Neverwinter Nights 2 - quick opinions needed

[Fallschirmjager]

The Platinum edition is on sale for $9.99 as part of a weekend deal on Steam. This means if I am to buy it I have but a few hours.
I like D&D and Baldurs Gate 2 is one of my favorite games ever. Is NN 2 a worthy purchase for the money and the hours spent?

[Capt. Harlock]

Definitely buy it. I and a friend have been playing it and the extra modules for nearly a year now. I like the interface, and NWN2 has more of a multi-person party feel to it.

[doomtrader]

Buy it, I never had time to finish (or to be honest to play longer than couple of hours) the game but if you like action and RPG it is must buy.

[Phatguy]

for 10 bucks? it's a steal

[Perturabo]

From what I've read, Mask of the Betrayer one of the best story-based cRPGs ever made and it's included in the platinum edition.

[Fallschirmjager]

I got it and will be starting tonight. Plus I am being moved to 30 hours weeks until the end of the summer. I had previously been working 48 hour weeks. I foresee polishing off a lot of games I had started recently.

[Fallschirmjager]

Good call guys, I am utterly hooked. I created a half orc fighter and he is dominate so far. Plus he looks bad ass. The beginning of the game is more combat heavy than I had anticipated. I am only a little ways in but it has me wanting to keep playing after I shut the game down.
In regular D&D games fighters tend to weaken as their levels increase while mages get stronger. I wonder if this game is the same? That was certainly the case in the Baldurs Gate series. Once you got your high level spells like power word death and time stop and meteor you became almost god like. You could fight up to 30 enemies and your spell protections and mob control spells made the battles easy.

At first with this game I was disappointed that some of the hardcore D&D stuff had been left out. Death is not permanent in that you can only be 'knocked out' and you can rest your health back in a few seconds instead of hours like in Baldurs Gate at the risk of being attacked. Also Baldurs Gate was just damned hard at some points. Fighting Lich's and Dragons and high level mages were almost impossible at some points. And when I played I literaly played in fear. If you were new to the game and stumbled into certain encounters your party would be killed in under a minute. But in this game I feel more confident.
I still hold Baldurs Gate 2 among the greatest games of all time. However, the things I mentioned earlier in some ways make this a better game. Being revived back if you 'die' after a battle and being able to rest in 5 seconds makes the entire game flow better. I wasted so much time in Baldurs Gate going to temples to revive fallen party members. And don't even get me started on level drain attacks [:@]
I yelled so many curse words at my PC while fighting Vampires which unfortunately was a big chunk of the middle part of the game.

I love this game and love it even more that I got it for 10 dollars. I can't wait to keep playing through it!
And then I have two expansions and more downloaded modules if I wish to pursue them.

If you like RPG's or D&D I very highly recommend it.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

Good call guys, I am utterly hooked. I created a half orc fighter and he is dominate so far. Plus he looks bad ass. The beginning of the game is more combat heavy than I had anticipated. I am only a little ways in but it has me wanting to keep playing after I shut the game down.
In regular D&D games fighters tend to weaken as their levels increase while mages get stronger. I wonder if this game is the same? That was certainly the case in the Baldurs Gate series. Once you got your high level spells like power word death and time stop and meteor you became almost god like. You could fight up to 30 enemies and your spell protections and mob control spells made the battles easy.

At first with this game I was disappointed that some of the hardcore D&D stuff had been left out. Death is not permanent in that you can only be 'knocked out' and you can rest your health back in a few seconds instead of hours like in Baldurs Gate at the risk of being attacked. Also Baldurs Gate was just damned hard at some points. Fighting Lich's and Dragons and high level mages were almost impossible at some points. And when I played I literaly played in fear. If you were new to the game and stumbled into certain encounters your party would be killed in under a minute. But in this game I feel more confident.
I still hold Baldurs Gate 2 among the greatest games of all time. However, the things I mentioned earlier in some ways make this a better game. Being revived back if you 'die' after a battle and being able to rest in 5 seconds makes the entire game flow better. I wasted so much time in Baldurs Gate going to temples to revive fallen party members. And don't even get me started on level drain attacks [:@]
I yelled so many curse words at my PC while fighting Vampires which unfortunately was a big chunk of the middle part of the game.

One thing that I dislike about NWN was removing sleep and stuff like this. I prefer when cRPGs are more immersive and instant rest is a good way to break immersion.

[andym]

Does this run on Vista ok?Or will there be no end of tweaking etc?

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager


I yelled so many curse words at my PC while fighting Vampires which unfortunately was a big chunk of the middle part of the game.

I restarted and played as an Undead Hunter just to avoid the dreaded Level Drain on my first playthrough.

I agree that BG2 is one of the greatest games of all times. Struck just the right balance between Baldur's Gate & NWN. NWN was too "dumbed down" to be truly great - although it was decent entertainment. I've barely had a chance to play NWN2 but it's a step back in the right direction IMO.

[Perturabo]

I just used the restoration scroll.

[Lützow]

Only thing about NWN I enjoyed, was the second expansion, "Hordes of the Underdark." I couldn't stomach NWN2 at all.

