What happened to the NWN2 review?

[Slylandro]

Wasn't VD or RP going to do a NWN2 review but then their computer was eaten by a dog or something? Is a review still in the works?

I am probably going to get the game eventually anyway, but only because Cain announced that he is using the engine for The Black Hound. Speaking of which, will his module be reviewed if it doesn't vaporize?

 

[Callaxes]

I think VD, pretty much summed up his opinion about NWN 2 on his "Why Fantasy Sucks" thread.

 

[JoKa]

suibhine was bound to write the review, iirc...and he's been missing for some time.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

KIA

 

[ricolikesrice]

i dont think the black hound will be available this year, at earliest maybe middle next year. J.E. said in the obsidian forums basically that his pet project was currently at pause and he might continue working on it (in his freetime) again in july 07.

about whether nwn2 is worth buying.... i dont understand the harsh critique it gets often.

its nowhere near FO,PS:T or arcanum, but its also nowhere near oblivion, nwn1 and the likes. keep in mind its a sequel to NWN and thus a lot of focus is on the toolset, yet i personally think the OC that comes with it is also worth your money.
if anything its leaps and bounds better in terms of OC than the piece of shit that was NWN1... compared to todays standards its the best cRPG of the last 2 years (yeah yeah, no real competion there :p)... compared to standards of the 90s its still a good average too.

in terms of choices and consequences its like any bioware game maybe slightly better, probably most comparable with BG2. that means its not really a highlight of the genre like the 3 mentioned above, but it also means its not really bad either.
the OC is around 50 hours which is quite alot for nowadays standards, seeing JE for example is around 30 hours.
yes, it feels pretty much on a railroad but then again i dont get whats so horrible about that. 45h mainquest + 5h sidequests is imho a lot better than 15h mainquest and 15h sidequest. its definitly not a game for "explorers" though.

-story, setting and characters are all fairly cliche (with a few good exceptions) but what to expect of a DnD game not set in PS or Dark Sun ? =/
-combat is mostly mindless, boring and unchallenging , then again the same could be said for almost any cRPG including even the greatest gems. if you want a challenge, dont "powerbuild" your chars, play on hard, and self enforce yourself to not rest every fight. its semi ok that way.

the biggest problem is overcomming the first few hours in the game, since the start of act 1 is just annoying , but imho it gets really better later on, my highlights beeing the whole trial and later the keep. as said above, dont expect to be sucked into the game like in PS:T but in some parts the writing is very very good and you get plenty of dialogue options (though a few have no real consequences, are cliche good/evil or flatout stupid.... however same could be said about any bio game and many others too)


for the OMGGRAPHICS:

the engine kind of sucks because the areas are small and have huge loading times inbetween. very annoying, two worlds for instance has roughly equal graphics yet a basically almost endless world and almost zero loading times.
but pure looks ARE quite good, some landscapes look beautifull and the characters are ok too (although half the face selections you have are downright ugly).
performancewise a lot of people complained but i think they simply cant get their settings right. i played NWN2 on an old amd 3000xp with a geforce 6800 and 1 gig of ram, a PC i would consider below average these days.... and it ran fine except for maybe a few moments where lots of enemies come at once. and thats in 1280x1024 with high to medium details where the game looks still pretty good.
just turn shadows off, they really kill performance in my experience.
on my new high end PC NWN2 in full details looks just as good as oblivion or two worlds in general (all of them are better/worse in some aspects )

also dont forget NWN2 is that "toolset game" and while the custom content isnt flooded yet with every retard uploading his shitty dungeon crawls and sex fantasies because the toolset is more complex to get into...... there are quite some good projects in the works.


all things said and done, if you really hate all bioware games with a passion.... then NWN2 wont be for you either.
if you really love bioware games and fantasize about anal romances with dark elves and space hamsters.... spend your money on a gun, a webcam... and make a clip of your suicide for me to entertain myself.
if you arent exactly fond of bioware games but think they are still entertaining sometimes..... you ll probably at least like NWN2 because OE at the moment is bioware +1 cRPG / -1 polish. (but i sure hope it wont stay that way in their own games)

 

[Vault Dweller]

Wasn't VD or RP going to do a NWN2 review but then their computer was eaten by a dog or something?

That was Suibhne. Unfortunately, he never finished it, which is a shame, since his Dark Messiah review was pretty damn good.

Since there is no reason to review the game right now, I'll wait for the expansion and then review both.

I think VD, pretty much summed up his opinion about NWN 2 on his "Why Fantasy Sucks" thread.

