Get beaten back and experience death many times in the latest installment of the Wizardry series, Wizardry Variants Daphne! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Review Overview

What is Wizardry Variants Daphne?

Every century, the Abyss awakens. It brings forth a deadly curse that ravages the land. Long ago, a Warlock obsessed with Death unleashed this terror, consuming both man and beast, drowning the world in sorrow.

Through the ages, the power to seal the Abyss was passed down, and kings defended the realm from its dark grasp. But now, the king has disappeared, and the kingdom is slowly being swallowed by death.

Wizardry Variants Daphne features:
　⚫︎　Classic dungeon-crawling gameplay
　⚫︎　Turn-based combat
　⚫︎　Gacha system
　⚫︎　Permadeath mechanics
　⚫︎　Auto-battle feature
　⚫︎　RPG character progression

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Wizardry Variants Daphne's gameplay and story.

Google Play	App Store	Steam
Free (with in-app purchases)

Wizardry Variants Daphne Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Faithful to the Franchise You Actually Have to Play the Game Brutally Difficult, Obscenely Satisfying Gritty, Gloriously Sordid Aesthetics Shock! It’s Free-to-Play-Friendly!	Performance Can Tank Mechanics Are Clearer Than A Foggy Night

Wizardry Variants Daphne Overall Score - 80/100

Wizardry Variants Daphne is a surprisingly addictive mobile gacha game, despite its many measures that make it as unwelcoming to casual players as possible. In many ways, it delivers a very real and harrowing experience of diving into an evil den full of hostile monsters and wicked magic. Of course, it’s not perfect or designed for everybody, but its rough, almost animalistic brutality makes it a very special game that everybody should at least give a chance.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Story - 7/10

Pretty good, but nothing special. That’s perhaps the most apt way to describe Wizardry Variants Daphne’s story. There are quite a lot of surprising twists and shocking events, sure, but the pacing leaves much to be desired, considering how impactful those scenes could otherwise be.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Gameplay - 10/10

Honestly speaking, I haven’t had this much fun playing a gacha game in a while. It might be because it’s unique as a turn-based, first-person dungeon crawler, or it might just be due to how engaging all its features and mechanics are when combined. The inherently difficult fights, perilous exploration, and even the existence of permadeath only add to the captivating experience of getting mauled deep underground.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Visuals - 9/10

If you like being able to visualize what it’s like to dive into the dark, murky, primal depths of a dungeon at the convenience of a mobile game, then look no further. Wizardry Variants Daphne is utterly shameless in its efforts to provide you with that kind of experience. It’s ill-lit, ruinous, and dirty; so much so that your own allies will get soiled and bloodied as they continue to fight within its ominous halls.

It may not use cutting-edge graphics, and its UI might be basic as heck, but it’s far more than enough to deliver.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Audio - 7/10

The audio is exactly what you would expect from a global release of a mobile gacha game. That is, its sound effects are excellent, the background music is average, and the English voice acting has its hits and misses. More importantly, despite having Japanese voice acting, there is no way to change your in-game voice language to it. Please, developers, give us that option.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Value for Money - 7/10

First of all, just like most mobile gacha games, Wizardry Variants Daphne is free to play. But unlike most of the popular ones on the market nowadays, it has very appealing gacha rates at 5% for a legendary. Not only that, due to the nature of the game as a difficult title that requires you to occasionally swap party members, the lower-rarity ones are designed to be viable for dungeons. This makes the game quite friendly to free-to-play players.

However, make no mistake: their shop prices are quite expensive if you decide to spend money on this game.

Wizardry Variants Daphne Review: Each Death Makes It Better

Juggling too many gacha games can be overwhelming, and it's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking, "Just one more won't hurt." But with games like Zenless Zone Zero, Wuthering Waves, and Honkai Star Rail already eating up my time, it's understandable why the idea of new releases like Girls' Frontline 2 or Duet Night Abyss feels more like a looming storm than an exciting event. Add in the nightly grind with Eternal Return and the upcoming Strinova and Fate Trigger: The Novita, and it really does start to feel like playing games after work just becomes more work.

That was why I was determined to stay away from Wizardry Variants Daphne using any excuse necessary. I wanted to stick to just three mobile gachas, which sounded like a solid plan for keeping a balance in life. And that was despite the game being in one of my favorite genres, which includes Labyrinth of Galleria (great game, by the way) and Etrian Odyssey.

Long story short, I failed. I was caught by the game’s unique charms, hook, line, and sinker. Now, all I want to do is lie on my bed and play the game all day. Yes, even writing this review was a challenge because the game is on my phone right next to the screen, tempting me to keep exploring until I get mangled by the next boss.

Mind you, this review is an early impressions one, as the game is quite grindy and has a steep difficulty curve.

You’re (Not) Welcome. And That’s a Good Thing.

Most mobile games nowadays actively try to make themselves accessible for their players so they can attract all kinds of gullible gacha addicts (like me). Wizardry Variants Daphne? No such thing. It will brutalize you at every turn just to make sure you know what you’re getting into.

The game employs almost every trick in the book to kick you down; spiked traps, poisoned floors, enemy ambushes, and even treasure chests rigged with debilitating traps, you name it. Honestly, the only times I feel safe are when I’m near exit points or outside the dungeon itself.

It’s not often I find myself fighting for every sliver of health as early as the tutorial stages. Sure, FromSoft games are known for that, but nowadays? And from other games, especially in the mobile scene? I’m not familiar with the Wizardry series, but from what I’ve heard, this level of consistent brutality is somewhat normal for its games.

