Customer Reviews

Neverwinter Nights Platinum

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've played a lot of computer based role playing games and I think Neverwinter Nights is the best. I've played it for over a year now.

For one thing, the Platinum package offers an incredible amount of content that used to cost $100 in a very affordable package. Second, the game is based on Dungeons and Dragons rules, which have been tested and refined for decades. It takes a while to grasp the richness of the possibilities, but it's worth it. Third, some people complain about the graphics but I think they look great. I never get tired of pausing a battle and zooming the camera around in circles and in for a closeup. Fourth, the interface is so simple it's almost a work of art. You right click on any particular object and a menu of things you can do with it comes up.

Fifth, with NWN comes a toolset that lets you build your own adventures. The ones provided with NWN Platinum are pretty good -- with Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark being far better than the original campaign. So you can download, for free, literally hundreds of additional games that fans have spent hundreds or thousands of hours creating. And many of these are even better than the adventures that come with NWN Platinum. People have also built additional scenery, monsters, environments, and much more. So you learn one set of rules and you're set for dozens of adventures - some short and intense, some huge and sprawling (with up to 60-100 hours of playing time, so they say). I feel like I'm totally set to be entertained for the next 6-12 months, probably more if people keep building great adventures and putting them online. (See nwvault.ign.com for a glimpse of what's out there. And did I mention it's all free?)

Sixth, if you have a fast online connection (which I don't), you can play online with others in "persistent worlds" full of gamers, or in campaigns with your friends -- and a Dungeon Master can even run the show and provide the kind of interactivity and richness that pen & paper experiences used to provide. I can't speak to that whole aspect because I don't have DSL or cable, but many people love playing that way.

I think this is simply an unbeatable package. Diablo I&II were incredibly fun, they had atmosphere and gameplay for days, but in terms of role playing they lacked depth and freedom, and battles were basically a clickfest (click on that one! now click on that one! now click on that one!). Morrowind is unmatched as a sprawling, freeform adventure, but it's so open ended that you often feel lost and somewhat unmotivated after a couple of weeks, or months, of playing. Plus, to improve your lock picking skill, you had to pick hundreds of locks. To improve your jumping skill, you had to jump and jump and jump. That system just doesn't appeal to me.

I wish you good gaming. [PS: advice for new players: play a cleric. Great combination of fighter and spell caster. Lots of fun.]

In case you haven't heard of Neverwinter Nights yet (and in case you're wondering, we landed on the moon too.) and are in the dark about this incredible series, here's your chance to redeem yourself! In any case, this 'platinum' pack includes the original Neverwinter nights and both expansion packs, Hordes of the Underdark and (though the less exciting, but still fun) Shadows of Undrentide. What you should know is that this is the 'it' game concerning playability, multiplayer fun, as well as expandability with the excellent tool sets included to craft your own D&D adventure. It is an RPG set in the Forgotten Realms world (but has been modded to all sorts of worlds-you can even find an upcoming Dragonlance mod soon to be released), and I would stand by it to say (along with the Baldur's gate series as well as the fairly new Knights of the Old Republic...All made by Bioware...Hmmmm pattern here?) it is one of the best games you will play in a very long time (Until a month from now when the next 'big' thing comes and levels all expectations...suffice to say that the way technology is growing so fast, it doesn't give us poor gamers a lot of time to appreciate those great games that come out!). With tremendous graphics that still hold up remarkably well (its not THAT old), stellar gameplay and 100's of hours worth of pure entertainment, quit reading this review and wasting your time! Play the game NOW!(and plan on dodging those pesky necessities 'showering' and 'eating'!)

I've been playing computer role-playing games since Wizardry came out for the Apple II. (For those of you too young to remember, that was when a machine with 48K of RAM was considered super-fast.) Neverwinter Nights is, IMHO, one of the best ever in the genre. It combines ease of play and an interesting story effortlessly. Better yet, one doesn't have to be The Amazing Kreskin to figure out what you are supposed to do next. Too many other games substitute cryptic puzzles for good game play. Neverwinter Nights does it right.

