Neverwinter Nights: EE - Review @ Mortismal Gaming

Couchpotato said:

Yeah the story behind Neverwinter Nights development is very interesting. The original campaign wasn't even planned, and had to be rushed before the games release.

Anyway I love NWN2 myself and the various mods for that game as well. The graphics didn't bother me that much, but I hated the MMO cool-down mechanic for combat.

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These days I'm more annoyed by the camera and the controls in NWN2, but I think it's something that came up with a Windows update, it wasn't like that in the original game. I tried to play it again a few months ago and finally gave up.

Redglyph said:

These days I'm more annoyed by the camera and the controls in NWN2, but I think it's something that came up with a Windows update, it wasn't like that in the original game. I tried to play it again a few months ago and finally gave up.

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Aye the controls take some time to get used to in NWN 2. As the game offers three options based on how you want to play, and key mapping wasn't that great either.

When did the problem start with the Windows update as the GOG version works for me?

Couchpotato said:

Aye the controls take some time to get used to in NWN 2. As the game offers three options based on how you want to play, and key mapping wasn't that great either.

When did the problem start with the Windows update as the GOG version works for me?

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I used to play NWN and NWN2 with the keyboard to move and turn, like a 3rd-person game. I'm not sure when it started to go wrong, I noticed that "recently", meaning since last time I played it on whatever version of Windows at the time of release

One glitch is when you turn, sometimes the MC turns the other way when you release the key. Someone from the community tried to patch it, and you still see the problem, but then the MC turns again to get back in the original direction. Funny to see the first time, but quickly annoying.

I tried to mess with the camera keys and such to use it in point-and-click mode but there were other issues with zooming or rotating the camera. It's probably possible to find the right configuration but I lost patience and interest in the game

NWN was ugly the day it was released, in my opinion. Part of that was my reaction to the switch to polygons from the pre-rendered backgrounds of games like Baldur's Gate, but not all of it. Part of my reaction was because it just looks like ass.

That didn't affect my enjoyment of the game much, though. I barely played any of the "official" campaigns, but I put dozens if not hundreds of hours into mods.

NWN2 looked better, but not exactly good. The camera was a constant struggle. The OC was better than the one in the first game, but the mods were much worse.

I played NWN when it was released and have played it off and on ever since.

When I finished the OC back then I had so many things I wanted to criticise about it, while at the same time talk about all the things it got right.

It never occurred to me that all people will ever bleat on about it was that they thought it looked ugly. That never really crossed my mind.

And I can't even join the discussion now. because all I can say to someone saying "it looks so ugly" is "erm, no it doesn't" and that's about as far as that conversation can go *shrugs*

I've never been able to force myself to finish any of the single-player campaigns, and it has nothing to do with the game being ugly.

It might be great in multiplayer, but the campaigns are simply boring compared to older D&D games. I got NWN thinking it would be an evolutionary step forward from the IE titles. Instead, I got a combat heavy slog where I only controlled a single character instead of a party.

Yes, that's it, you've nailed the primary complaints about Neverwinter Nights. First off, the OC is simply too boring, there's not enough memorable moments, and the quests are too dominated by combat, but not only that but that the combat is of a quite uninteresting nature, compounding the overall impression of boring.

But the biggest issue, by far, is the single character with one desperately frustrating uncontrollable companion. It's just not a scenario that's suitable for a single character game, it's a party-based structure but with an enforced solo-run. The optional single companion just muddies the gameplay as much as assist with it by having no permanent means to prevent them aggroing enemies at first sight.

However, on the plus side, it was the first computer game to fully utilise the 3rd edition ruleset, probably the most popular and beloved version of D&D ever transcribed into computer game form. This meant that NWN was revolutionary with it's build variety and character building options, especially when combined with the incredible itemisation. NWN's itemisation is still one of the best I've ever encountered.

And the radial menu, another truly brilliant invention that greatly enhanced playability and UI cleanliness without sacrificing complexity.

It's a shame you never found a campaign beyond the OC that you could enjoy, as there are many, many fantastic ones and I would heartily disagree with nearly all of the negatives for some of the campaigns.

Agree with both of the posts above. The best solution I found for MotB was to play an OP sorceror with maximise/empower specialising in all the missle type spells (magic missle, Minoletta's Minor Missiles's etc). The spells are so powerful they pretty much kill everything with a single cast and since you start and level 20 (I think) you get so many spell slots you can pretty destroy entire maps before resting. I literally didn't need to even bother with companions I just let them do their thing.

lackblogger said:

And the radial menu, another truly brilliant invention that greatly enhanced playability and UI cleanliness without sacrificing complexity.

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I was about to say that Temple of Elemental Evil did that first. I thought ToEE predated NWN, but I see it was actually released the following year.

bjon045 said:

Agree with both of the posts above. The best solution I found for MotB was to play an OP sorceror with maximise/empower specialising in all the missle type spells (magic missle, Minoletta's Minor Missiles's etc). The spells are so powerful they pretty much kill everything with a single cast and since you start and level 20 (I think) you get so many spell slots you can pretty destroy entire maps before resting. I literally didn't need to even bother with companions I just let them do their thing.

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At least you get a full party in NWN 2 though even if the controls aren't ideal. Iirc, you do get total control over the party in Storm of Zehir and later expansions?

Carnifex said:

Man, incorporating Icewind Dale into this game might be enough to tempt me into trying the Blades of Netheril.

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What does this mean? Incorporating IWD 1 into the NWN's engine?That sounds interesting. I love IWD1.

I skimmed through the article above, and couldn't find something that clarifies my question.

It doesn't have anything to do with the IWD game by Black Isle. "The Doom of Icewind Dale" is simply the title of the first chapter of the The Blades of Netheril campaign.

Yes, it's quite confusing. D&D has established places, regions and even characters that form the bedrock of it's universes within universes.

Icewind Dale is just the name of a town in The Spine of The World which is itself a region within the Forgotten Realms which is itself just one of many settings in the D&D universe.

Icewind Dale, the game by Black Ilse, is just a game set in Icewind Dale just as Baldur's Gate, the Bioware game, is just a game set within Baldur's Gate, a town on the Sword Coast, which is a region of the Forgotten Realms.

Neither game holds copywrite to those town's names and they could crop up in all kinds of weird unrelated products.

I meant the using of the same town that is heavily featured in several of the novels from the eighties, nineties and so on, mostly by Greenwood and Salvatore. Not only that particular town, the environs in the immediate area are also of great intrigue. Lots of history there that could be explored in a game.

Carnifex said:

I meant the using of the same town that is heavily featured in several of the novels from the eighties, nineties and so on, mostly by Greenwood and Salvatore. Not only that particular town, the environs in the immediate area are also of great intrigue. Lots of history there that could be explored in a game.

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Hmm…there are plenty of mods that do the setting justice for NWN and NWN 2. So have you ever tried them in the last few years? You might find you like playing them.

I'll plug the World of Greyhawk PW for any old schoolers if you want to play NWN in that particular setting. It has a lot of old classic D&D modules integrated into it - ToEE, Against the Giants, Queen of the DW Pits, White Plume Mountain etc. Being a PW it's more action than story but it's also quite challenging right up to level 40 so is a great crucible for builds and I found very rewarding when you succeed without being able to just reload your last save.

https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwnee/module/gameworld/world-greyhawk-pw-mithral-enhanced-edition

Those original Greyhawk modules were and are still superb. I had a great deal of fun with those back in the days when I was doing the pen and paper gaming.