And I love it for that.

Although we’ve recently had a bunch of engaging mobile games with decently high difficulties, they’re mostly action games that rely on your reflexes and memory. Wizardry Variants Daphne, on the other hand, relies more on your planning and adaptability. Regardless, it’s not one of those "press Auto and win" kinds of games, even if it does have an Auto feature. You’re highly incentivized to play manually unless you want your entire party getting wiped out because your priest and mage keep spamming normal attacks.

Like, I highly recommend you never click the Auto button. Unless you’re several levels higher than your enemies, it’s essentially a suicide button.

And you will die often. The enemies in this game aren’t a joke. Even if you try to stack as many stats as you can early on, pushing forward through the dungeon will always put you up against enemies that can two- or three-tap your heroes. This is especially true for the bosses, as they always have some means to mess with your party unless you’ve thoroughly learned their patterns.

Plus, Wizardry Variants Daphne is quite grindy. Unless you’re purposely trying to exterminate every single mob on every floor, you’ll find that your enemies will quickly become more threatening than you’d expect. Opportunities to heal back up are also few and far between. This includes MP and SP, which your casters and fighters utilize to use skills, respectively.

However, I’ve never once felt that the game was being unfair, even after clearing the seventh level of the first dungeon.

Eight Hours In and I’m Still Confused

In order to maximize your chances of surviving the game’s vicious baddies, you must invest your status points properly. For example, Vitality is very important for front-liners, while Strength is obviously necessary for those in your party who like big weapons. However, what the hell is Piety and IQ? What does Luck provide when there’s also Speed? Does Dexterity matter for bows when they have properties that scale off Strength? And most importantly, does it actually matter what kind of room you rent at an inn?

The game never actually explains these things properly. In fact, it doesn’t even do so for more pressing mechanics such as debuffs or status effects. It took me an unfortunate amount of time to realize certain things, like poison being able to persist outside the dungeon and even through resting at an inn (I mean, that does make sense, but still).

You need to go all the way into the game’s Glossary over in the Options menu just to learn these things, and that’s far from enough to actually understand everything. I mean, for some reason, the developers have decided that ending certain explanations with "etc." is enough to answer our questions. Spoiler: it isn’t.

Diversification is Required

A character’s ability to stay in the game and not get Thanos-snapped out of existence relies on their Fortitude. This can be likened to a character’s attachment to life in a way, and as it gets lower, they become harder to resurrect through various means. In fact, if it ever reaches zero, then an attempt to resurrect them will just end with them turning to dust.

Permadeath.

Fortunately, it is incredibly difficult for things to reach that point. This is especially true if you diversify your lineups and make use of the various other adventurers you will inevitably obtain from the game’s gacha. Yes, I’m telling you to use more than just the legendary adventurers.

The need to diversify becomes much more apparent when you reach certain levels where enemies begin to have various resistances. For example, fighting swarms of undead will require you to slot in more than just one priest in your party. And, no, you can’t use two copies of the legendary priestess Alice in your lineup. You will have to use someone else, like the non-legendary priestesses Galina or Marianne.

Additionally, investing in more than just your highest-rarity adventurers will also allow you to consistently perform Dispatch Requests. You will also have the option to swap your party members when one of them is drained of most of their Fortitude.

So, does this option justify having permadeath in a game where you essentially have to pay either money or time to collect characters? I certainly think so. I mean, it’s very hard to trigger the game’s permadeath conditions, anyway. Besides, this kind of challenge is quite welcome as long as those mechanics don’t bleed into seasonal events and such.

Is Wizardry Variants Daphne Worth It?

Yes. No Doubt In My Mind.

While you could argue that Wizardry Variants Daphne needs a bit more quality-of-life improvements (or even the removal of the permadeath mechanic) to make playing through its difficult dungeons reasonable for the average mobile game player, I actually think its roughness gives it a unique charm. Having to pay attention to every detail while being brutalized by even the weakest-looking mobs is an experience I never thought I needed, nor wanted.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the Wizardry series (I know I wasn’t), I still highly suggest you give this game a chance. In fact, I would get on my knees if necessary, if that’s what it takes for you to try it. Once you make peace with the fact that this game is actively trying to beat you down, you’ll find one of the best mobile gacha games 2024 has to offer.

I just wish the performance didn't tank hard on literally any open area.

Google Play	App Store	Steam
Free (with in-app purchases)

Wizardry Variants Daphne FAQ

Is there permadeath in Wizardry Variants Daphne?

Yes, there is. However, the developers have implemented a lot of contingencies to prevent that from happening. You would need to be actively trying to reach that point just to experience it.

How many characters are there in Wizardry Variants Daphne?

There are currently seven legendary adventurers, as well as almost 30 named adventurers in the game. The rest are nameless fodder.

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Wizardry Variants Daphne Product Information

Title	WIZARDRY VARIANTS DAPHNE
Release Date	October 15, 2024
Developer	Studio 2PRO
Publisher	Drecom Co., Ltd.
Supported Platforms	PC, Mobile (Android, iOS)
Genre	Adventure, RPG
Number of Players	Single Player
ESRB Rating	12+
Official Website	Wizardry Variants Daphne Official Website

Alfonso Majarucon

Writer of things from game, anime and manga reviews to news and webnovels. Hopelessly addicted to story-driven games, especially cross-platform ones. Favorite games include Punishing Gray Raven, Arknights, Limbus Company, Elden Ring, Touhou, Soul Nomad and the Disgaea series (except 3 and 6). Avid..