In the concluding section of Wizardry VII, players are faced with the decision of disclosing to their companion whether they possess a means of departing the planet Guardia.

Although the specific details of the player's entry into the game world are unclear, the objective remains to locate the necessary artifacts for the purpose of achieving godhood.

As the player approaches, they discover that the Cosmic Forge has returned to its rightful place in the Circle, the theft of which is detailed in Wizardry VI.

The Dark Savant unveils himself to the player as Phoonzang, the enigmatic deity figure featured in both Wizardry VII and 8, and a former Cosmic Lord.

The design of the various races and classes aims to maintain balance, enabling a wide range of playable party compositions.

For players seeking a more challenging experience, Sir-Tech reintroduced the "Iron Man Mode" option, reminiscent of the rules used in early Wizardry games.

Following Bradley's departure, Sir-Tech, the publisher, entrusted the development of Wizardry 8: Stones of Arnhem to DirectSoft, their distributor in Australia.

This team comprised programmer Cleveland Blakemore (known for Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar) and actor Max Phipps.

Chris Reed of IGN, more than a decade after the game's initial launch, commended its character creation tools and party system.

[15][16] RPG Vault, The Electric Playground, GameSpy and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Wizardry 8 for the "PC Role-Playing" honors, although the awards were ultimately given to Dark Age of Camelot, Arcanum, and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

[14] Computer Games Magazine hailed it as "Sir-Tech's opus" and the finest party-based loot-gathering dungeon crawl since Crusaders of the Dark Savant.