And in the Year in Review article:

Bioware's younger brother kinda saved the year with Neverwinter Nights 2, which could be described as Baldur's Gate 2 meets Icewind Dale 2, which is great, because these are my favourite games. From Baldur's Gate we’ve got the epic story reflecting the choiceless life of the Chosen One, and from Icewind Dale 2 we’ve got endless waves of enemies and more combat than in Halo, which is another of my favourite games, so I'm pretty sure we are dealing with an instant classic and a game of the year material here. Any game that features a githyanki proctologist

Spoiler

who will remove a two handed sword that got stuck in your ass during a questionable anal game when you were a child

has gotta be good. Don't worry about getting lost in the game though, it's one of the most linear games I've ever seen, and even individual maps feature super linear maze-like designs, firmly leading you in circles to your destinations through waves of unavoidable enemies. Every now and then you are given a dialogue option that can help you avoid 5% of combat in an area, to remind you that it's not a Diablo clone, but a fully blown role-playing game.

 

[bozia2012]

NWN2 is the bestest coz it features trolls wearing loinclothes (sp?) which is liek LOL cuz their like some fantasy imortal kamikazi so why do they were clothes???

EDIT: Replaying currently

 

[Relayer71]

I agree with ricolikesrice's assessment of NWN 2.

It's nothing special but it sure is better than a lot of the RPGs released in the last couple of years - at the very least it's OC trumps the original NWN's which I thought was the slowest, most mind-numbingly dull game I've ever played.

The writing is pretty good and it's what keeps me playing the game (just like KOTOR 2, this seems to be Obsidian's forte). Not so much the story itself but the dialogue which is leagues better than the dialogue in most RPGs these days.

Gameplay isn't terrible - it definitely does feel like Icewind Dale at times with all the combat, would have been nice to have more dialogue/influence-centered gameplay choices.

And combat, aside from being a bit too plentiful, is decent as well - difficulty seems to be much improved from the ridiculously easy Hard mode of the KOTORs and original NWN but then this is defeated by the fact that any NPC that dies automatically revives at the end of the battle, a really poor design choice. And character management is nowhere as smooth as it was in IWD: it's very difficult to control your group sometimes with the lousy camera system and sometimes lousy area design (narrow dungeon walls and very small caves come to mind).

Technically speaking the game is shit - even with a great video card and decent PC there is a lot of slowdown with the graphics options turned up. Which would be ok if the graphics were truly phenomenal but they're not, they range from decent to pretty good. On top of this, loading or saving a game or going into a new area takes way too long and there are some annoying glitches/bugs and stupid interface design decisions (the frustrating inventory system comes to mind).

To their credit Obsidian has done an excellent job supporting the game with frequent patches and communicating with the community via the official forums on Bioware's site.

I have a good feeling about the upcoming expansion.

 

[Texas Red]

First of all NWN 2 offers superior roleplaying. Unlike the majority of other games you actually have to choose between law and chaos and not only good and evil. Through the skills checks and moral choises you are able to flesh out your character in any way you want.

The mind baffles really when people complain about the dialogs and roleplaying. This aspect of gameplay Obsidian *did* deliver.

The story is quite decent and even better than average. I havent made it far and nor do I want to splot anything for you pricks who refuse the game but... What I find interesting is that apparently you have 3 serious enemies to worry about, all seemingly working against you and even against each other. The githyanki, Black Garius and the warlock. None of them are the generic evil guy archetype either.

What I *do* dislike in the design department is that NWN 2 does not take itself seriously. I was expecting something of a darker nature when played KotOR 2 but everything is just comical.

 

[Volourn]

"The mind baffles really when people complain about the dialogs and roleplaying."

The mind baffles really when people priase NWN2's dialogues and role-playing a smuch as you do when the dialogues and role-playing are so forced, and the choices are often fake. NWN2's dialogue is okay.

It's story, btw, is average at best.

 

[z3r'0']

I got the game for the toolset and user-made mods.

Turned out that it was close to broken on release. But Obsidian came through, and I am pretty happy atm. in regards to their support. Plus the devs are pretty responsive on the NWN2 forums.

With the upcoming expansion, most bugs etc, should be sorted out. May be a good time to release a gold edition. Heh. Probably should have waited before picking this up.

The single-player is very lame and kinda boring. Enter classic cliched rising evil, dark shadows etc. Got bored after the tenth cave brawl with spawning orcs. Can't be bothered to continue atm.
Forced NPC piss me off and seem very juvenile and idiotic. Its like having a party of idiot savantes.

Combat is true to DnD, mostly. A far cry from BG/IWD obviously, more like KOTOR than anything else. Some good implementations like 'Attack of Opportunity', etc. feel wasted as most combat is pretty boring.

Still, as quality modules get released, over time, and Obsidian keep up their support. Its worth it. And hey, its not like there's a lot to choose from nowadays, anyhow.

