Customer Reviews

Neverwinter Nights 2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I was so looking forward to NWN2 - I loved the Baldur's Gate & NWN series from Bioware; and to a lesser extent the Icewind Dale games. The pre-release hype implied this would be NWN with radically improved graphics, especially scenery, with a more BG feel to the game and interface and everyone expected such. Instead Obsidian seem to have scrapped the entire engine & toolset (the most developed parts of NWN) and rebuilt from scratch. However they recycled many voice scripts & background music from the original! So you get a new game engine that is basically similar to NWN on the surface (but nominally to D&D 3.5 Edition standards), but which has no new features of any huge merit and a limited quality rendering for your character customisation and only limited new original sounds (voice, ambient, or music).

NWN2 also exhibits similar bugs to what NWN had, in fact on first release it had more originally but by the 5th Patch (version 1.03.840 on 05 December) it has at least reduced to a more acceptable level. However some characters in game are seriously hampered by bugs (e.g. Defensive Casting mode is erratic for spell casters). NWN2 was probably released too soon and it is yet to be seen whether Obsidian (& Atari) have a genuine commitment to support the game long-term as considerable patching and improvement will still be required.

Graphically the game is visually impressive in some areas (notably Outdoors Terrain), but the poor customisation capability for characters, limited variety of interior terrain, poor spell effect graphics, and issues with frame rates undermine this. Obsidian have also indicated they may not offer any real support for PWs; and only minimal MP support! I don't dislike this game, but I am disappointed, apart from the overall first impression of the outdoors graphics it offers little over the original NWN and expansions. I expect the game may be worth 4 stars by about June 2007 if Obsidian are committed to improvement.

I purchased the Limited Edition (DVD) version, primarily to get the extra Feat & Store Items in game, although the artwork book is also nice (but features spoilers so shouldn't be read until after playing). The NZ/Au version of the LE seems to be much better than the UK/European one. Despite what the packaging says you will actually need about 6.5GB to install, and about 7GB free space to play & patch).

If you have not previously played the original NWN and expansions you may get much better value from buying them (Platinum or Diamond Editions are recommended) and downloading additional Premier or Free modules off the Internet until NWN2 has been further debugged & enhanced.

Many bad things about this title and performance isn't one of them for me as it runs fine.

Bad:
Radial menus are gone.

No more quick chat options like greetings and goodbye.

Campaign is linear.

No exploration as there are no longer any area transitions. Go to world map, click area, fight in small area, go to world map, continue over and over.

Toolset is not intuitive and frustrating to use. If you think NWN's was difficult this one is much worse. NWN's is far superior in ease of use.

There are very few tilesets and they lack what NWN's have.

There are no longer any Item, Monster, Clothing, wizards in the toolset.

They used the same character soundsets as NWN but they're worse.

Camera edge scrolling is too slow to use effectively. There is no way to adjust edge scrolling.

Chase camera is useless underground because walls obstruct view.

Cannot put 2 weapons or shield and weapon on quick slot - Dual Wield

Cannot unequip a weapon using quick slot. It must be done manually from the inventory screen.

Cannot put skills/feats on quick slots.

AI party characters get stuck and cannot move.

AI party characters must be micro managed as the AI is horrible. You have to keep pausing the game to get everyone working together, unpause for a few seconds, pause and rearrange them, and so on, and so on.

AI sometimes will not do what you order them to.

Direction keys WASD over control movement making it very difficult.

New targeting system is difficult and you end up casting spells on the wrong target constantly.

No Linux support.

No Great Cleave of Coup-de-Grace animations. the monsters around you just drop dead without anyone touching them.

Cannot drag a box or ctrl click all of your party members to select them all; Like older titles from Obsidian??

Character heads pretty much all look them same. You can give them different hair styles though.

