This is a review for the PC game, Neverwinternights 2.
Let’s take it through the steps:
Who: Atari
What: An RPG sequel based on the Pen and Dice game, Dungeons and Dragons.
When: Medieval times, came out a few years back
Where: A land infested with, trolls, dragons, orcs, evil people, and hundreds of NPC.
Why: It got reviews from 8.5/10 to 9.5/10, so I considered it worth my hand.
The first thing you need to understand is that it’s a natural sequel to the first one. It’s a sequel. You’ve seen them before, and you know how they work. This one pretty much follows the rules.
I’d better do a short review on the first one.
Neverwinter nights:
Who: Bioware
What: A game based on the Pen and Dice game, Dungeons and Dragons.
When: Medieval times, came out a bunch of years ago
Where: A land infested with, trolls, dragons, orcs, evil people, and hundreds of NPC.
Why: It got reviews from 8.5/10 to 10/10, so I considered it worth my hand.
First of all, I gotta hand it to them. Bioware did a feaking awesome job. At first this game looks like a basic point and click game like Diablo, but this isn’t the case. This is a complex game with dozens upon dozens of sidequests, more freedom than you’ve seen in any game since Oblivion, and an amazing combat system. I really like to break things down, so let’s do so. In five catagories: Freedom, combat, social interaction, plot, and a conclusion.
Freedom: This. Game. Is. Wonderful. There are gigantic cities. Huge ones. Every single door opens, and inside is a tasty little side quest for you. These aren’t dumb little errands, these are plot points where you’re hacking and slashing through tribes of orcs, and finding the little boy timmy. In every part of the game, it lays out choices on what you want to do first. The moment you leave the training level, you get to choose between fighting zombies, escapes convicts, mercenaries, and random thieves, all of which you’ll have to do eventually. You’re given the choice to be good or evil, chaotic or lawful, but this doesn’t impact too much in the game. It still allows for fun roleplaying.
Combat: D&D is set up as a turn based game, but this defiantly doesn’t play as a turn based game. The entire thing is completely real time. You have dozen of fighting abilities, and over 100 spells to choose from. You and your henchmen can do some seriously fun stuff with the combat.
Social interaction: This comes back to the freedom aspect of the game. You’re given dozens of choices in every conversation, which allow you to say what you want at every possible turn. Talking is constant, tool. It’s not just a hack and slash game, and this defiantly adds to it.
Plot: The plot is great. I can’t say too much to ruin it, but the basic premise is that you’re trying to save a city. This is a little awkward if you’re playing an evil character, but you don’t have a choice. Eventually, you do save the city, but a long line of events lead you back into an epic battle with a key character. In the final parts of the story, you go through a very difficult, yet rewarding ending which leaves you happy and ready for a sequel.
Conclusion: This game is great. A 9.5/10. It scored great in all categories, and has fantastic replayability.
Now, let’s do the same for NWN2.
Freedom: Meh. You’re pretty much railroaded most of the game. Remember those doors I mentioned in the gigantic cities? They’re locked. And the sidequests, you ask? Gone. It tries, but fails to give you a sense of freedom.
Combat: Combat isn’t too different, as it still relies on the same principles. There is one huge difference. In NWN, you had a single henchman, a character of equal level of a chosen class that accompanies you as you see fit. This allows you to compliment your character nicely. If you’re a spellcaster, choose the fighter. If you’re a fighter, choose the spellcaster. In NWN2, they took this to a whole new level. They made an entire party of charters. You’re allowed to choose up to four people to accompany you and help you. This makes combat a little bland, as instead of worrying about killing the enemy, you’re worrying about your allies. It does eliminate all those annoying “134 fire damage” traps they had in NWN. I hate walking up to a door, and spontaneously combusting and dying.
Social interaction: What social interaction? Seriously, you now can barely talk to anyone. Sure, you talk to your annoying bosses that you have to report to, but beyond that, it’s almost null. They tried to add an element of talking to your party members, but failed.
Plot: The plot is totally railroading, and not very riveting at all. I’m not totally done yet, so I can’t give a full review in this aspect yet.
Conclusion: 5/10. A pretty crappy game. No replayability, and scores low in all catagories.
