NWN2 - Review: 9/10 @ Worthplaying

Kalia

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Worthplaying has posted a very nice review along with a ton of screenshots. Scoring it 9.0/10.00, an "Editor's Choice", the reviewer said:
There's something inherent about Neverwinter Nights 2 that makes it more difficult to review. At the basic level, this is not a game you get in the box. Sure, it comes with an excellent module, but you are purchasing the engine, assets, and toolkit, thereby granting you, the player and more importantly the adventurer, access to what may well be an nearly infinite buffet of sessions, both online and off. It's hard to deny the value of a kit of that nature, particular given its wide range of future possibilities. That's also a hard product to sell at the concept level: You're paying for a framework and tools and a sample of what this thing can do in the hands of a professional team of designers.

Based simply on the pack-in module, I can't recommend Neverwinter Nights 2 enough to RPG fans and those who follow the table-top gaming systems. Many other players will want to wait patiently for the mod scene to develop, but unless you're a complete no-RPG kind of guy or still enamored of your MMORPG of the week, you'll want to snag NWN2 eventually.
More information.
 
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im not sure how far into the game ive gotten.. my rogue is only level 5 and im still in Chapter 1 (although i try to do all teh side quests)

but so far the game is really fun.. its definately NWN tho - it has that modular feel, where things are fast and loose, and the various quests dont stretch out very far beyond a few areas

however, the comparisons to baldurs gate and planscape actually have a good deal of merit to them - the game has a certain feel to it that vibes perfectly with that (second) golden era of D&D games.. heavy on the dialog and storyline, with characters that are actually interesting and humorous

highly reccomended!
 
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Really? It has a similar atmosphere to Baldurs Gate? I might have to give this game a shot. I tried to get into NWN 1 several times but It just didn't hold my attention the way Baldurs Gate 1&2 did. I hated how you couldn't directly control the NPC's in NWN. It also seemed very unbalanced to me, being able to build one uber character that could cut through hordes of monsters by itself. Whenever I tried to play NWN, it just made me want to play BG again.
 
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I also didn't like the graphics in NWN 1. Even though they were technically superior to Baldurs Gate, the environment seemed bland and lacked the little details that made BG so good.
 
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I'm still waiting for more fan reviews to come in. After the dissapointment Oblivion was, as opposed to the lauding reviews it got from the big game sites, I'd rather sit this one out for a while.
I really enjoyed NWN1, but then again, I realy enjoyed Morrowind as well. And I loved KoToR , but never finished KoToR2. My budget just doesn't stretch to buying a lot of games straight at release anymore :D

The initial impressions are hopeful, but then again, Oblivion's glaring mistakes didn't show up until later in the game... I'll be following NWN2 closely, and hope I'll get pleasantly suprised :)
 
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It looks like they did it after all. :) Congrats to Obsidian and dare I say congrats to Atari! And who said they wont put humor in their games eh?

So two big questions: How is the full party control compared to Baldurs and how about bugs?
 
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Finally some screenshots of the interface. Yeah I also didn't like the 'module'-character with it's generic envirnonments and lack of detail.

One question, are the maps/environments still 'quadrangle-shaped'? It looked so artificial in the first game, destroyed much atmosphere in the first part. Thnak you.
 
I am really enjoying the game - trying to avoid reading too many reviews (for obvious reasons). I've not seen any bugs - I didn't like the camera tracking very much, but between an ini file flag ('always follow' in the nwnplayer.ini) and the sensitivity settings I came up with a solid feel.

Party control feels a bit more like KotOR than BG, but definitely more integrated and 'real' than henchmen control in NWN 1.
 
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One question, are the maps/environments still 'quadrangle-shaped'? It looked so artificial in the first game, destroyed much atmosphere in the first part. Thnak you.

You know that's a very good question. I also disliked the way you could anticipate Baldurs maps as well - but the game is so ancient its very forgivable.

Hey Mods - shouldnt we have an official NWN2 thread (if not forum section)? Seems like an awfully major RPG release to not have one...
 
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Thanks Mike. How does it run for you and what are your machine specs? What details are you running at?
 
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Thanks Mike. How does it run for you and what are your machine specs? What details are you running at?

I'm running on my Macbook Pro, with 1440 x 900 resolution and mostly high settings (didn't spend much time tweaking the defaults), and it runs great. I have 2GB RAM and the 256MB video card.
 
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