NWN:HotU ...OC playthrough required?

Drithius

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Over the years, I've tried to get through NWN's OC twice to no avail, my enthusiasm just dies so quickly in that drab thing. I was tossing around the idea of trying to get back into NWN1 with a playthrough of HotU. Having always wanted to get the "full effect" of NWN1 and play from the OC onwards, I always delayed playing the expansions to the point that I never played them at all!

Is there a play order required? Can I simply skip to the much-lauded HotU?
 
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IIRC, you can start HotU from scratch. You get a bunch of XP to begin, so you can create a PrC character.
 
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You miss out on some information and background from not playing the original game. The beginning has the npc's you may have hired in NWN 1. Also Aribeth is in
the game.

You can play the last expansion on it's own though. It just helps to know the story. I don't want to spoil the story by saying anymore if you never played it.
 
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The OC of 1 was definitely of the manurial persuasion. I didn't like part 2 much either. Part 3 was well done and worth the effort, but there are a heap of incredible mods out there for the game which could keep you playing for years. Most of the best ones do require that you have all 3 official updates/games installed, as well as a couple of other special programmes. It's been so long since I played that I've forgotten what they are, but they're all free.
 
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Bah to the OC! Bah, I say. The only thing you miss out on by starting with HotU is incredible blandness and some horrific voiceover work. Oh, and the usual Forgotten Realms half-assed plotline. :p

SoU is a bit better, but feels really thrown together and has some pretty severe balance issues. It ties in with HotU more, since you're the same character, but you can pick up on the important parts of the plot fairly easily, and they don't really matter.

HotU is definitely a game you play for fun rather than for the story, especially the first third. It goes a bit downhill from there.
 
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Yeah you can import your character from SoU to HoTU so if you enjoy developing your character through from low to epic levels, you might want to play both.

HoTU>SoU>OC in my view. I thought OC was okay but suffers from lots of repetitive "hub" like questing. There is the odd high spot though, like the ruined village (Charwood?) which was quite atmospheric.
 
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Nice to see much hasn't changed in ten years . People still either love or hate NWN 1+2. I wonder were Joxer is as I know he most definitely hates them.:)
 
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SoU and HotU can be played with a single character and as a continued story. SoU is somewhat better than the OC and I believe it's worth the time. I would say that the emotional impact of HotU is improved somewhat by playing the OC. HotU relies on at least two characters who you get to know in OC (Aribeth) and SoU (Deekin Scalesinger). But unless it's been fixed now you can't have them all in a party.
 
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The OC isn't that bad. It just isn't that good. SoU is every bit as good as HotU in my opinion. You can always hit youtube for the OC highlights if you want some Aribeth or Deekin backstory. Deekin plays a small part in NWN2 OC :)
 
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The OC was made with co-op and multiplayer in mind and for that sake it's actually ok. We did play it through via the internet and we did enjoy it. SoU and HotU are made for a singleplayer experience and they are much better in that regard.
 
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The OC isn't that bad. It just isn't that good. SoU is every bit as good as HotU in my opinion. You can always hit youtube for the OC highlights if you want some Aribeth or Deekin backstory. Deekin plays a small part in NWN2 OC :)

I thought it was Bad (with a capital B). One of the worst stories I've ever seen in a game that tries to have a story, repetitive encounter design, bland and boring levels in general, unimmersive as heck and it just got me in a bad mood. It is rare for a game to actually manage to do this, but just thinking about the NWN:OC makes me grumpy.

The expansion campaigns are passable. Miles better than the original, but there are so many better games out there. Sure, there are some nice moments, and some fun fights, but overall I don't think anything related to the official NWN campaigns is worth your time.
 
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The OC was made with co-op and multiplayer in mind and for that sake it's actually ok. We did play it through via the internet and we did enjoy it. SoU and HotU are made for a singleplayer experience and they are much better in that regard.

I played the first 2 chapters in co-op and had a blast, but I have to agree that the two expansions were a much better single player rpg experience.
I think the OC was mostly intended as a showcase for the engine and creation tools.

C
 
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I replayed NWN recently (OC + HotU), and the main advantage of playing the OC first is that you start with 800.000+ gold in HotU. It doesn't mean much in the start of HotU (vendors mainly have rubbish gear in act 1), but it does mean you can craft a completely overpowered weapon in the start of act 2.
 
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As far as I remember, it was implied that you play HoTU with a different character than the hero of OC and SoU.
 
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Just create a new character and don't worry about the OC. I played through the NWN OC once when it came it and haven't desired to go through it again.

I've played HoTU 2.5 times, though! Really nice campaign with some memorable combat scenarios.
 
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Just create a new character and don't worry about the OC. I played through the NWN OC once when it came it and haven't desired to go through it again.

I've played HoTU 2.5 times, though! Really nice campaign with some memorable combat scenarios.

Completely agree with this.

Then go to- http://nwvault.ign.com/fms/TopRated.php?content=modules

And pick some of the Hall of Fame Modules there, great stuff.
 
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NWN OC: Bland, boring, easy, waste of time.
NWN SoU: Decent, not bad, mildly entertaining.
NWN HoTU: Pretty good, challenging, fun.

So I'd say play both the expansions and skip the OC but SoU isn't necessary. HoTU though is very good. Both of the NWN's have expansions packs that are way better than the OCs were (though NWN2 at least was a decent game).
 
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Both of the NWN's have expansions packs that are way better than the OCs were (though NWN2 at least was a decent game).
I would argue with that. Highly praised Mask of the Betrayer had me in the range of neutral to bored, while the OC felt very exciting and had an epic feel that the expansions lack. I agree about NWN because I've never seen a counter-opinion (and it's true anyway), but in case of NWN2 it's a matter of taste.
 
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As far as I remember, it was implied that you play HoTU with a different character than the hero of OC and SoU.

Actually, the HotU character is always the hero of SoU. No matter who you import, you're always old friends with Deekin and have never seen Aribeth/Grimgnaw etc.
 
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