Customer Reviews

Neverwinter Nights 2 (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start off by saying I am a big fan of D&D and have played the original NWN. If you've perused online reviews and the official forums you'll find a lot of mixed reactions to NWN2. Unfortunately a lot of the criticisms aren't unfounded.

I bought the collector's edition of the game and I'm either spoiled by the CE of the Guild War's series, or maybe it just takes more to impress me than 2 cheap rings and a crappy cloth map. For 20 extra bucks that's what you get, and a manual-esque "art book" with a few scans and character designs. That's it. A much better version of the CE was released in Europe and Australia which included the Original NWN, a D&D miniature, and a soundtrack cd. A much much better CE than what we got here. Guild Wars gives you a soundtrack cd, a poster, a hardcover artbook, and a nice sturdy, nicely designed box to keep it in. It's nothing earth shattering but it actually speaks more about the total NWN2 experience than you'd think.

Obsidian had a HUGE task with NWN2. I peruse the forums every now and then and some of those guys are die hard enthusiasts. They'll complain about every little tiny detail from cloaks not flowing right to this spell wouldn't do this in D&D. Granted, there's no way they could please everyone with this, but a lot of the complaining was defintly warranted.

For instance, I have a relatively powerful PC. It's not bleeding edge but like everyone else has said, if you can run Oblivion you should be able to run NWN2. Sadly while I don't have the horrible performance some people report, it's nowhere near the buttery silkiness that I get with guild wars, which NWN2 very much resembles. It's really quite baffling at what the problem is when the graphics are nothing special. They're light years ahead of NWN1's tiled , ugly look, but if I can run Oblivion at high settings I should not in any way have problems running NWN2. It's like in a lot of aspects the game could have used a few more weeks of polishing. I know they wanted to get it out before xmas, but with such a huge title, a large, vocal community who will call them on it, and the greatness that was the first game, it's crazy how they didn't polish this thing till it gleamed. From the crappy CE to lagging graphics you can see how some nerdy fans (me included) are so vocal about it.

What get's NWn2 off the hook is two things. The gameplay and the huge possibilities it has with expansion. The game ships with a toolset (which i never use) that lets any D&D fan create stories and adventures till their hearts content. For sure a lot of hobbyist silliness is created, but there have been quite a few gems from the NWN1 era that rival some professionally created games in terms of scope and fun. You can download professionally created amateur modules many places, and the original NWN featured several official modules created by Bioware. So the game will surely have a very long lifespan. And that;s great considering the engaging battles and RPG gameplay.

Battles are very tactical now as you have the ability to take 4 companions with you at any given time. Many different people will come and go in your party and all of them have different personality and classes. If you've played Knights of the Old Republic the party interaction is similar to that. Your character is still a silent mute, which is unfortunate. I'd like atleast once for RPG's like this to give your character personality. Let you pick a voice style when you create your character and have them actually talk and react. That's another thing, characters talk and act much better than NWN1, but they still only have so many animations that they cycle through. Sometimes you're party will get jostled, and you'll be having a conversation with an important character only to have one of your party members staring off in the complete opposite direction. Sometimes even when a NPC is directly addressing them. It seems nitpicky but it really jars you out of the experience. Another thing is any city you go to , it doesn't matter what time of day it is, the exact same citizens will be in the exact same places for days and days on end. In the City of Neverwinter there's these 3 people who sit in the same spot by a tree and never move. If i remember correctly in the original NWN the npc's had cycles. If it was night, the city would be empty and if it was day they'd actually go about their business. Little things like that take you out of the RPG element.

I was a little worried when Obsidian decided to go with "real time" character portraits instead of the hand drawn ones from NWN1. If you havent played NWN1, when I say "hand drawn" I mean your character portrait you chose at the beginning of the game and the pictures are hand painted like many a fantasy book youll find at the bookstore. Again Im comparing to guild wars, but if you look at the art direction to that game, and compare it to NWN2 you'll notice that GW is world's apart. In GW women are sexy, feminine and beatifully rendered, knights and fighters (men) are given a powerful, strong hero quality, and monsters are equally fierce in the design. granted, the design here is no where near as ugly as in Knights of the Old Republic 2 (an Obsidian designed title) , but it's also nowhere near the hand painted look of NWN1. The designs arent bad here per se, they just could have been better. Character creation is decent, you have a varying array of builds and hairstyles, but again it just seems like Obsidian could have added "more".

"More" seems to the theme to NWN2. It's not the title it could have been. It could have been the best RPG based on D&D to date, but it just seems like Obsidian rushed it out the door to cash in on the holidays. Granted what is here is really good, I know it seems like Ive bashed it more than anyhing. It's just when you see potential greatness not realized because of time contraits it's a little frustrating.

Even despite these flaws though, Ive played the game for hours on end and really enjoy it. It took what was great about the first game and put some polish on it, upgraded it and made it shine. Battles are fun, spell effects are great, managing your characters is easy, leveling up is yields great customization , and just so many things make this game fun to play despite it's flaws. There are actually many parts in the game when roleplayng comes into play, where your descions affect the games out come. Most of the issues that the game has though can surely be patched up. Obsidian seems like they're in it for the long haul and are behind the game 100%. If you read the forums the devs are responsive to criticism and attentive to game issues, which there are plenty of.

