Two Worlds II - Review @ GameBanshee

Gamebanshee has a lengthy 5 page review of this game written by Eric Schwartz.

A quote about the moral choices in the game:

I was also taken aback by some of the game's moral ambiguity. While some other RPGs bill their moral choices as a big selling point, Two Worlds II actually has quite a few situations without ideal solutions, or parties that are happy to manipulate you to their own ends. One section of the game, for instance, revolves around a string of murders committed by rebels to Gandohar's regime - is it right to support the rebels, even if they're violent criminals, or is order brought by the guards more important?

A quote about the quest design:

This also becomes a problem with the quest design. Two Worlds II is stuffed full of dozens, if not hundreds of fetch and kill quests, and most of them aren't at all interesting. Many of them seem purposely built to make you run into remote territory, back and forth, just to waste time. While other "hiking simulators" like Skyrim can be criticized for being mostly devoted to traveling the world, the key difference is that Two Worlds II largely lacks any interesting locations to stumble across, random encounters to take part in, and so on. The point of these simple travel-based quests in open-world titles is to give incentive for exploration, and Two Worlds II pretty much has none to make doing those quests worthwhile except for the experience and loot.

A quote on the magic system:

Last, and most interesting (especially for Elder Scrolls fans), Two Worlds II has a pretty interesting and original magic system which revolves entirely around creating your own spells. By using magical cards with different properties, it's possible to summon various creatures, apply buffs, throw around elemental bolts, and just about anything else you'd expect from an RPG, but with the added flexibility of being able to choose how you use those base components to your advantage.

A quote about the combat:

It all falls apart for a few reasons. First, character movement can be clunky due to the fact that it's tied to the physics engine. Momentum, terrain and other factors influence how you move, which is fine for exploration, but in combat it means that movement can feel sluggish, or floaty, such as when making sudden turns or running up or down hills. Many of my deaths could be attributed to the controls, and sometimes I was killed because the ragdoll corpses left behind by enemies blocked my retreat path.

And finally, the conclusion:

In the end, I can give my recommendation for Two Worlds II - on the condition that you're willing to overlook a lot of problems. Although it's not a game I'd personally buy at full price, if you're able to find it on sale, especially the Velvet Edition that includes the expansion pack, it will give you more than enough value for your money. Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting Two Worlds III, as I'd like to see the good ideas explored in Two Worlds II come to a more refined, developed, and polished form.

More information.

Nice in-depth review, but why wait a year and a half after release?

exactly why I didnt play it but thrown it on my GF, who dropped it.

Two Worlds are really good games, mechanics wize, but quest design .. story .. writing , they are priorities for me

Value wise I place TW2 over Skyrim

My request.for TW3: Let me kill NPCs.

Originally Posted by borcanu
exactly why I didnt play it

Originally Posted by borcanu
Value wise I place TW2 over Skyrim

What.

Also, while Iīm not exactly a big fan of Skyrim (though I think itīs a good game overall), it beats the crap out of Two Worlds 2 in pretty much any category that isnīt spell system and inventory (not that inventory is any good in TW2), plus it sports roughly about at least 5 times more content.

I like 2worlds a lot, bought cheaply but haven't played part two yet. But the review is entirely predictable knowing what I know about the first one. Hammy, but endearing. Clunky, but functional. Lots of hiking, and horseback riding.

Just like I like 'em

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
I like 2worlds a lot, bought cheaply but haven't played part two yet. But the review is entirely predictable knowing what I know about the first one. Hammy, but endearing. Clunky, but functional. Lots of hiking, and horseback riding.

Just like I like 'em

I agree for all there faults the games were enjoyable. That's all I care about.

Poison Cloud - My favorite; loved it.

My friend bought it and quit playing the very same day. I then tried it and couldnt get past the combat. No backstep or facing down when pressing "down" (thus exposing my back to the enemy) instead of backing away was a deal breaker for me. And the inventory was horrendous.

I bought this a while back in a steam sale. Are there any mods for this game that would fix some of the issues?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Nice in-depth review, but why wait a year and a half after release?

