Drakensang or NWN2

[Drithius]

Well, against advice and my better judgment, I started Drakensang 1 back up again... and I now remember why I gave up on it previously. So. Very. Slow. Will probably wind up returning to the munchkin embrace of NWN2's D&D 3.5 ruleset once I lose all remaining patience.

 

[Fnord]

There are ways to mod the slow movement speed.
http://www.cheathappens.com/show_board2.asp?headID=79989&titleID=14327

 

[Drithius]

It's not just the walking speed but also the pace of the gameplay. I think it's a combination of dull quests, slow pelt/herb gathering speed, and the sound not having much variation. It adds up to an experience that plods along.

But I'm really trying to stay with it, for now

 

[Nerevarine]

For what it's worth, I personally think that Drakensang: TROT is the best of the group mentioned. It has an appealing and "down to earth" story that avoids typical fantasy cliches for the most part and the gameplay, in my opinion, is far superior to the messy, clunky NWN2. MoTB is definitely worth a playthrough, but it's still somewhat plagued by the interface and control problems of NWN2. The OC of NWN2 felt extremely uninspired; fortunately Obsidian did a better job on a few of the expansions, but nothing mind-blowing in my opinion.

 

[Lurking Grue]

The NWN2 OC is a terrible snore-fest at the beginning. I know, I tried to get through it twice and I'd much rather go watch the paint dry. On my first try, I made it to the city (where everyone says it starts to get better), but lost all my save games to a HD meltdown. My second attempt faltered after a few hours of slogging through the early game again. I quit and haven't looked back since. Don't care how good the story gets afterwards, life's too short to waste it on promises of cake if you just eat a plate full of crap first.

 

[blatantninja]

It always cracks me up reading threads like this. There seriously must be something wrong with as I loved NWN2 OC, lost interest in MotB about halfway through and enjoyed MoW, but got stuck at about 2/3 through and haven't gone back to finish!

I guess I just like the bland, traditional story lines!

 

[Warmark]

It always cracks me up reading threads like this. There seriously must be something wrong with as I loved NWN2 OC, lost interest in MotB about halfway through and enjoyed MoW, but got stuck at about 2/3 through and haven't gone back to finish!

I guess I just like the bland, traditional story lines!

LOL, you and me both, same deal.
Although I agree with the clunky engine of NWN2 overall, I enjoyed the OC and got bored with MotB and didn't finish it.
Never tried MoW as it just took so long to come out.
And still interested in trying Storm of Zehir.

 

[Menigal]

I think I just got to the point where you get a stronghold in the OC, then gave up out of a combination of boredom, frustration at the controls, and general distaste for the game. Someday I'll have to give the expansions a try and see which side I come down on with them.

 

[JDR13]

It always cracks me up reading threads like this. There seriously must be something wrong with as I loved NWN2 OC, lost interest in MotB about halfway through and enjoyed MoW, but got stuck at about 2/3 through and haven't gone back to finish!

As long as you don't try to claim that you enjoyed the NWN1 OC.

 

[Menigal]

As long as you don't try to claim that you enjoyed the NWN1 OC.

Who couldn't love the Tale of Jiggles the Paladin?

 

[blatantninja]

As long as you don't try to claim that you enjoyed the NWN1 OC.

Even I'm not that much of a cRPG retard to enjoy that!

Seriously though, I probably would have liked it if it had been party based. Not love it, but I would have at least finished it.

 

[crpgnut]

Since I hate high level games, MoTB didn't work for me either. High Level AD&D is especially bad. I actually completed NW1's OC and it was pretty bad. The other two expansions were pretty good though. I really, really enjoyed SoZ but couldn't really get into MoW. I need to give MoW another try some day. I agree with the consensus on Drakensang. Skip the original and play the prequel I actually enjoyed NWN2, even Chapter 1. The problem is though, that you can't skip Chapter 1 on subsequent replays. I'd also like a mod that kills the male fighter and keeps the female mage!

 

[Fnord]

The NWN2 OC is a terrible snore-fest at the beginning. I know, I tried to get through it twice and I'd much rather go watch the paint dry. On my first try, I made it to the city (where everyone says it starts to get better), but lost all my save games to a HD meltdown. My second attempt faltered after a few hours of slogging through the early game again. I quit and haven't looked back since. Don't care how good the story gets afterwards, life's too short to waste it on promises of cake if you just eat a plate full of crap first.

I thought the game actually managed to get worse once I got to the city. The story lost whatever little momentum it had. After running around feeling bored in the city for a while, I just uninstalled the game. Between all the interface, AI & technical issues and bland story, I decided that enough was enough.


As for Drakensang, I agree that the game is rather slow. Things picks up a bit further into the game, but it will never be a fast paced story with new twists around every corner. In fact, what I thought made Drakensang worth playing was the solid character building. Fiddling with the solid character system and trying to build a good party was surprisingly fun. River of time has a far better story, which moves along at a brisker pace.

 

[Menigal]

I thought the game actually managed to get worse once I got to the city.

"The stones of this place have been tortured into these shapes!"

That line, or something similar, on getting to the city (at least, I think that's when it's said) was almost enough on its own to make me quit.

 

[Relayer]

Well, against advice and my better judgment, I started Drakensang 1 back up again… and I now remember why I gave up on it previously. So. Very. Slow. Will probably wind up returning to the munchkin embrace of NWN2's D&D 3.5 ruleset once I lose all remaining patience.

This is why I gave up on it. I wanted to like that game - loved the skill/class system, combat system was ok, characters/writing were also pretty decent and it had a sense of humor which I appreciated… but the story/pacing and just overall movement were ridiculously slow.

NWN2 was a bit bland with all the boring combat - this game would have been very good if the regular enemy encounters were cut by about 40% and difficulty level increased drastically - still, it wasn't terrible (looking at you NWN OC), even with its predictable and by-the-numbers story, thanks to some lively character dialogue, memorable characters, and a few challenging battles. And certainly worth it for MoTB. Haven't played the 2nd expansion.

 

[Thrasher]

Even I'm not that much of a cRPG retard to enjoy that!

Seriously though, I probably would have liked it if it had been party based. Not love it, but I would have at least finished it.

I must be a TOTAL cRPG retard, since I liked the NWN 1 OC. In particular some of the side quests are memorable to this day, while I can't remember a single one from BG2 for example. Of course, NWN 1 OC has the distinction of being the first CRPG I played(if you don't count rogue)...

 

[blatantninja]

I must be a TOTAL cRPG retard, since I liked the NWN 1 OC. In particular some of the side quests are memorable to this day, while I can't remember a single one from BG2 for example. Of course, NWN 1 OC has the distinction of being the first CRPG I played(if you don't count rogue)…

Whoa.... were you in statis for 20 years or something?

 

[Thrasher]

No, I had a life back then.

 

[Menigal]

Wow, not a good one to start with! Although, I suppose it's all up from there.

 

[Fnord]

Indeed. Yet we always seem to remember our first/early games with an undeserved fondness.

(One of the first few games I owned. When I was very young my parents got a used atari 2600 with a handful of games, this was one of them, the dreadful Atari 2600 Pac man port. Even though it is horrible, I still can't bring myself to hate it).