Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir - Under appreciated RPG

[Renevent]

To give some context to this thread, my first cRPG was Pool of Radiance from SSI. It's a type of game I'm very fond of and something that doesn't get made anymore.

So with that said, NWN2: SoZ was really excellent IMO. Creating an entire party of your own making, exploring a large overland map with lots of points of interest, and setting up a trade company was very fun and well done. I think it's the closest recent game we've had to PoR and other similar games and wish more were made.

It has some rough edges, but I think it give gamers a lot more freedom then what you typically get from most other major RPG's these days, especially the 'bro-mance simulators' coming from Bioware.

 

[J_C]

It's main problem was its boring story, but it really had some good ideas.

 

[Renevent]

Personally I always considered story to take a back seat to everything else in a RPG, especially in party and exploration based old school RPG's. I think setting, atmosphere, depth of combat/customization, etc are far more compelling things than being told a story. Reason why I don't enjoy Bioware RPG's or even The Witcher games.

Basically I'd rather make up my own story in a dynamic open world than be told a story.

 

[Cosmo]

Basically I'd rather make up my own story in a dynamic open world than be told a story.

Sorry, but SOZ being fairly open, doen't mean it is for you to LARP in. It had a story, with a beginning, a middle and an end.
Had the story been better, it would have been a slamdunk.

 

[Black_Willow]

To give some context to this thread, my first cRPG was Pool of Radiance from SSI. It's a type of game I'm very fond of and something that doesn't get made anymore.

So with that said, NWN2: SoZ was really excellent IMO. Creating an entire party of your own making, exploring a large overland map with lots of points of interest, and setting up a trade company was very fun and well done. I think it's the closest recent game we've had to PoR and other similar games and wish more were made.

It has some rough edges, but I think it give gamers a lot more freedom then what you typically get from most other major RPG's these days, especially the 'bro-mance simulators' coming from Bioware.

It was sozzy. Youa re dumb.

 

[Renevent]

Who said anything about LARP'ing? Also never said it didn't have a story. With that said, it was open enough where you were free to roam and explore around on your own, do certain dealings in your own manner, setup your trade empire with some freedom, etc. You weren't stopped every 10 mins to be force fed a cut-scene and the story definitely took a back seat to the other aspects of the game.

 

[Renevent]

To give some context to this thread, my first cRPG was Pool of Radiance from SSI. It's a type of game I'm very fond of and something that doesn't get made anymore.

So with that said, NWN2: SoZ was really excellent IMO. Creating an entire party of your own making, exploring a large overland map with lots of points of interest, and setting up a trade company was very fun and well done. I think it's the closest recent game we've had to PoR and other similar games and wish more were made.

It has some rough edges, but I think it give gamers a lot more freedom then what you typically get from most other major RPG's these days, especially the 'bro-mance simulators' coming from Bioware.

It was sozzy. Youa re dumb.

You can't even write out a simple sentence properly, and you call me dumb? Hah!

 

[Captain Shrek]

It's main problem was its boring story, but it really had some good ideas.

This.

SOZ is the BEST implementation of DnD skills in a modern game.

 

[Renevent]

It's main problem was its boring story, but it really had some good ideas.

This.

SOZ is the BEST implementation of DnD skills in a modern game.

I thought they did an especially good job integrating the more passive skills involved with overland map travel. Having a ranger in your party and investing in those skills had real benefit.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

SoZ was very uneven, but it's an interesting experiment that I'm glad they tried. It's a pity the NWN2 module community has never been very lively, SoZ's systems could have lead to downright fantastic adventures.

 

[Black_Willow]

To give some context to this thread, my first cRPG was Pool of Radiance from SSI. It's a type of game I'm very fond of and something that doesn't get made anymore.

So with that said, NWN2: SoZ was really excellent IMO. Creating an entire party of your own making, exploring a large overland map with lots of points of interest, and setting up a trade company was very fun and well done. I think it's the closest recent game we've had to PoR and other similar games and wish more were made.

It has some rough edges, but I think it give gamers a lot more freedom then what you typically get from most other major RPG's these days, especially the 'bro-mance simulators' coming from Bioware.

It was sozzy. Youa re dumb.

You can't even write out a simple sentence properly, and you call me dumb? Hah!

moran

 

[Renevent]

To give some context to this thread, my first cRPG was Pool of Radiance from SSI. It's a type of game I'm very fond of and something that doesn't get made anymore.

So with that said, NWN2: SoZ was really excellent IMO. Creating an entire party of your own making, exploring a large overland map with lots of points of interest, and setting up a trade company was very fun and well done. I think it's the closest recent game we've had to PoR and other similar games and wish more were made.

