Wizardry Variants Daphne review: The risk itself is the reward

We’ve taken dungeon-crawling for granted. From Diablo to Stardew Valley, jumping into the depths of a gloomy cave by yourself or with a friend is a staple of joyous dopamine in video games. But stop and think about what you’re doing here. Just for funsies, apply the scenario to reality for a moment. Imagine diving into an unknown void, conditions unknown, not knowing what could be around any corner. You’re looking for treasure, but it’s far more likely you’ll be a grease stain under the boot of a monster, a corpse pinned to a deadly trap, or simply a dusty pile of bones for someone else to step over long after you’ve failed. Shouldn’t that be a little more scary? Wizardry Variants Daphne thinks so, and makes a surprisingly compelling case.

The OG is back, and it’s pissed

Wizardry Variants Daphne is the first brand-new Wizardry game in a while, although the series has been a bit of a mess with the license changing hands over the years. Drecom seems committed to making things happen with it though, between Digital Eclipse’s recent remake of the original, and other surprising merchandising (there’s a Wizardry light novel series, and it’s weird! In a cool way!) efforts. Daphne itself is a strange case of its own, as it’s a free-to-play mobile game with a character gacha system, something that doesn’t feel aligned with what Wizardry historically is. And yet, the folks who made this thing have injected a sense of style and mood that elevate the experience beyond simple swords and sorcery dungeon-crawling.

Daphne’s opening moments are harrowing. You wake up in a dark, quiet dungeon with barely any HP, struggling to stand and focus your vision. Before you can get your bearings a monster appears, and it’s almost impossible to tell what it is. Heart pounding so loud it drowns out the sounds of the doors you smash open, you flee until you hit one that won’t open. The creature slowly makes its way over, and after a futile battle you die. Then you get to sit and watch a time lapse of your corpse breaking down until there’s nothing left but tattered leather and bones. Finally, the title appears, and it fully sinks in that this won’t be a game that asks you for waifu money with a smile on its face.

Abandon all hope

Daphne pulls out all the stops when it comes to presenting classic, first-person dungeon-crawling as something that shouldn’t feel like fun. It invokes horror in all kinds of ways, from muting other sounds in favor of a pounding heartbeat when an enemy is nearby, to emphasizing the first-person view as yours, rather than the whole party’s. The camera will bob and sway under certain circumstances, such as when you shove a door open with your arm, or turn to watch as an enemy takes a bloody swing at an ally. The enemies are disgusting as well, oftentimes rancid piles of disparate human parts held together by viscera and black magic. There are goblins and slimes too, but you know it’s a real fight when the body horror is on display.
The navigation and combat is as traditional as it gets. You put together a team of up to six, split between a front and back row. Navigation is fully first-person, and combat is traditionally turn-based and brutal. Basic enemies can put you down in two or three hits easily, and forget it if you run into a boss unprepared. There are some concessions that make things a little easier than the oldest Wizardry titles, but oftentimes you’ll find yourself inching forward in progress, getting a little further each time before you retreat to restore health and magic points. It’s the classic loop, unburdened by mobile gaming tropes like energy or automated gameplay. Well, auto is there, but it almost feels like a bit because using it will surely get you killed.

Yeah, there’s money involved

Speaking of getting killed, there is permadeath. Like any Wizardry game, when a character dies you’ll have to haul their carcass to the church, then pay for a chance at revival. If it fails they will turn into a pile of ash, and you get another try to bring them back. If that fails, well, too bad! But wait, I mentioned before this is a gacha game right? Yeah, you can shell out dollars to get that legendary drop, then lose it permanently if you aren’t being careful. Wild, right? It sounds absolutely insane, but in reality there are several guardrails in place to prevent that from happening, even though it’s technically part of the game. It feels like another bit, like a gag reference to the IP poking fun at this one being a “f2p” mobile game, except a gag that will burn you severely if you let your guard down.

When we talk about gacha mechanics and microtransactions, we can’t gloss over the reality of these systems, which are designed to take advantage of people with addictive tendencies. As funny as it is to think about permadeath in this setting from an abstract perspective, it’s also kind of scary and cruel when you consider the full context. I’d feel worse about it if Daphne felt like a full-throated gacha game, but every part of that feels like it’s there by circumstance and not as a serious pillar of the game. The units you get for free are fully capable of clearing the game the old-fashioned way, with the major differences being in having different character designs and additional passive skills. The latter might seem egregious, but they don’t impact much at all. Heck, I’ve played this thing for hours and not once have I been interrupted by advertisements, in-game pressure to spend money, or anything like that. Those things are just kind of chilling there, sitting in the menu quietly. It’s weird.

The vibes are good sometimes, too

One thing the character collecting aspect does positively feed into is, well, the game’s sense of character. The first-person intimacy of the opening moments is blood-curdling, but there are moments that fuel the romantic aspect of life-risking adventure as well. For example, your characters will cheer each other on or boast during combat ahead of a critical hit. Then afterwards, one might put a hand on your shoulder to praise or encourage you, while the rest of the group walks ahead and whines about being tired or dirty. When you rest at an inn to clean up and use your hard-earned EXP, the group hangs out together. Sometimes you’ll get an invite to the tavern, where you’ll get to chat with a comrade or two before clanking glasses of bubbly swill together in small moments of triumph. Daphne’s slogan is “Savoring the Risk,” and these little moments of romance help make that mean something besides hardcore gaming pain.

It’s been fascinating to see what Drecom has done with Wizardry since getting a hold of the rights in the middle of the pandemic. There’s a sense of reverence for the series’ history, as well as a fresh interpretation of what Wizardry can be with the new game and other materials in the pipeline. There’s a renewed sense of horror and urgency, that acknowledges the gamey adrenaline rush of risking it all for some sick loot while wanting to push how getting killed by goblins in a pit dug out of reality by flesh-eating demons shouldn’t be a cheerful hobby. Wizardry Variants Daphne is an expertly crafted mix of old school mechanics and distinct, modern presentation that takes advantage of the mobile platform as much as it is inherently expected to exploit it. I’m curious to see what kind of long-term prospects Daphne can muster, but for now I’m having a blast.

Wizardry Variants Daphne is available now on mobile platforms and is free to download. 

Lucas White

Contributing Editor

Lucas plays a lot of videogames. Sometimes he enjoys one. His favorites include Dragon Quest, SaGa, and Mystery Dungeon. He's far too rattled with ADHD to care about world-building lore but will get lost for days in essays about themes and characters. Holds a journalism degree, which makes conversations about Oxford Commas awkward to say the least. Not a trophy hunter but platinumed Sifu out of sheer spite and got 100 percent in Rondo of Blood because it rules. You can find him on Twitter @HokutoNoLucas being curmudgeonly about Square Enix discourse and occasionally saying positive things about Konami.