If you're looking for a good RPG for a xmas gift, then this is a great game to give. Even with it's flaws you can get this up and running easier than Oblivion. Oblivion has some steep system requirements and isn't for casual gamers. NWN2 is more accessible and a lot more tactical. If you're a fan of D&D or RPG's then you will surely love Neverwinter Nights 2.

This game is the best Dungeons and Dragons experince thus far. Short of playing the actual PnP game when I was a little kid, this game eclispe's all computer attempts before it. I tried every attempt at a computer D&D game and loved the entire Baldur's Gate series (Icewind Dale too!) and found the first Neverwinter Nights game a good engine, but some features left me disappointed (limited henchmen/party etc.). Disliked the giant chat rooms (Evercrack, etc) and ripoff's to D&D (necessary, cause the offcial ones usually sucked). The dry spell is over. The game is gorgeous (even tweaked down for a mediocre laptop), plays well, has great cutscenes and a good story thus far. I am having fun EARNING my items. gold and levels. I can see where this is going too, the fan based mods and expansion packs are going to be great. Also from what I can see there will be MAJOR campaign replayibility, mostly to compare good versus pragmatic (OK, evil) characters, but also between approaches as well. Sounds good too. Get this game now and say goodbye to your "real" life for awhile.

Neverwinter Nights 2 has an unparalleled graphics engine than any other D&D game out there. While it's not as in-your-face impressive as Bethesda's Oblivion, The graphics should still be given it's props as about 5 steps up from the original Neverwinter Nights and even the recently released, TitanQuest. Character creation is much more detailed with the utilization of a 3D graphics model instead of the 2D portraits from NWN. Weaponry detail and effects are steps above. Spell effects are awesome. Scenery is mind-blowing with moving water, swaying grass, fire, detailed statues, buildings, castles and dungeons. You will get lost in the sheer beauty of Forgotten Realms while exploring. But all this graphical goodness comes with a price. If you aren't running a top of the line video card, your game will lag and stutter to an almost unplayable, very frustrating point. This game is definitely NOT for the meek of computers.

Game play: From dynamic dialogs with companions and NPCs to questing deep into mysterious crypts and dungeons. You will be engulfed by the storyline till the end. Companions will have you rolling with comical conversations to hateful bickering. Neverwinter Nights 2 uses an influence meter much like what Obsidian used in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. Depending on what you say to your companions will determine how much they like you. You can be as good and nice or vial and evil as you want, but remember that everything has it's consequences and rewards. The role playing aspect is very defined, there are multiple ways around every situation based on feats, skills, and alignment. How will you live in the Realms? Situational events such as battles are dictated by several difficulty settings to make everything as hard or easy as you want. But know that this only changes the rules at which monsters, characters, and the Dungeon and Dragons rules apply. Fighting is based much like the original Neverwinter Nights. Semi-real time, set round situations. The rounds of attack are somewhat distinctive, but if you don't act quick enough you can and will miss your opportunity. Actions, attacks, and pretty much everything are based on the D&D rolling systems, dependent on your characters stats, skills, weapons, armor, etc will determine if they will make a high enough roll to take some damage or resist it completely. Or if you can bluff enough to make your opponent think you are telling the truth. The possibilities are only as far as the advancement and development of your character.

Multiplayer: Whether it be co-oping on the official campaign or exploring custom made modules, you and your friends can play for hours, if not forever. Through use of the Toolset, you can create your own creative world, or a spin-off from other popular worlds of your choice. And if you lack the ability to create your own, or just want to see what other people's minds can come up with you can go online and download modules from NWN2 community and fan sites. So keep your eye open for new worlds to open up in the months to come. You can also export and import characters from modules and/or the official campaign, so if you got that killer rogue, spell-prodigy wizard, or walking tank you can play them in other games.

But this game is not without it's problems. NWN2 has only been out since Oct 30 2006, and already has been patched several times. There are internal programming glitches that sometimes make this nearly awesome game frustrating sometimes. Some conversation and encounter scripting is flaky at best. Other times, if situations not done in specific orders or immediately will bug the game completely preventing almost any and all progression further. The developers give a minor tip to save often during your game. Take this with a grain of salt, as I would recommend saving your game in different slots most time, and save every time you choose to leave areas. Otherwise you might end up several hours into your game without saving and realize something you did has prevented you from going any further and you would have to reload that previous save.

The printed computer required specs in order to play this game is a direst of circumstances list. If you want to experience what this game has to offer you need a top of the line gaming computer system. Honestly, I wouldn't play it with anything less than what the developers listed as recommended specs. Anything else you are just going to be frustrated and put the game on your shelf.

Everything aside, this game had so much more potential than what was released as a final product, which is still being constantly patched for content bugs and glitches. Personally I think that this game should have undergone a few more months of beta testing and patches, instead of pushing production so it's out before the winter seasons. Otherwise, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a great game with outstanding graphics, good playable diversity, catching storyline and somewhat lacking ending, that leaves you to want an expansion to continue where the main game left off rather abruptly.


