I wanted to start a DA2 thread like all the cool kids, but, no matter how shitty the game might be, there's simply no way my computer could run it.
So I'm making a thread about a NWN2 mod I just finished, because hey ! why not ?
I've always been disappointed by the lack of good NWN2 mods. NWN1, for all its flaws, had inspired a lot of creative people to make very enjoyable modules. NWN2, not so much. I really enjoyed the Dark Waters trilogy, but nothing else comes to my mind.
Misery Stone, however, is actually pretty good. I wouldn't quite call it great, but some elements are very impressive.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Nw ... ail&id=411
It's set in Ravenloft and the plot is fairly simple : the Mists of Ravenloft have taken you to an Island of Terror and you need to kill its Darklord in order to escape. In order to reach said Darklord, you need to gather six objects. Nothing too complicated, eh ?
The beginning is fairly linear, but once it is over, you'll be free to explore all of the Island (except for the ending area, obviously) as you desire. Misery Stone uses the overland map introduced in Storm of Zehir. The Island is fairly large and there are plenty of places to discover, so it's quite enjoyable. There are no wandering monsters, which may be for the best, considering how annoying they were in SoZ.
Visually speaking, Misery Stone is quite stunning. The landscapes, the buildings, the ruins and even the fucking caves look great. The very good gothic horror atmosphere - probably Misery Stone's greatest quality - owes a lot to the visual quality.
You get three companions : a bard, a thief and a druid. They're not the kind of NPCs that will insist on telling you every single thing about themselves, an enjoyable change from what we've become used to. They're not hugely developed, but they're reasonably interesting.
The writing's fine. You get very few occasions to talk to someone other than your companions.
There are many dungeons. They're fairly small, but not ridiculously so (as in SoZ). Not many traps except on doors and chests. Barely any puzzle.
The main problem of the module is that it does not remain constantly inventive. The beginning, while frustratingly linear, is full of striking or creepy moments. However, the places you can explore once you get access to the overland map are very uneven : some are genuinely good, others aren't much more than hack'n'slash. The asylum, the cursed field, the monastery are interesting to explore. The two caves full of worgs, not so much.
I'm not much of a fan of Ravenloft because I don't think D&D and gothic horror mix well. In a gothic horror adventure, fighting should be fairly rare. Unfortunately, it's not the case in Misery Stone and the fights end up being quite tedious, especially since the enemies we fight are not very diverse. The first time I was attacked by vampiric ghouls was a memorable moment ; the twentieth time, not so much. The vast majority of enemies are exactly what you'd expect : undeads, werebeasts, giant wolves... The exceptions tend to be more interesting, but not sufficiently. The difficulty's fairly low and there aren't many exciting fights.
All in all, it's a nice mod, but its repetitiveness lessens its quality after a while. Less fights and more unusual encounters would have made it great. Certainly worth trying, not necessarily worth finishing.