NWN2 - Storm of Zehir - Official PR and Date

Well, the official press release for NWN2: Storm of Zehir has reached us and the anticipated date is Q4 08:

Neverwinter NightsTM 2: Storm of Zehir' Brings Bold New Adventures to The Forgotten RealmsŪ

Second Expansion for Atari's Renowned Role-Playing Opus Scheduled for Worldwide Release Q4 2008

NEW YORK, June 11: Atari, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: ATAR), one of the world's most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher and distributor, alongside Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) announced today that Neverwinter NightsTM 2: Storm of Zehir is currently in production. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, one of the premier independent development studios in the world, the second expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 will deliver an engrossing DUNGEONS & DRAGONSŪ experience in the tradition of the Neverwinter Nights franchise and is scheduled for worldwide launch Q4 2008.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir hearkens back to the days of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale franchises by including full party customization, dungeon crawling, and free exploration of a non-linear game world via an Overland Map. The gripping storyline foreshadows the events that will take place in the Forgotten Realms with the coming release this June of the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & DragonsŪ Roleplaying Game.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the King of Shadows, the Sword Coast is in the midst of an uneasy economic recovery. Trade syndicates have sprung up to exploit the post-war confusion for their own ends and the players' party will wade into this uncertain environment. In order to increase their own fortunes, they can either ally with a syndicate to create a trade empire, or cut their own path through Faerun by preying upon caravans and selling the goods on the black market. As they attempt to extend their influence, players will become aware of a new faction working behind the scenes: the evil, shape-shifting, serpentine Yuan-Ti.

In addition to trading and economic manipulation, the Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Overland Map allows players to explore the Chultan Peninsula and Sword Coast in a non-linear manner never before seen in any of the Neverwinter Nights games. Exploration will take players from well-known locations, like Neverwinter and Crossroad Keep, to more exotic areas, such as the xenophobic jungle nation of Samarach. Groups of highwaymen and monsters populate the Overland Map and the farther from civilization the player roams, the more difficult the encounters become. The 15-hour campaign in Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir is also packed with new classes, spells, creatures, and playable races.

Fans of the compelling multiplayer features of Neverwinter Nights 2 will also be able to take advantage of new improvements to the multiplayer experience, while modders will be able to take advantage of the power and flexibility of the Overland Map and Trading System features along with other world-building enhancements.

Game Features:

• Travel the Sword Coast and Samarach using the open-ended exploration of the new Overland Map. Use skills like Spot and Survival while on the Overland Map to avoid ambushes and even find hidden locales and lost artifacts.
• Create your own full party of adventurers. Devastate your foes with a squad of fireball-flinging Sorcerers, form a solid wall of steel with a party of Fighters, or strike the perfect balance in your party by spreading out the classes you choose for your characters.
• Improved party gameplay including streamlined party conversations, a new Teamwork Benefit System, and powerful party feats.
• The world's economy reacts to your adventures and choices. And, through trading and quests, you can expand your merchant company into a massive trading empire.

More information about Neverwinter Nights 2 can be found at www.nwn2.com .

More information.

This sounds like the NWN2 expansion I'd write for myself, were I to write one. If it lives up to half of this, it'll be a launch-day buy for me.

Finally useful use for the spot and survival skills?
If the game is as good as this pr promises than I'm sold. This sounds even better than MotB (and I liked that addon a lot) The only thing I do hope for is that you can level up quite a bit before finishing the game, because I don't really like low level DnD (not in PnP and not in CRPGs).

The one thing I don't get is this:

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir hearkens back to the days of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale franchises by including full party customization

BG didn't include full party customization anymore than NWN2 does.

Originally Posted by blatantninja
BG didn't include full party customization anymore than NWN2 does.

Yes it did. Just start a multiplayer game and you can have full party customisation.

Yeah, but that was a bit of a hack, not like IWD were full party customization was built in.

I never really thought of it as a hack. Even if you didn't do that you still had full control of how to level each NPC after you found them, unlike NWN2.

did you play a different NWN2 than me? you could control how your characters leveled up! the only thing you couldn't do was change classes which to me is perfectly acceptable, as it would rewrite the characters personality if for example suddenly neeska was a warlock or bard. hell even i didn't multiclass so i guess its less bothersome to me.

Originally Posted by curiously undead
did you play a different NWN2 than me? you could control how your characters leveled up! the only thing you couldn't do was change classes which to me is perfectly acceptable, as it would rewrite the characters personality if for example suddenly neeska was a warlock or bard. hell even i didn't multiclass so i guess its less bothersome to me.

You can only choose skills and feats (and spell selection) within a fixed class.. that's hardly full customisation.

Nothing wrong with that for a game like NWN2 of course, but BG didn't have that limitation and you were free to dual class Imoen into a thief/illusionist and so on.

I remember that now and was a bit frustrated by it. Good to see that they fixed it!

OK, here's one. I bet its released before MoW is.

I developed a random spawner with spot/listen features for Nwn1. Good to see that this idea is being more fully developed in Nwn2. I think it will add something to the game.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view…Detail&id=3318

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
OK, here's one. I bet its released before MoW is.

hehe, I bet it's not

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
OK, here's one. I bet its released before MoW is.

What's the bid?

I say SoZ will be release long time after MoW.

It sounds great. I am looking forward to that expansion. If what they say is true, this may be my favorite new cRPG, because it's old-styled

So… Beholders or not?

Quarter 4 2008—know what I'll be asking for for Christmas.