Wandaien
thieves-guild.net staff

Review is © Thieves-Guild.Net

I enjoyed the game for its campaign and its features.
The campaign provided for hours of enjoyment with a good storyline and good action. Unique companion personalities added to the campaign and they were overall very well written. Many side quests in the campaign for small, enjoyable breaks from the storyline. This campaign takes you to lvl 20, so you can fully develope your character before the game's end.
There are many new and enjoyable classes that were added to the game, since NWN1 and some of the prestige classes require certain titles, obtainable through in game events(some optional) and I think that was a nice feature.
Even after the campiagn the game provides for many different possibilities for different online worlds to play. These can be as enjoyable as the campaign and can connect you with other players online. This feature of NWN2 will be why it lasts and why you should get it.

Just what you would expect from game title .. it is continuation of the game before it .. more of the same with different areas ... A few changes to the user interface UI but it plays pretty much the same as the first.

The game is decent. I have just completed the single player campaign. The plot, graphics, playability are all just fine. There are plenty of official patches that cleaned up all of the bugs. Even with a high speed cable modem it took a while to download all of these patches from Atari. It does have some flaws. There is nothing in my mind that really seperates it from NWN. I was hoping that they would take NWN to significantly higher lever. They raised the bar slightly. I think that the expectations for them to make the sequal were a little bit unreasonable. NWN was a super high quality game with little room for improvment. Soon I hope to start playing fan built custom modules. That is where it should become interesting. That is the best thing about the game. It offers virtually unlimited playability. There are so many people who make quality mods that you can always find a quality new campaign to play.

The "limited" Editon includes a faithful God watching over you and your pals in the woods as they head for trouble, that is all. The world editior allows a bit of reverse engineering(legally) to craft a bit of this your self! However if you don't want to tediously program your own game mods, this is a great fun edition for novel pupose. The game is much as any other but fun and charming all the same, you start with three(no four breifly) characters; human harbormen mostly, from your village. Frodo and Shea Olmsford started along similar humble paths. You create a character based on your likes and style of play and are joined by your two friends Aimee(reminds me of Rowen of "Prince Vallent") and a loutish fighter-type Bevil Starling,(much like Arn of the series). your get some thief training very breifly with the little urchin "Kipp" utilising a thief in the festival. Amee dies protecting her mentor but you and "flick Olmsford"(Bevil the militia backstoried) travel on a breif quest for the village before you depart on a more dangerous road to a grand objective. This is all prologue training, not to spoil the main plott or anyting!-have to say -something- to discribe the game's workings! Your new friends will be arch-type dwarf, elf, tief, ect(and I like them that way) who are very complimentary of your abilities. I usually play a hybrid paladin/fighter or ranger with a few fighter levels of sorts so this works fine. If you are a mage or cleric it works even better as the dwarf keeps you healthy on your early missinos by protecting you. The game is very compensating of the type of character you play and the backstories hold more than just a few ablities. They affect your character's relation with other peoople and his own role in the big picture. It's quite hard to join the police force(you didn't hear where) if you are a "trouble maker" or "bully".-and as for the main plot I didn't go into it so don't call me a "Spolier"!

You cannot get the limited editon even if you wanted to now, it's Limited for a reason. But auctions and sellers sell it used.(condition of sale). The world editior is expensive and sold separately(unlike the free Oblivion download). The editors have beenn know to be disasterous and blotch up the main game files so I rarely use them myself. I did a Ultima VII Serpent Isle Edit utilising this engine for a remake of all four lands in Ultima, but it corrupted everything.(I am not good at it). Utilising it for in game content of Neverwinter(as in that world and it's characters in main plot) is even worse as it ruins the game as a whole permanatly if you miss calculate your work.

The game is great fun and I'm still learning it . The game is still a little buggy in places even after the latest updates,but not enough to say anything bad about this game. Hope everyone will enjoy this game as I do.

I am a huge have of the first NWN..bu this was a disappointment. A few things right off the bar...the carera view sucked...it was easily fixed but I had to look on the web tto get it to work right. the game over was not bad but it seems they really messed up the online play. I tried playing on line a few times but ir was slow and clunky.

also the machine requirements are astromonical....I have Obivion and I run it on high everything it looks great....this i needed to run on meduim to get anyhting that was responsive.. and it did not even hold a candle to oblivion as far as graphics were concerned

as for the d&d rules /i play the pen and paper game weekly and this game is pretty true in that aspect which is always fun.

The other issue is it seems the community that grew up around the NWN has not made the jump to NWN2...this is a big disappointment for me...some of the best work was not done by Atari but by the community

All in all i was disappointed with the gaem and hope theres is a lot of fixes to see if they can fix it.

I havent been able to put as much time into the game as I want but I have really had fun playing it so far. The graphics are awesome but the game play takes a little bit to get used too. If you like the first one you will love this one. Look forward to playing more on the server.