Neverwinter 2 - Retrospective @ RPS

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John Walker of RPS posted the first part of his new Neverwinter 2 retrospective.
When it comes to reeling off the great RPGs, names like Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment and Dragon Age: Origins are likely among the first to come to mind. Ask again and you’ll likely hear Pillars Of Eternity, Diablo II, Knights Of The Old Republic, Mass Effect 2… For some reason it takes far too long before the name Neverwinter Nights 2 gets a mention. But is that right?

Written by Chris Avellone, and created by Obsidian, the hugely ambitious sequel to BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights decided to not only redevelop the tools for allowing players to create their own D&D stories, but to put enormous effort into creating a unique Forgotten Realms tale of their own. I remember it as being a triumph. In fact, it’s one of three games I ever gave 90% in a decade on PC Gamer. But that was 2006, and it seems so forgotten now. How does it fair in 2015? I needed to find out.

Returning to it nearly a decade on, I decided the best approach would be to experience its tale of silver shards and evil invasions from the King Of Shadows in a very different way than before. I’d be evil.
 
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I quite like NWN2 now, not so much a few years ago. Have played a lot more of 1 though. Poor performance (on my old PC), stupidly ridiculous weapon models, a somewhat cramped and clunky feel to the camera, way OTT magic weapon effects and lighting, play dough faces on the models and the loooong winded OC with just as many tedious areas as good were my turn offs.

Some of those things have mellowed with time now that you can mod them and there's still enough to like that I can enjoy the game these days. Still haven't completed the OC or played any of the other content. I do go back to the game every few months so I will get through it some day.


-kaos
 
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It has a lot of the typical Obsidian clunkiness and the writing isn't as good as it thinks it is, but it's my favorite Obsidian game.
 
I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never played NWN 2. I own the base game and all the expansions, but just never got around to it.
 
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*EDIT* I meant Pillars of Eternity, not Path of Exile - DOH!

Well, I think it's definitely worth checking out. You'll want to use the companion AI mod that's out there, though.

I really like the main campaign for the most part, though it sort of falls apart towards the end.

Worst parts include a dull beginning, bad controls and dreadful camera movement, and other Obsidian-level clunky stuff.

But as a party-based meaty RPG, you could do a lot worse, imo.

In many ways, it's a lot like Pillars of Eternity with vastly superior mechanics.
 
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It's definitely been on my list for quite some time. I'll probably play it after I finally get around to playing the EE versions of the IE games.
 
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It has a lot of the typical Obsidian clunkiness and the writing isn't as good as it thinks it is, but it's my favorite Obsidian game.

That pretty much sums it up for me as well ... I remember playing initially and thinking:
- Why does the performance suck SO badly?
- Why is there no way to configure movement to work like in NWN?

After I got past that I enjoyed it quite a bit - and loved the havoc my mage could wreak with poorly placed fireballs! :)

Ugh ... I just reinstalled NWN 'Diamond' ... now THIS? hehe
 
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