I agree that the NWN2 map is rather a nice background picture for some locations you can visit without any real purpose. In NWN2 and many other RPGs you "hop" from location to location without actually traveling. Sometimes there are some random encounters, but thats it. If you teleport between the different locations of such a game you don't need a clear and functional map, a nice one does it as well or better - it shouldn't provide specific informations but a certain atmosphere.
On the other hand if you actually travel on the map and crossing a river or climbing a mountain has consequences you need a useful map. The games with the arguably best traveling system are Realms of Arkadia 1 and 2. You need a lot of stuff to travel without problems and to avoid getting diseased or falling into a chasm. The top-down RoA map isn't very beautiful but useful:
Also Darklands has a very realistic map of medieval Germany.
So the question is which kind of travel system AoD has. If I'm not mistaken you are teleporting between the locations, so the map doesn't has to be "useful". The mountains in the north are an almost unconquerable barrier and I think this is better illustrated by 3D mountains as in the current AoD map or the NWN2 map than by a top-down one.
On the other hand if you actually travel on the map and crossing a river or climbing a mountain has consequences you need a useful map. The games with the arguably best traveling system are Realms of Arkadia 1 and 2. You need a lot of stuff to travel without problems and to avoid getting diseased or falling into a chasm. The top-down RoA map isn't very beautiful but useful:
Also Darklands has a very realistic map of medieval Germany.
So the question is which kind of travel system AoD has. If I'm not mistaken you are teleporting between the locations, so the map doesn't has to be "useful". The mountains in the north are an almost unconquerable barrier and I think this is better illustrated by 3D mountains as in the current AoD map or the NWN2 map than by a top-down one.