It has some rough edges, but I think it give gamers a lot more freedom then what you typically get from most other major RPG's these days, especially the 'bro-mance simulators' coming from Bioware.

It was sozzy. Youa re dumb.

You can't even write out a simple sentence properly, and you call me dumb? Hah!

moran

Excellent.

 

[Harold]

'sup Annie. Your 'voiceacting' in SOZ made my ears bleed. Never do it again.

 

[Tytus]

"What is a true rpg" discussion starts yet again.

But seriously I would rather play a Bioware "bro-mance simulator" than a pure dungeon crawl with no plot. Just you hero, go kill motivation in place.

 

[sea]

I liked Storm of Zehir. Its biggest problems were poor story as others have said, as well as poor balance. I found most of the game to be a complete cakewalk and the skill checks were too easy, to the point where the overland map had almost no real threats. Lack of consequence to most dialogue choices was also a bit lame, but understandable given that doing different outcomes for every possible "tagged" dialogue line would be a huge undertaking. The load times were also a serious killer (half the time I played the game felt like staring at load screens, not helped by the small levels), but not really the fault of the game so much as the engine, and Obsidian may not have had the opportunity to improve upon that problem.

 

[Renevent]

The time it took to load levels was an issue, I agree. I personally didn't find it any harder/easier than other NWN games though. Seemed par for the course for the NWN series.

"What is a true rpg" discussion starts yet again.

But seriously I would rather play a Bioware "bro-mance simulator" than a pure dungeon crawl with no plot. Just you hero, go kill motivation in place.

Anyone can have that discussion if they want, but that's not my intent. I was merely stating my preference. If you like bro-mances, more power to you.

 

[Gord]

The easy skillchecks were probably a direct result of the party-wide skill system of SoZ (ironic given that this was its greatest strength).
It gave you the possibility to focus each character on a certain skill, potentially giving you the highest possible value (for your current level) in just about every social skill.

 

[Captain Shrek]

The easy skillchecks were probably a direct result of the party-wide skill system of SoZ (ironic given that this was its greatest strength).
It gave you the possibility to focus each character on a certain skill, potentially giving you the highest possible value (for your current level) in just about every social skill.

 

[racofer]

SOZZY

r00fles!

 

[Lilura]

The best part of SoZzle was infiltrating the Worldtemple without being detected by deadly hierophants/serpentlords (more XP than kickdown the door, as it should be), and the tough bossfight with Dread Herald of Zehir.

Only Neverwinter Night adventure with a worthy climax.

 

[Erebus]

SoZ had some very nice elements, but I found it to be a rather poor game overall. The problem wasn't just the mediocre story, atmosphere and NPCs. The exploration wasn't satisfying either, because the places you could discover and the people/creatures you could encounter were usually uninteresting. Remember all the ridiculously small and bland dungeons in the game ? The very last dungeon was pretty fun, but few others were genuinely entertaining.

As for the trade system, it had so little connection to the plot that it felt rather pointless.

 

[laclongquan]

It has big flaws in designs that irritate players to no end:

Why the hell do they package world map with dungeon maps? Loading them is a huge chore. MotB is fine, then we get this piece of sozzy.

Some important perks lost its use: Persistent for example is no longer needed considering the small dungeons.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

I did an oc, motb, soz playthrough recently and noticed that SoZ felt a lot laggier than the other two iterations of NWN2. Load times were much longer, the camera was very choppy when zooming, and both battles and overland travel would often slow to a crawl. It made be quit about halfway through. Anyone else have this experience?

 

[Tytus]

The time it took to load levels was an issue, I agree. I personally didn't find it any harder/easier than other NWN games though. Seemed par for the course for the NWN series.

"What is a true rpg" discussion starts yet again.

But seriously I would rather play a Bioware "bro-mance simulator" than a pure dungeon crawl with no plot. Just you hero, go kill motivation in place.

Anyone can have that discussion if they want, but that's not my intent. I was merely stating my preference. If you like bro-mances, more power to you.

I didn't say I like bro-mances. Just that I like to have some semblance of a plot in my RPG. The pure fighting mechanic does nothing for me.

 

[Captain Shrek]

It has big flaws in designs that irritate players to no end:

Why the hell do they package world map with dungeon maps? Loading them is a huge chore. MotB is fine, then we get this piece of sozzy.

Some important perks lost its use: Persistent for example is no longer needed considering the small dungeons.

Persistent was never useful.