After more than 2 years, I've finally decided to buy the 9th edition. I know, I'm late but I don't play boardgames as 10 years ago, and I've read mixed reviews about this edition. Before going into deep, let's say something:
THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE GAME, I HAVEN'T READ RULES YET
That said, since I buy it I want to express my thoughts trough the whole process, so lets take the game out of the box. I don't have much expectations, because the game is published by Steve Jackson Games instead of Fantasy Flight Games, and this will affect many aspects of the game components.
First of all, the game's illustrations are totally different from the 8th ed., but this would be noticed so much because, as you will see, there aren't many illustration in the whole game.
THE BOX
Many people complained about a minor quality of materials, and I must admit this would come out as soon as you touch the box. It's smaller that the 8th ed. and covered in a gloss paper instead of rough (something you are going o see in almost any piece of the game).
Into the box we find the usual 1/3 hole that obviously is too tight for the components once you pull out from paper dies. Luckily you can turn its side and gain 2 spaces.
In this edition they don't provide you with plastic bags, not a big deal but considering the cost of these it improve the feeling of poor quality.
- a rulebook
- 6 two-sided boards
- 6 life dials
- 119 cards
- 2 paper sheets with every counter
- 8 colored bases (char) + 6 black ones (portals)
- a 4/8-faced die + 6 six-faced dice
You may notice I didn't mention miniatures, and you are right, there are not miniatures in this edition!
I wanna tell you some good news, in case you feel demotivated: the boards are great. They have little changes, and someone could miss the old, darker and personal boards with that great magic circle inscribed. But, let me say, these boards feel way more "old style" in a 80s fashion that suit perfectly for Wiz-War, since it was conceived in 1985. I also like the fact they are blank, so you can easily choose one, place your character token in the central hole, and that would be your board from now on.
They maintain the classic double side with one focused on paths and one targeted at a strong 9x9 "house". Treasure, walls and doors seems work as we know it, so I don't expect many difference in rules. Since the box is likely as big as old expansions ones, I believe they are of the same size.
Speaking about character, the first thing you will notice is there are 8 different ones from which choose yours. I like the different colors and the symbol they assigned each one, while the illustrations appear a little stereotypical and less powerful than the other. One big downside: they are paper made. You will not find any sort of miniature, and this could ruin your experience; ok, you can bring any fantasy miniature you want into the game, but really this is something really sad to see, and it will be the staple point of finding this version "cheap".
I'll cover the new rules in a specific post, and I'm going to scan cards to provide you the whole set as I've done for the 8th rd., but I must tell you I hoped for something different. The cards are just text without any image, and this could give you the original feeling of this game like in the 90s, but there are no symbols too, nor about target and timing, nor about schools (which I believe they have cancelled, since there is no clues into the deck). What I think are energy cards don't even say that, as they are just big numbers without any other text.
But what really grinds my gear (cit.) is the rulebook. Although the text seems pretty decent, they just put 3 images of boards and one for both tokens and cards. The booklet itself is a 6 pages foldable flyer, not a bad choice for a small format, but in a letter/A4 like is really far from good to handle in your hands. It also scares me that in 6 pages you are supposed to learn a complex game like wiz-war, so I fear the rules they have been shortened. Where this will take us?
The last but not the least, bigger life dials, blank as the boards, and some plastic bases, mandatory since all those paper pieces, complete the set, with 2 more portals to work with in a bigger map.
CLOSING THE BOX AGAIN
It's early to say the good or the bad of the game. We loved 8th ed. in every aspect, from rules to miniatures, to outstanding graphics and illustration, so it was already a challenge cope with that quality and I didn't expect this 9th ed. to be better, but for as I have watched, it doesn't come near too. Will this game be more friendly to casual players? It will be less enjoyable? Could we pretend the cheaper quality doesn't affect the overall experience? Will we see...
WHAT I LIKED AS FAR
- colorless map boards
- 8 different characters, each one in a different color flavors, 2 more that total players count
- no energy tokens, who have ever used it in 8th ed.?
- a brand new 4/8 sides die
WHAT I'VE ALREADY DISLIKED
- rulebook, sorry it feels really bad
- overall graphic, no effort in bringing some illustration in the game
- no magic schools? everyone has to draw from a standard deck? no personalization? what did I open this portal for???
