Thankfully, there are three distinct acts to the story, and the obstacles between you and your goals within them don’t feel like they were thrown in (as the desert interlude and the golem hunt in Shadows seemed to me). Even though the first chapter is a pure dungeon hack, it seems to make sense that the creatures of the Underdark haven’t come to the surface before because they weren’t able to hack the huge dungeon. The third act, while drastically removing you from the environs of the first two, makes sense as well, and reinvigorates you with puzzles, creatures, and item functionalities that you haven’t seen in the first two acts. So the game isn’t just about dungeon hacking with a new set of tricks up your sleeve, and it’s also not just about experiencing a new (and much better written) story with the same old engine.​