If you look for a crpg in the ballpark of BG, pick the Icewind Dale series from GoG.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: andym

Does this run on Vista ok?Or will there be no end of tweaking etc?

I am playing it on Windows 7 64 bit with no problems

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: mjk428

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager


I yelled so many curse words at my PC while fighting Vampires which unfortunately was a big chunk of the middle part of the game.

I restarted and played as an Undead Hunter just to avoid the dreaded Level Drain on my first playthrough.

I agree that BG2 is one of the greatest games of all times. Struck just the right balance between Baldur's Gate & NWN. NWN was too "dumbed down" to be truly great - although it was decent entertainment. I've barely had a chance to play NWN2 but it's a step back in the right direction IMO.

I would not call it dumbed down at all. D&D 3.5 rules are to me more complex that rule set 2.

The no dying and quick resting options as I said earlier streamline the game for me.

Things like Level drain were just a plain annoyance. Sure they are 'realistic' in the D&D sense. But in a video game sense it was damn annoying. There were some parts of the game where you literally had to clear out room by room the undead and after each room you had to go back to the surface to a temple. Super annoying and killed the pace of the game.

I like the easier playing of NWN. It is a change of pace.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Only thing about NWN I enjoyed, was the second expansion, "Hordes of the Underdark." I couldn't stomach NWN2 at all.

If you look for a crpg in the ballpark of BG, pick the Icewind Dale series from GoG.

I played both of the Icewind Dale titles and loved them. Planescape Torment is also an excellent game and has the best story of any RPG I have ever played.
The game looks horrible on modern systems (it has a fixed resolution of 600x480 yesh[X(] ) is still a classic. It has been a while since I played through it. I need to start it up again and give it a go.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

The no dying and quick resting options as I said earlier streamline the game for me.

"Streamlining" is dumbing down.

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

Things like Level drain were just a plain annoyance. Sure they are 'realistic' in the D&D sense. But in a video game sense it was damn annoying. There were some parts of the game where you literally had to clear out room by room the undead and after each room you had to go back to the surface to a temple. Super annoying and killed the pace of the game.

Weird thing. I don't recall stuff like this ever happening to me when playing Baldur's Gate 2. Probably because I had a cleric in my party and had scrolls of restoration. I guess you really need your cRPGs "streamlined".

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Only thing about NWN I enjoyed, was the second expansion, "Hordes of the Underdark." I couldn't stomach NWN2 at all.

If you look for a crpg in the ballpark of BG, pick the Icewind Dale series from GoG.

I played both of the Icewind Dale titles and loved them. Planescape Torment is also an excellent game and has the best story of any RPG I have ever played.
The game looks horrible on modern systems (it has a fixed resolution of 600x480 yesh[X(] ) is still a classic. It has been a while since I played through it. I need to start it up again and give it a go.

http://www.gibberlings3.net/widescreen/

[sabreman1966mcs]

I have played NWN and NWN2 and all the expansions and they are great. Just finished Dragon Age: Origins and the Awakenings expansion and I rate them even higher than NWN2, Less character classes and races to play with, but gameplay and storyline are terrific.

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

ORIGINAL: mjk428

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager


I yelled so many curse words at my PC while fighting Vampires which unfortunately was a big chunk of the middle part of the game.

I restarted and played as an Undead Hunter just to avoid the dreaded Level Drain on my first playthrough.

I agree that BG2 is one of the greatest games of all times. Struck just the right balance between Baldur's Gate & NWN. NWN was too "dumbed down" to be truly great - although it was decent entertainment. I've barely had a chance to play NWN2 but it's a step back in the right direction IMO.

I would not call it dumbed down at all. D&D 3.5 rules are to me more complex that rule set 2.

The no dying and quick resting options as I said earlier streamline the game for me.

Things like Level drain were just a plain annoyance. Sure they are 'realistic' in the D&D sense. But in a video game sense it was damn annoying. There were some parts of the game where you literally had to clear out room by room the undead and after each room you had to go back to the surface to a temple. Super annoying and killed the pace of the game.

I like the easier playing of NWN. It is a change of pace.

I put it in quotes as shorthand. One man's "easier playing" is another's "dumbed down". For me, NWN was a large step backwards from BG2. Cookie cutter quests, crappy henchman, simpler combat - all made for a major disappointment after BG2. I agree with the above that HotU was a significant improvement from the original NWN.

NWN: Entertaining but not great. BG2: All Time Top Ten.


Also, just to clarify, NWN was 3.0 not 3.5.

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

I just used the restoration scroll.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Restoration isn't nearly as sweet (or as cheezy) as total immunity - but there are many ways to deal with Level Drain.

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: mjk428

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

I just used the restoration scroll.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Restoration isn't nearly as sweet (or as cheezy) as total immunity - but there are many ways to deal with Level Drain.

At least BG2 rewarded thinking and being prepared. So, despite the linearity, making the PCs actions in the previous part of the story irrelevant, lack of low/high intelligence/wisdom dialogue, lack of non-weapon proficiencies, fake dialogue choices, boring combat mechanics (besides magic), bad pathfinding etc. it actually had some good features.
At the point where I played it, I couldn't exactly imagine that stuff can get even worse.