I picked up a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2 and have started playing it. I was in the NWN2 multi-player beta test, but the game didn't seem ready to launch. Unfortunately, it launched to a myriad of mixed reviews. There were obvious bugs and technical issues at launch.
Still, as a huge fan of the original NWN, I decided to keep NWN 2 on my radar. Well, the game has gone through a series of patches and for the most part seems to have turned around. I decided it was time for me to jump in and give it a fair shake. So far, I have not been disappointed. Graphics are good, gameplay is better, and most technical issues have been resolved.
The one weak area is with multi-player play. According to the developers this is the next issue they are going to tackle in patch 1.07. That should give me enough time to finish the single-player campaign and play around with the toolset.
I found it to be much-improved over the reviews I've read when I tried it recently, but the story wasn't enough to hold my attention for long. I'll probably go back to it sometime when I have more time, but I'll stick to Bloodlines, LoTRO, and tabletop D&D for now.
ReplyDelete"gameplay is better"
ReplyDeleteIn what way? I found camera and movement control to be really painful, compared to WoW. Bag handling is also not exactly the way I like it. In fact, I'd say one of the best things about WoW is that you can use UI mods to change the way the game feels and looks. This is a huge improvement over any game that forces you to use what another person thought was a good idea...
The graphics are sweet, yeah. I can max the graphics in WoW almost without losing frame-rate, I tried that in NWN2 and almost pwned my computer ;) But even in reduced graphics, still a very stunning game.
What I really loved about NWN2 is the sheer variety of spells I have as a mage. I'd love to cast an AOE sleep spell on a bunch of mobs or enemy players in WoW. WoW's offering, in comparison, is truly poor.
That said, the actual spell mechanics - forcing you to "sleep" after practically every fight ("enemy too close"? I just get back a little :)), in order to have enough spells to do something, is just plain silly and would never work in an MMO game. WoW's mana-based system is much more workable IMHO. I wonder how NWN2's system works in multi-player mode? Haven't tried that yet.
Your complaints are more geared towards D&D itself. I have never "loved" the magic system of D&D in any edition. Regardless, it still offers insane variety.
ReplyDeleteThe UI has been opened to modders in NWN2, but I'm not sure there has been any big improvements made yet. The only change I've seen is a Baldur's Gate 2 cloned UI.
Camera and movement are 100x better now in NWN 2. The WASD still isn't spot on, but click and move is much improved.
NWN2 has the same knack that NWN1 had... you have to like D&D, otherwise you probably will be frustrated with the game mechanics.