Neverwinter Nights 2 Interview at ActionTrip

[butsomuch]

http://www.actiontrip.com/previews/neverwi...nights2_i.phtml

Action Trip: First of all, we would like to hear some details about the game's story.

Ferret Baudoin, Lead Designer: The story takes place a few years after the events of Hordes of the Underdark and centers on the city of Neverwinter and its surrounding regions. Early in the story the protagonist is charged with unearthing the secret of a mysterious artifact, and that quest attracts a great deal of unwanted attention. But an adventurer's life was never supposed to be easy.

Neverwinter Nights 2 starts off as a simple tale of adventure. But the elements of the story build upon themselves until the player finds themselves in the eye of the hurricane. We're trying to make the world feel alive, and it evolves with the story. The player isn't a passive bystander in this, and at many stages of the game the player's choices can have real ramifications.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Eh. I won't hold my breath.

 

[Sol Invictus]

MCA's on it. Me like.

 

[Volourn]

"Early in the story the protagonist is charged with unearthing the secret of a mysterious artifact, and that quest attracts a great deal of unwanted attention."

R00fles!

 

[Transcendent One]

Sounds just about as awful as the opening of the original.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Unearthing the secret does not mean go fetch. It's quite possible you start the game with the item in question and you are sent to find out it's origins. That would make sense, especially since they said it brings unwanted attention. That would be the driving force behind enemy attacks.

That's not the part that really bothers me about the game though. While the OC from the first definitely needed help, my biggest problem was that I didn't like the combat engine. If they can improve that, I'll gladly give it a go.

 

[Tiliqua]

I hope NWN2 is the game that I hoped NWN was going to be. I'll wait until it comes out before I pass judgement.

 

[Volourn]

"Unearthing the secret does not mean go fetch. It's quite possible you start the game with the item in question and you are sent to find out it's origins. That would make sense, especially since they said it brings unwanted attention. That would be the driving force behind enemy attacks."

It's basically the same thing even if you are right. At least NWN's story wasn't about the items. The items were means to an end while ti seems NWN2's story the item in question is the end.


"While the OC from the first definitely needed help, my biggest problem was that I didn't like the combat engine. If they can improve that, I'll gladly give it a go."

It won't be. It's the same engine but with 3.5 instead of 3.0 rules. Though they are planning to destroy one of the best interfaces evar!

Morons.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

It's basically the same thing even if you are right. At least NWN's story wasn't about the items. The items were means to an end while ti seems NWN2's story the item in question is the end.

Well, one thing you have to take into consideration is that most RPGs out there always start off with "go find this", whether it's an item, a person, or information. So really, if you wanted to nitpick, most RPGs start in a "go fetch" manner. I'd be happy if my thoughts on the matter did turn out to be true because at least it would be a nice change of pace rather than "go get this item and blah blah blah" or "you must find the great flamboozle and destroy it before evil destroys this land blah blah blah".

 

[Volourn]

"you must find the great flamboozle and destroy it before evil destroys this land blah blah blah"

If you don't think any game has some sort of variation to that melodrama you'd be wrong. Closest one is PST and even then...

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

I'm not saying that's not a common demoninator among RPGs, just that it'd be nice to see an RPG that didn't start out immediately that way. And the "land" could be anything, even a simple city, as in NWN. Most RPGs (especially console rpgs) start out that way. Destroy the great evil before it destroys us.

Heck, give me an rpg where you're just trying to find your lost dog and I'd be happy as long as there was depth to it.

FO3: The Search For Fluffy.

 

[Volourn]

"Heck, give me an rpg where you're just trying to find your lost dog and I'd be happy as long as there was depth to it."

Um.. LOL How much depth could that be given. I could see that - and have seen that - as a decent side quest for a RPG; but a full game? I think not.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Why not?

I can think of plenty ways to add depth to something as simple as that and make it a fun RPG. Maybe it wouldn't be a 100+ hour one, but you could still get something from it. All it takes is some creative writing and an appropriate setting.

 

[Volourn]

Only if it gets sod eldued that it becomes much bigger than simply a missing dog. Like I said, it woul dmake a good quest or even a VERY short RPG but anything it would be about more than just a silly dog unless like I said it gets overly confoluted..