Hardly any monsters. They used different colors or just renamed some monsters with the same model. The first part of the campaign is just fighting dwarfs. No Minotaurs, Hobgoblins, only 2 dragons.

no rideable horses which NWN has

DM client is beta as they planned not to add one even though the 1st has it

Large persitant worlds are gone because of huge memory requirements (Developer's own words) This is probably why it shipped with D&D online a pay per month subscription

Don't ask me how but there is lag in offline play

Non-stop cutscenes

Poor animations

No more character portaits

Hardly any variation in armor, weapons, clothing, items, etc - Falls way short of NWN

Graphics are better than NWN but mediocre when compared to other current titles. Frame rates are worse than titles with better graphics!

Obsidian dropped the ball on this one. They have not listened to the large NWN following and have implemented what they want, not the customer.

If you're thinking about buying, it is more like Baldurs Gate than NWN. Even the "You have been waylaid by enemies," on the world map is back. If you like Icewind Dale or Baldurs Gate you'll probably like this.

Neverwinter Nights it is not.

If you own NWN stick with it, if you like the sound of this type game buy NWN Diamond edition. It is far superior to NWN2.

Experience:
28 years D&D player, DM
NWN player since original release
PW world developer

I previously reviewed this and gave it a slightly higher rating - my score has come down because the more I play it the less satisfied I become. First, NWN 2 has none of the stuff that made NWN good (and I didn't care for NWN that much). And it has none of the things that made games like Baldur's Gate (which I liked) fun. So it basically is a failure on a number of fronts.

The user-interface is terrible, for example click a button which brings up a menu and you can pick inventor - very clumberson - in Baldur's Gate, for example, you could just click on the person icon and have an inventory.

Camera angles are a major pain and things are always blocking your view. Interior views are just annoying.

Tons of bugs because of the tons of cut scenes (which are mediocre and have poor voice acting in general) - the bugs are slowly being elimiated with patches but right now the game is more of a beta then in production shape - it is unacceptable when you cannot finish the first level because of a bug - which a recently released patch has fixed.

Graphically stale but requiring a major PC to run - system recommendations are not even close to what is required to run the game at an acceptable frame rate with the effects turned on.

Party AI is okay for fighters (fair amount of running past one bad guy to get another bad guy for no partciular reason except to give the first bad guy a attack of opportunity) but if you switch between players, the computer takes over and does what it wants with the other players. So if your scorcer is using a crossbow to conserve magic and you switch to control another player, the computer starts running through spells and ignores what you had the sorcer doing. Luckily the fights are pretty simple so there is not much need for tactics - which you couldn't use if you wanted to.

So it basically is one of the worst D&D games I have played to date from a user interface standpoint. The story may be fine but I am usually so annoyed that I don't care. Which is a shame - this game with some polish could have been something. Stay away unless you are sadistic or you plan to use the toolset to make your own games. The 8.5 that IGN gave this game was WAY to high - it should have been about a 5.0. The fact that you can make your own game does not make this game worth anything - it just gives certain people a reason to buy this terrible game anyway.

Having worked on PC RPG titles as a dialogue writer / scripter, putting two to shelf, I know about deadlines -- and I sincerely hope (only to explain the poor quality of the product) that the NWN2 staff fell prey to such and more.

The dialogue is often riddled with solecisms, anachronisms, and outright grammatical / spelling errors that would be tedious to list. Its on-load flavor text is often good, but sometimes becomes quite ridiculous (who would accept a reference, in a fantasy world, of a "High Queen *Alicia*?")

The voice talent is often incredible (Neeshka, Grobnar), but falls completely flat on its face after The Final Battle, which, by the way, is nigh impossible to beat without cheating. Such a spectacular accomplishment rewards you not with a likewise spectacular cinematic, but a series of blinking stills brought painfully to life by a Ray Romano clone -- the absolute worst voice in the entire game, at a time when we should all see (and hear) the best.