Let’s take it through the steps:
Who: Atari
What: An RPG sequel based on the Pen and Dice game, Dungeons and Dragons.
When: Medieval times, came out a few years back
Where: A land infested with, trolls, dragons, orcs, evil people, and hundreds of NPC.
Why: It got reviews from 8.5/10 to 9.5/10, so I considered it worth my hand.
The first thing you need to understand is that it’s a natural sequel to the first one. It’s a sequel. You’ve seen them before, and you know how they work. This one pretty much follows the rules.
I’d better do a short review on the first one.
Neverwinter nights:
Who: Bioware
What: A game based on the Pen and Dice game, Dungeons and Dragons.
When: Medieval times, came out a bunch of years ago
Where: A land infested with, trolls, dragons, orcs, evil people, and hundreds of NPC.
Why: It got reviews from 8.5/10 to 10/10, so I considered it worth my hand.
First of all, I gotta hand it to them. Bioware did a feaking awesome job. At first this game looks like a basic point and click game like Diablo, but this isn’t the case. This is a complex game with dozens upon dozens of sidequests, more freedom than you’ve seen in any game since Oblivion, and an amazing combat system. I really like to break things down, so let’s do so. In five catagories: Freedom, combat, social interaction, plot, and a conclusion.
Freedom: This. Game. Is. Wonderful. There are gigantic cities. Huge ones. Every single door opens, and inside is a tasty little side quest for you. These aren’t dumb little errands, these are plot points where you’re hacking and slashing through tribes of orcs, and finding the little boy timmy. In every part of the game, it lays out choices on what you want to do first. The moment you leave the training level, you get to choose between fighting zombies, escapes convicts, mercenaries, and random thieves, all of which you’ll have to do eventually. You’re given the choice to be good or evil, chaotic or lawful, but this doesn’t impact too much in the game. It still allows for fun roleplaying.
Combat: D&D is set up as a turn based game, but this defiantly doesn’t play as a turn based game. The entire thing is completely real time. You have dozen of fighting abilities, and over 100 spells to choose from. You and your henchmen can do some seriously fun stuff with the combat.
Social interaction: This comes back to the freedom aspect of the game. You’re given dozens of choices in every conversation, which allow you to say what you want at every possible turn. Talking is constant, tool. It’s not just a hack and slash game, and this defiantly adds to it.
Plot: The plot is great. I can’t say too much to ruin it, but the basic premise is that you’re trying to save a city. This is a little awkward if you’re playing an evil character, but you don’t have a choice. Eventually, you do save the city, but a long line of events lead you back into an epic battle with a key character. In the final parts of the story, you go through a very difficult, yet rewarding ending which leaves you happy and ready for a sequel.
Conclusion: This game is great. A 9.5/10. It scored great in all categories, and has fantastic replayability.
Now, let’s do the same for NWN2.
Freedom: Meh. You’re pretty much railroaded most of the game. Remember those doors I mentioned in the gigantic cities? They’re locked. And the sidequests, you ask? Gone. It tries, but fails to give you a sense of freedom.
Combat: Combat isn’t too different, as it still relies on the same principles. There is one huge difference. In NWN, you had a single henchman, a character of equal level of a chosen class that accompanies you as you see fit. This allows you to compliment your character nicely. If you’re a spellcaster, choose the fighter. If you’re a fighter, choose the spellcaster. In NWN2, they took this to a whole new level. They made an entire party of charters. You’re allowed to choose up to four people to accompany you and help you. This makes combat a little bland, as instead of worrying about killing the enemy, you’re worrying about your allies. It does eliminate all those annoying “134 fire damage” traps they had in NWN. I hate walking up to a door, and spontaneously combusting and dying.
Social interaction: What social interaction? Seriously, you now can barely talk to anyone. Sure, you talk to your annoying bosses that you have to report to, but beyond that, it’s almost null. They tried to add an element of talking to your party members, but failed.
Plot: The plot is totally railroading, and not very riveting at all. I’m not totally done yet, so I can’t give a full review in this aspect yet.
Conclusion: 5/10. A pretty crappy game. No replayability, and scores low in all catagories.