 

[Pegultagol]

I thought the only positive to come out of the expansion was the indirect affirmation of at least continued support of the game up to and through its release. I found the OC quite overall tiresome and rather prodding at points (especially the crafting woes with cumbersome inventory and near the beginning) but it did have its moments (interesting trial sequences, keep management, etc.).

 

[roshan]

Neverwinter Nights 2 is a piece of shit. It is one of the worst games Ive played in a long time. After playing that crap Im actually glad Obsidian didnt get to make Fallout 3.

The game is completely linear. All the areas have only 1 specific, linear critical path through them that the protagonist must follow. Not only that, area progression is also linear. Aside from the plot critical characters, there are few that the player can talk to and interract with, and there are also very few subquests to be found.

Combat is the easiest in any game ever. My party actually killed a dragon and an army of fire giants and their king at the same time without me even noticing. It is also a major part of the game and most areas are dungeons. Characters automatically resurrect after combat, which means losing the "game" is virtually impossible.

You cant choose who you want in the party, and many of the characters that you are forced to take along are completely one dimensional and irritating in a Biowarian manner. For example, a character called Shandra who keeps whining about her burnt farm and is a stereotypical goody two shoes is forced on you for a third of the game. Another character, Zhjaeve is forced on you for several missions, and in one of them, all she does is state stupidly obvious things like "that is a dragons heart" and "that is a dragon". Not only that, the character, who is from a chaotic race of people that hate slavery, pledges herself into your slavery in a way that will leave you scratching your head wondering why. The character rehashes some of the speech patterns of Dakkon from Planescape Torment and takes them to extreme levels to the point that it gets ridiculously repetitive, does not have any clear personal motivation for joining you(much less becoming your slave) and doesnt have any depth beyond the external shell.

The game also has no atmosphere and doesnt take itself seriously... The themes, characters and look of the game have more in common with Cinderella and Snow White than the BIS dungeons and dragons games.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Not only that, the character, who is from a chaotic race of people that hate slavery, pledges herself into your slavery in a way that will leave you scratching your head wondering why. The character rehashes some of the speech patterns of Dakkon from Planescape Torment and takes them to extreme levels to the point that it gets ridiculously repetitive, does not have any clear personal motivation for joining you(much less becoming your slave) and doesnt have any depth beyond the external shell.

Looks like Obsidian has jumped on the Neo-Bioware bandwagon of rehashing old characters. They really are trying to be Bioware's little brother.

 

[Micmu]

Neverwinter Nights 2 is a piece of shit. It is one of the worst games Ive played in a long time.

Seconded.

 

[cutterjohn]

NWN2: My take:
Much like the original campaign in NWN, (or at least as far as I've personally gotten in both, and have heard from many others) is pretty boring and poorly paced. Some people had suggested to me that in NWN2 the pace and quality of the OC picks up after Ch. 1, but I have failed to observe that so far in playing NWN2 OC Ch. 2 up to right before setting off to clear out a keep. I quit playing again at this point, and even the latest 1.0.6.973 patch hasn't gotten me to do anything other than patch the game, and make sure that it was still functional. I'd still rate either game in the 7-8 range if I were do so numerically, they're OK, but really no better than many other RPGs, and worse than many others as in I've enjoyed Disciples II, G3, and Divine Divinity more of recently played games. Worse recently played games would be the likes of Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege II, Oblivious, Spiderweb games(any, they never impressed me, overly amateurish relying primarily on the captive mac market and community goodwill), Dark Messiah of Might & Magic(not an RPG, but still...), etc. As to games that I've probably liked about the same, I'd probably dump in the likes of Fate and Dungeon Lords(I got the CE for $5, and have actually been seriously playing it recently. It certainly had much more potential than many other ARPGs, although it is unfortunate that it was never really finished and that they fucked over most of their customers... The combat and dungeons in it are enough to keep my attention for the moment, and actually the combat seems to be much better than the usual mobbing tactic of all other ARPGs).

NWN1, I have relegated to playing only under linux, and while in linux with spare time now, I'm more interested in seeing what I can get up and running under the latest wine release or Cedega 6(see thread in general forum).

As to buying NWN2, well I bought my copy as I got it for $25 last November, but unless you can get it for that price or less, I'd wait and see how any third party mods turn out, what Obsidian/Atari release in the way of new official material, and persistent world development if that interests you, otherwise, if you don't have it, NWN1 Diamond package may suit you better.

Both games look fairly similar, especially when you play with the camera zoomed out to max, like I usually do, but zoomed in max or close NWN2 does look better but I find that to be unplayable. Camera control is awful in NWN2 and non-existent(panning/angle) in NWN1. Gameplaywise, they feel and play much more like an action RPG, although the l007 tends to not be as ph4t. The best thing going for both games are the toolsets and what might possibly be made with the engine.