The gameplay itself is riddled with problems, beginning with savegames that place your PC's in different positions than they were when you saved the game, to quests that don't erase from your list when it is completely impossible for you to complete them (e.g. from the TUTORIAL!), and finally to one of my favorites -- the "do you want to save your game?" prompt, which happens every time you LOAD. Discuss amongst yourselves.

The game is also plagued by bugs that have yet to be solved. For example, you must free one of the first merchants you encounter from his turncoat bodyguards outside a fort. When you do so, you MUST NOT attempt to speak with him, apparently; doing so freezes him in his tracks. He has nothing to say to you, but he stays rooted to the spot, and you are rewarded by being denied two of the most powerful items in the game (bags of holding). Because He Just Won't Move.

The idea of crafting items is half-baked at best, requiring you to spend multiple points in crafting categories, and gather preposterous amounts of items. While on this tedious quest, you will realize that you could have just placed those points in weapon or spell skills. After all, you've already got 50,000 GP you don't know what to do with, which you could use to buy decent items at a merchant.

I'm thoroughly disappointed. If this were the work of an up-and-coming game studio, I could forgive it and think they have promise.

Since that's not the case, I think I'll install Baldur's Gate this weekend.

I have a fairly decent computer (which exceeds the system requirements), have almost all graphical options turned off and the frame rates are still horrible. The menu system is much worse than NWN. I played it for about an hour and was just so disgusted with the control and the frame rates that I quit playing. I downloaded the patch and it didn't help performance at all.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to the popular Neverwinter Nights. How does it hold up to its predecessor? Well, if you are looking for upgraded graphics, a new user interface and new "bling" then it is probably what you were waiting for.

First off, let me state that Neverwinter Nights 2 is NOT a game that caters to the console crowd. It is not a "hack and slash" nor is it an adventure game like The Longest Journey or Syberia. It is a PC Role-Playing Game designed specifically for PC gamers which happens to appeal to me. You cannot quickly run through killing hordes of monsters nor are the quests "smash and grab" oriented.

I found it most refreshing that the RPG elements were presented in a KOTORish type of environment. That is, when you are in a dialogue with important NPCs the setting changes that promotes dialogue, choice and interaction which delivers a good immersion value.

Is this game for everyone? No, fans of Diablo, Dungeon Seige or FPS will probably not get into this game. Fans of the original Neverwinter Nights will because it stays fairly true to the premise of the original. It delivers a solid single-player expierience with robust tools to create your own campaign settings, bringing Neverwinter Nights into the next techno-gadget environment. If you were thrilled by Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the simplicity and speed with which you can run through everything then you probably will need to switch gears to come down to a slow paced true PC RPG and not a hybrid like Oblivion (Designed for the console and PC).

However, there are problems. From the NWN Vault boards, among others, there are postings of technical problems abound. Personally, I have not expierienced any using a Pentium IV 3.4, 6800 GT video card with 1gig of DDR RAM. This is not to discount problems others are having, but some solutions might be to ensure you have the latest drivers. I am not the smartest guy when it comes to computers, but when I updated my sound, video drivers I noticed a marked improvement in all my games including Neverwinter Nights 2. The system requirements are a bit steep, but if you are serious about PC gaming then you need to have money to spend. If not, the consoles are relatively cheap, although you have to like the console environment over the PC one.

The story starts out fairly standard for a RPG, you are the adopted son of a prominent member of a villiage and encounter various hardships that lead you up to becoming the big hero of the day. It does not feel bland at all, the voice acting is well done and the story flows fairly smoothly. I especially like the KOTORish interaction in the dialogue.

I have found no significant bugs that have been a game-killer for me. Is there items that need to be improved upon? Yes, an excellent posting on the main NWN site lists 101 things that can be improved in NWN 2. The moderators are responsive, and based upon their historical patterns of replying and fixing/moding areas that gamers want improved...well, patches will be coming.

