Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds

Background Story
The Staff of Gnilda protected the City of Llylgamyn against every outsider with evil intentions. However, the artefact did not protect the city against the evil within. Davalpus, aided by the lords of Darkness, overthrew and killed the royal family with the exception of Princess Margda and Prince Alavik. The siblings quested for the armor of the fabled Knight of Diamonds. After they had found the armor, they challenged Davalpus in the royal castle. Eventually, Davalpus was killed, but he managed to curse the city with his dying breath. Then, the castle collapsed, leaving only a hole in the ground. Alavik (wearing the Knight of Diamonds's armor), Davalpus, and the Staff of Gnilda were gone. Without the staff, the city would fall.

Story
Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds takes place not too long after the events of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. In order to retrieve the Staff of Gnilda, the heroes who had successfully fought the evil magician Werdna before, are summoned. They enter the Temple of Gnilda, where they learn that the staff was taken away by Gnilda as the City of Llylgamyn appeared unworthy of its protection. An apparition of Gnilda tells the heroes to find the five parts of the Knight of Diamonds's armor, which are hidden in the temple. They are to return them to him to show that the characters are worthy of regaining the Staff of Gnilda.

When the characters succeed in assembling the armor and gaining the staff, the player may choose one of them to become the next Knight of Diamonds.

Gameplay
The gameplay is the same as in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. There is one significant change, though. The player is not allowed to create new characters. All characters must be imported from Wizardry I, which is rather inconvenient. Also, characters moved to Wizardry II cannot be used again in Wizardry I. They have literally "moved on" to new adventures. The effective deletion of Wizardry I characters can be avoided by making backup copies of the character disc.

It is possible to create a new character in Wizardry I and move him to Wizardry II. However, it is not advisable to start The Knight of Diamonds with Level 1 characters, as the opponents are very tough.

The Castle
The Castle is basically the game's starting menu. It is the same as in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. The player can choose to enter several locations - once they have picked up at least one character at Gilgamesh's Tavern:
 * Temple of Cant
 * Boltac's Trading Post
 * The Adventurer's Inn
 * Edge of Town

The Edge of Town
This is also a menu. From here, the player may choose either to let their characters enter The Maze, where the real, 3D action starts, or they may choose one of the following options:


 * Training Grounds (Instead of creating a character here, you can move one from a Wizardry I scenario disk)
 * Utilities
 * Leave the game (rather self-explanatory)

Characters

 * Prince Alavik
 * Princess Margda

Nintendo Entertainment System
Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds was ported to several systems, although the Nintendo Entertainment System version (released in 1992) was the only non-computer port to be released in the US. The main differences between this NES port and the PC original are:


 * Full-color dungeon graphics and textures as opposed to simple lines (One can also choose "line" for graphics closer to the original versions)


 * Re-balancing the enemies so that the game can function as a stand-alone title; this was necessary because the NES had no way to transfer data from one game to the next. While the Japanese release allowed both creating and importing characters, the latter option required an additional peripheral, which was available in Japan. When the NES version was released in the West, the import function was removed. However, the Japanese release allows user to switch between original English text and Japanese translation, so it is possible to play this version in English and use import function with an emulator capable of emulating the needed peripheral.

Like other early Wizardry titles, The Knight of Diamonds received several versions in Japan. Similar to the NES version described above, these versions often had improved graphics and added music along with the option to create new characters. In some cases these versions were part of a larger collection of Wizardry titles:


 * Wizardry I & II (PC Engine CD-ROM) - Compilation of the first two titles on one CD with improved graphics and Red Book audio. While this version has import function, it lacks the option to play in English.


 * Wizardry III: Diamond no Kishi (Gameboy) - Released in Japan for the gameboy system was labeled as the 3rd part instead of being second in the series. A translation for this can be located here. Wizardry III: Diamond no Kishi - Translated by Opus

Wizardry I-II-III: Story of Llylgamyn for the SNES - Translated by Aeon Genesis
 * The Story of Llylgamyn (SNES) - Compilation of the first three Wizardry titles on single cartridge. These versions are based on the NES releases, although with improved audiovisual presentation. Similar to the earlier NES releases player is allowed to select between the enhanced graphics or those closer to the older computer versions. However, the monster graphics aren't customizable. Import function is done through in-built battery save, although the interface "mimics" the import function of the earlier NES releases. While it was released only in Japan, it has the support for English text, although the menus and messages exclusive to this version are still in Japanese. A translation for the SNES ROM can be located here.


 * Llylgamyn Saga (Windows, Playstation, Sega Saturn) - Another compilation of the first three titles. The games have improved graphics and added music, although it is still possible to use graphics closer to the older computer releases. In this version this option is also available for monster graphics. It also has an optional automapping function. This release uses the storage mediums of its respective platforms for saved data and has the import function.