Neverwinter Nights 2 - quick opinions needed

[Fallschirmjager]

I like both
I guess I am lucky in that I get two great games to play.

I also love the crafting. That adds a whole new layer of complexity that Baldurs Gate did not have.

Baldurs Gate also had numerous opportunities where you could just 'cheap' your way through. In fact in some battles you had no other choice. In any of your battles with Lich's or dragons you had to attack them before turned 'red' and hope for a few quick hits. Or if you had a good thief with you, you could lay traps where you knew they would be and hope for an insta kill.
Also popular was firing spells into the 'fog of war' and killing what you could before you moved forward.

There were also lots of potion/spell/items combinations you could cast on one character and then move that single character forward to fight against a high level creature one vs one. The spell or potion would provide immunity.
Protection from magical energy was a popular one.

The game was well crafted but a crafty player could cheap their way through a large portion of the game.

[Perturabo]

Potion/spell/item combinations were completely legitimate.

When it comes to engine, I definitely prefer ToEE. It has the most faithful recreation of 3rd edition D&D on computer ever made - it also has cost of casting spells with expensive material components and crafting. All without trying to port a system designed for turn based combat in pseudo-real time. No watching fighters attack on auto-pilot or waiting for character to start casting/drink a potion, etc. just click a mouse button and something awesome happens. Also it has multiple endings (including joining the bad guys), stat-based dialogues, is non-linear, etc.

[ezzler]

OK. So I had to look up TOEE as I had no idea what that was. Then I saw it was $5.99 on GOG. So downloading now.

If I hate it, I'll bill you.javascript:void(AddText('[:)]'))

[Josh]

The Temple of Elemental Evil sure wasn't the hit they were hoping for. I tried it but didn't fell for it too, dunno why anymore really.
NWN didn't capture me either, agree completely with MJK here, it felt a bit (no offense here, just a personal opinion) like a dumbed down version of the Baldur's Gate legacy.
BG and all the addons, expansions and what not really were my genre, played them all, loved them.
Ofcourse no one could defeat the BG legacy, except the enemy from within, their own company killed the game for sure with Dragon Age .... uhm, what is it called now? It's a completely dumbed down action game for kiddies, press a few buttons and something awesome happens. That corporate $#nt saying that was sooo proud of it... "something awesome happens.." Well something awesome did happen, it killed the game for me. [:@]
 
So, on to greener meadows, bought a few Indie RPG games, great games, a bit back on the graphic side, but fun nonetheless. What really really is a treasure find is; Drakensang; River of Time.
 If you ever want a true successor of the BG game, *that's* your game. Stunning graphics, it's like you're walking in a fairytale. The gameworld is very much alive, you can take a look inside some houses and see a man drinking beer, a couple kissing, two women busy talking. You see a woman chasing her (don't know why yet) husband, you see drunkards, pompous rich men, beggars. The river is alive as well, boats floating by, people are fishing, and so on and so on.
It has no 16AAF and all the latest flashy graphics ala Crysis2, but that plays no role at all. It's the game that rocks, it's made in Germany and let me tell you these guys do know how to tell a story, absolutely compelling.
 
It's ashame that sales numbers were less than they expected, except in Germany itself where it is hugely popular. It's available in German and in English. Must say, I have been thinking of buying the German version [:D] A)because the voices are spot on for the characters, very well done. and B) it's a welcome change to hear a dwarf speak German instead of English. ( I mean when you think of it, the entire universe, all the Aliens and the fantasy world all speak English... how did *that* happen?.. [;)] )
 
Yes well anyway, long story short, you want a good cRPG? Drakensang: http://www.drakensang.com/

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: ezz

OK. So I had to look up TOEE as I had no idea what that was. Then I saw it was $5.99 on GOG. So downloading now.

If I hate it, I'll bill you.javascript:void(AddText('[:)]'))

Remember to get the Circle of Eight patch. From what I've heard, the vanilla game was pretty bugged.

ORIGINAL: Josh

The Temple of Elemental Evil sure wasn't the hit they were hoping for. I tried it but didn't fell for it too, dunno why anymore really.

The beginning can be pretty boring - there isn't much action but on - the dialogues with NPCs are well written and make them seem alive, but then they cut out children which makes people talking about their kids look out of place and the game misses the sort of feeling of a living world that Ultima V-VII had.
Personally, I usually skip making my own party and recruit cNPCs in the Homlet. This way I can jump to action without grinding XP.

As for it not being a hit. It had pretty bad promotion. I don't remember any ads promoting it as the most faithful recreation of D&D ever and that it was done by creators of Arcanum and Fallout.

[Fallschirmjager]

I will keep that in mind for a future purchase. Six dollars makes it worth trying even if it is terrible.

[Zakhal]

If you want somthing like ultima7 check out divine divinity.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Zakhal

If you want somthing like ultima7 check out divine divinity.

I bought it several years ago. Ended playing it in a long Diablo-style dungeon with skeletons just after the start.

[Zakhal]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

ORIGINAL: Zakhal

If you want somthing like ultima7 check out divine divinity.

I bought it several years ago. Ended playing it in a long Diablo-style dungeon with skeletons just after the start.

You never finished the tutorial dungeon? Once you finish it you get out of the village and have entire world to freely roam on. Many people make the mistake of thinking DD is just a diablo-clone because they never finish the first dungeon. I hope you havent sold your copy yet so you can try it again. Othervice you can get DD from GOG pretty cheap.

Its true that the combat is diablo-style and diablo is close to ultima8. I think ultima7 with ultima8-combat might be better comparison for Divine Divinity.

Personally I like DD combat better than the messy combat that is in ultima7. I never really liked it back then either.