I could tell you about the amazing graphics, gameplay, sound, and fun in replaying, but I think that other reviews have done that already. I'll just talk about two things:
Custom content and modules.
Some of you may feel like custom content is mainly bug-filled hacks that may or may not harm your computer, but NWN Platinum includes an amazing toolset that alows for compilation of modules that can be as complex-or more complex-than the original games. There is an amazing amount of custom content, and I've already downloaded at least one gigabyte of custom content, and 0 bytes of it have harmed my computer, with only 50 megabytes of it not working as intended. All of it can be modified as necessary by the toolset or player-created tools.

Some of the best uses for this are, of course, player modules, but are also hundreds of persistent worlds out there that allow for 24-hour multiplayer gaming. Most of those require nothing to log on to them, allowing you to just click and play.

All that these things mean is that you can play for a virtually infinite amount of time, with each minute of it theoretically with different people and using different content and themes.

If read this far, you've been reading to long. Buy this game!

Neverwinter Nights picks up where Baldur's Gate 2 left off with the engine of the game. It's much more fluid to control your character. While there's more story and character development here than in the DA series, it still pales in comparison to the orignial BG series. You'll find the NPC personalities to be rather dry, and the quests that go with them a little too straight forward. Most of the items you need to find to complete them aren't too far off the beaten path. The game is long and entertaining... if you like long dungeon crawls, you'll certainly get your money's worth out of it. A small tip: Rogue is very fun, but challenging. Paladin is much easier as you can cut through the battles.

I got this game thinking it was another, newer, better version of Bauldur's Gate, it ain't. It just doesn't have the interactivity that Baldur's Gate, not as many side quests, and just not as much fun. I like it, but prefer the Baldur's Gate style combat then the Diablo style. Plus I like being able to control the ENTIRE party, not just one character. I guess its made more for online play, but I'm just not into that. I still wish BioWare would come out with another better version of the original Baldur's Gate, I really think there would be a HUGE market for it.

I have played through the Diamond version of this game, including Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark.

I can't say much for the multiplayer aspect of it, since my friends aren't really d&d people, but I can speak for the single player aspect.

This is one of those games like starcraft, WoW, etc. that is fun mostly for the endlessly competitive tactical combat aspect. In NWN, combat is all about math, especially for fighters. This is fine, except, there's not much besides combat in this game, so it gets tedious, since unlike in the above games, you don't participate in combat, you just click on something and then wait. (in NWN you only control one character)

There's not a lot of story, not a lot of non-combat challenges (Although there is one lawyer-quest that is pretty fun). Plus the background environments are highly repetitive, there's very few textures and all the buildings look the same inside. In other words, don't expect this game to have much 'meat' to its plot or atmosphere compared to the high-quality single player RPGs like Final Fantasy 7.

You might say to me: "Hey, but what about all the modules you can download?" Yes, there are a lot of modules to download, but there is basically only one that reaches the quality level I am referring to (Darkness over Daggerford), and all the other ones have either bad writing, dubious content (awkward polygonal sex scenes come to mind), or are just plain short.

All in all I would say if you like games like Diablo II, then buy NWN.

On the other hand, if you like games like Final Fantasy 7, with more of an epic story, side-quests, mini-games, and variety in general, you are much better off getting the Baldur's Gate box set below.

Baldur's Gate 4 in 1 Box Set (DVD)

Neverwinter Nights is not perfect. Perhaps the biggest complaint is their inaccurate implementation of the D&D ruleset (3.1 I believe) which caused some friction between bioware and Wizards of the Coast and caused Bioware to invent their own fantasy realm to compete with D&D. Which is all seems so unbelievable considering that Bioware with the incredible sales of Baldur's Gate really rescued D&D from dwindling into obscurity. But, the history of this game and their incredible creators (Bioware) is besides the point. Neverwinter Nights position in the history of CRPG'ing is well established. It is the standard by which all newcomers will be judged.