Already I've downloaded several patches from the Update link, one of which was pretty extensive. The customer support is there, and that is definately a good thing. Should games come ready to play out of the box? Oh yeah, but the reality is with complex games (like RPGS) that it doesnt, as long as the techinical support is there then my money was well spent. Overall a 4-star game.

Pros:
- Improved graphics over the original
- Good voice acting
- Excellent dialogue
- Fun gameplay (If you like PC RPGs)
- Great tutorial

Cons:
- Camera controls aren't user-friendly
- UI needs to be revamped (Particulary the SHIFT-Right click when interacting with objects)
- Game can stutter even on high end gaming rigs.
- Too many users expieriencing techinal difficulties. These need to be addressed so everyone can enjoy the game.

Note: I strongly suggest getting the DVD version. I purchased the CD-ROM and there are 7 CD's to swap and load. Much easier to have the DVD.

I received this as a gift- I wouldn't have purchased it myself so soon as I'm still knee deep in Oblivion and World of Warcraft. I'm playing it from the get-go with the first major patch already in place.

I was a fan of the first Neverwinter, immediatley purchasing all the expansions. I thought that the original was a solid game, from the interface to the rules implementation. The story in the original, however, left much to be desired, sometimes being downright boring (the second expansion comes to mind).

The story is where NWN 2 really shines, fortunatley. The story flow, side quests and NPCs are all vastly improved over the original. Your choices can have a considerable effect on the game, in a manner that is reminiscent of Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic. If I could give the story itself 5 stars I would.

The character creation and development options are still top-notch. You can really express yourself with your character choices. I find this aspect of the game to be superior to all other RPGs out currently.

The interface in the original was simple and powerful. The interface in NWN 2 is far more unwieldy and sometimes downright ugly.

The graphics are a mixed bag, and are ultimatley the most frustrating thing about this game. I understand that they wanted this game to look fantastic longer than the previous edition and so included *very* high texture and lighting settings, but this game doesn't seem very optimized even with the low end settings, which are quite ugly. Even friends with beastly computers have a tough time with this game.

So, if you like RPGs with great stories and can look past the ugly user interface and chugging graphics, then by all means- here is your game. Otherwise, wait until you've upgraded your PC and this thing is in the bargain bin, possibly with some expansions attached.

My two biggest complaints are system requirements and interface, and believe me those are pretty big areas to have complaints in.

System requirements...I really don't see what the extra graphics horsepower bought us. OK the eye candy is a bit "tastier" but did it enhance gameplay. I would say no. It seems that you paid for hardware upgrades to basically bring your system up to "state-of-the-art" and the graphics in the game aren't "breakthrough" enough, but it just might be that I over-expected.

Now the game mechanics or interface, that's a whole other story. Horrid simply horrid. While the radial interface of the original game was a little cumbersome, there was at least some intuitive-ness to it. From the click on the map to go there traveling, to hard to get rid of quests, this new game is just wrong. As you progress in gameplay, the interface gets easier, but it's never a smooth organic feel.

This game's gameplay is fun and the controls are easy to grasp. The battles make the player use all of the skills of the party to survive. The only major, and I mean MAJOR, problems with this game are the frame rate will occasionally bog down, and the cut scenes seem to be never ending.

One goes from a five minute cut scene to a quick two minute battle, and then back to a cut scene that lasts for several minutes. Several times when I was trying to finish off a battle in order to stop the game, I would have to spend the next ten minutes wading to the cut scenes in order to save the game and exit.

This game is one that will appeal to the die hard D&D gamer, but the casual gamer should probably steer clear of this game.

Please do not waste your money, like I did. The game is VERY buggy, and has tons of broken elements. It was clearly done on a low budget, and is just leveraging the great success of the first version.

The graphics look like they are from the mid-90's, and the gameplay is just... a joke. So sad- I wish I could get a refund. Especially, because my game broke only part way though. (my brothers snagged on a bug even earlier). I feel robbed and cheated... and mostly just dissapointed.