We were busy with other games at the time and it just slipped past our radar (I was reviewing and writing the Deus Ex HR guide for the site at the time, if I recall). It was on sale recently and Buck suggested it, so here we are.

Originally Posted by sakichop
I bought this a while back in a steam sale. Are there any mods for this game that would fix some of the issues?

There are mods and INI tweaks for the UI and camera out there that can be found pretty easily. I especially recommend the one that enables smaller inventory icons, and centering the camera helps a lot.

There's also the Worldmerge mod, that combines all the areas from the game into a single coherent world, and adds a lot of content as well:

http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=33839

Originally Posted by sea
We were busy with other games at the time and it just slipped past our radar (I was reviewing and writing the Deus Ex HR guide for the site at the time, if I recall). It was on sale recently and Buck suggested it, so here we are.


There are mods and INI tweaks for the UI and camera out there that can be found pretty easily. I especially recommend the one that enables smaller inventory icons, and centering the camera helps a lot.

There's also the Worldmerge mod, that combines all the areas from the game into a single coherent world, and adds a lot of content as well:

http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=33839

Thanks for posting that. I don't know why i haven't picked these games up yet. Is there a special edition that allows you to buy all of the versions?

Originally Posted by DarNoor
Is there a special edition that allows you to buy all of the versions?

The TWII "Velvet Edition" includes both the main game and the expansion.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/13656/

If not mistaken this one includes also, anyway good review and this mod seem that will enhance game greatly and I know what I will play next after I finish current game.

http://www.gamersgate.com/DDB-TW2GOT…edition-bundle

The only way I could play that game is with this mod:
http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=32799

I played TW2 to completion and overall enjoyed it. I never did buy the expansion though so I can't comment on that. My biggest criticism of the game is that it's self-evident that the game engine they built was underutilized. They really needed more time to put the capabilities of that engine to better creative use. Still interested in the series and looking forward to a TW3.

Played and finished 2W2 also. Bought the expansion and played quite a bit of it, but it wasn't different enough to warrant another 50 hours for a 2nd ending. The biggest weakness of two worlds was covered in the review. The game is very empty of anything to do outside of the towns. Exploration is basically leveling and loot grabbing. 2W3 will need a full time dungeon design staff. Magic system is powerful but very clunky and massively hit and miss on what spell cards will be found. I wanted to be a fire mage and found like 9 fire cards in 200 hours. If I would have chosen necromancy, I would have had hundreds.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Played and finished 2W2 also. Bought the expansion and played quite a bit of it, but it wasn't different enough to warrant another 50 hours for a 2nd ending. The biggest weakness of two worlds was covered in the review. The game is very empty of anything to do outside of the towns. Exploration is basically leveling and loot grabbing. 2W3 will need a full time dungeon design staff. Magic system is powerful but very clunky and massively hit and miss on what spell cards will be found. I wanted to be a fire mage and found like 9 fire cards in 200 hours. If I would have chosen necromancy, I would have had hundreds.

200 hours? You must have done an insane amount of loot farming. Most people claim around 40 hours for TWII and significantly less for the expansion.

My goal was to uncover every square inch of the map, so I did criss cross the thing several times. I just looked and it said 320 hours, but this includes quite a bit of idle time while I'm eating, on the phone, etc.

Originally Posted by sea
We were busy with other games at the time and it just slipped past our radar (I was reviewing and writing the Deus Ex HR guide for the site at the time, if I recall). It was on sale recently and Buck suggested it, so here we are.


There are mods and INI tweaks for the UI and camera out there that can be found pretty easily. I especially recommend the one that enables smaller inventory icons, and centering the camera helps a lot.

There's also the Worldmerge mod, that combines all the areas from the game into a single coherent world, and adds a lot of content as well:

http://www.insidetwoworlds.com/showthread.php?t=33839

Thanks for posting this info, picked up Two Worlds II: Velvet Edition from the Steam summer sale, so that Worldmerge mod looks very interesting to get started with.