It was this game that gave the death knell to turned based computer RPG's. The trend was that turned based combat was too slow and unexciting. The nerd in me would disagree, but the child in me would wholeheartedly agree, so I can see both sides of this issue. My opinion matters not in the grand scheme of things as the 'action' RPG trend has consumed the market. This was largely due to the suceess of this game.

I am rating this game long after I have played every chapter to conclusion. After I have played numerous FREE fan generated story content. After I have created enough Forgotten Realms characters to populate the entire city of Neverwinter. It is true that the first chapter was so-so in terms of story. It is true that the second chapter was almost dull in terms of story. It is true that the last chapter was truly epic. But these are VERY MINOR QUALMS in terms of what Neverwinter Nights means. Neverwinter Nights is another realm. It is a well created fantasy world you recreate on your computer. The characters look a little cartoonish, but not like Zelda. Like D&D, in an exagerated way.

This was the first game (it beat Morrowind) to have the ability to really really change the appearance of your character to correspond to what your character is wearing. This simple thing really lends to the sense of accomplishment, the sense of achievement. The implementation was not perfect, but it was much improved by the third chapter. The net result of all the changes lead to a rich world that you can interact with. It is a fairly non-linear world, with a lot of depth. When you add in all the custom content, the player designed worlds, you have really SO much from this one simple well priced package, it should be completely irresistable. Even on an old system, things look GREAT. Armor is shiny, water looks pretty good, and even your hair cut waves when you bob your head. It is an immersive experience.

If you haven't played this game, or if you never got all the chapters, you are missing out. You must try this. If you are a turned based officianado, this might not be enough to convert you, but you ought to find out why the 'action' market is taking over. You have access to enough consumer made content to keep you occupied for months and months if not years. It is really the best deal in RPG'ing out there, even if it is a bit dated. I still play, from time to time, and I have the new incarnation of this series as well. So try it...what have you got to lose but free time anyway?

This is the -it- game, a wondrful game with possebilities.
This pack got the first Neverwinter, and two expension packs: -hordes of the underdark- and -shadows of the undrentide-
personly I loved the -Hordes of the Underdark- a great game filled with surprises and fun, incredible.
The other expension pack Shadow of the undrentide is not that exiting but still fun.

The graphic is good, and the people on the game really look like they are real and alive, breathing and all....

If you buy this game you will have alot of fun, action, love and caring, you will truly enjoy.

I think Neverwinter Nights is so overlooked by the gaming world to have become almost a forgotten commodity. And this is indeed sad becauase NN is such an awesome game with so much to it and with hours upon hours of intense gameplay and wonderful story line that you wonder why so many people have gotten hooked on games like Everquest and have completely overlooked NN and what it has to offer to the gaming community. And this, after all, coming from an RPG community which owes much of its early beginnings to the very first truly graphic RPG's like Pool of Radiance and Baldurs Gate, both Dungeons and Dragons PC games just like NN.

NN has an addictive story line made all the broader with its many expansion packs and its hordes of player built modules that are available just about everywhere on the Internet. This game isn't just hack and slash, its so much more with its vast amount of puzzles and quests and the treasures one can compile and even build.

Perhaps NN will be looked upon one day as having become the new standard for RPG's. Though some may attempt to copy it, none can. Bioware has such a unique engine, thanks to the Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale games, that NN is just the new genesis of that engine adding to it and expanding it into the mighty game engine that it has become.

Bioware is a true innovator in the world of the RPG and I think they will continue to be innovative going forward. Neverwinter Nights and its NN2 sequel prove out that theory and I sincerely hope that the series continues to even greater heights.

If you love RPG's and you love D&D, buy Neverwinter Nights. You will enjoy a true adventure with nearly limitless possibilities of how you can reach the end of the game. Just buy it and have some fun but have the snacks and sodas ready because you are in for the long haul.