC script to the PS1 port of Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant:
“It was tough at the beginning for sure. I had never worked on a rom hacking project before and I didn’t have a clear idea on how to best write my tools or even how to inject new ASM code into the game. Then I got the hang of it I think one month in, and I also got extremely lucky in the sense that other people had already figured out the text compression algorithm, and that tools already existed to edit various parts of the game and fix some of its shortcomings with regards to gameplay. I’m literally standing on the shoulders of giants here…"
While you'd assume that Remisse will simply move on to the second game in the pack, Wizardy VII, the translator tells Sega Saturn Shiro that other plans are afoot:
“While this port of W6 is unique enough that even people who’ve already beaten the other versions might want to try this one out, W7 is just too similar to the DOS version while also featuring more bugs, worse performance, missing content and imho worse-looking environments. I don’t want people to play a half-assed version of an excellent game, but I just don’t feel motivated enough right now to do all the bug fixing and content restoration that I did for W6 once again.”
Remisse adds that another Saturn translation could be the cards. "It’ll be either Ronde or Langrisser V, assuming that the authors of the existing translation guides give me permission to use their work."
The Wizardry series began in 1981 on the Apple II, with the final Western-made entry being 2001's Wizardry 8. However, the franchise has been incredibly successful in Japan since the 1980s, and has branched off into its own sub-series in that region.