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The second trilogy in the vaunted Wizardry series brings together titles from 1988, 1990 and 1992. The first Wizardry game, released in September 1981, introduced the computer gaming public to first-person perspective fantasy role-playing. Additionally, Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, as that first Wizardry "scenario" (the term used by the developers of the series) was called, was on the leading edge of an innovative (at the time) gameplay methodology known as "phased" combat, the precursor of what is now known as turn-based action. That seemingly simple design change moved the focus of the player away from arcade style real-time action and introduced the aspects of strategy and planning to fantasy CRPGs. Each of the three games (scenarios) included in Wizardry Trilogy 2 are stand alone products, although characters developed in Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge can be exported to Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant. The first of the three titles in this collection, Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom, was the mold-breaker of sorts and changed the mode of gameplay that had gripped the series previously. With yet another unusual innovation, Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant offers the choice of four different beginnings. In consonance with the varied endgames possible at the end of its predecessor Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Crusaders offers three starting points commensurate with those endings. A fourth beginning is available for those players who neither finished nor played Wizardry VI. All three of the games in this compilation are role-playing adventures in the traditional sense -- the player develops a party of characters from a selection of races and classes, all with unique attributes, strengths, weaknesses, abilities, philosophies, statistics, experience, hit points and magic prowess (for those who are privy to that particular attribute). Games V and VI use prodigious copyright protection schemes that are detailed within the nearly 200 page manual that also includes the entire text of manuals from games V and VII. Since the similarities between Bane (VI) and Crusaders (VII) are so pronounced, only an addendum for Bane of the Cosmic Forge is included. For those interested in the history of the series beyond the previously mentioned Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, games II, III and IV were, respectively, Knight of Diamonds, Legacy of Llylgamyn and The Return of Werdna.