This time I'm going to try my hand at a review. Let's see if I can get my points across with solid reasoning behind them. Since I started aiming for Game Design I have made a serious effort to not only decide if I like a game or not, but why, and what I would do to fix it. (See last post)
Neverwinter Nights 2: Gold Edition (NWN2) is a game that has received reviews across the board. One review will give it a 9/10 immediatly followed by one that gives it 0/10 and curses it as the worst game they ever played. I really enjoyed the first NWN, but I've pretty much played it for all it's worth as a single player game. So I decided to take the plunge and get 2 as a way to try and get more. One major point of note is that NWN was developed by Bioware and then publisher Atari said, "Very good, well done guys." and gave NWN2 to Obsidian Entertainment to design and develop. Many of the problems I have with NWN2 seem to me to be attempts by Obsidian to put their own mark on the game.
Let's get the big one out of the way first: the camera. To be honest and blunt... the camera is horrible. Thanks to the camera, I was annoyed at NWN2 within the first five seconds of playing. Moving the mouse to the edge of the screen makes the camera rotate that way... REALLY fast! I have to barely touch the edge and quickly pull the mouse away if I want to rotate the camera any less than 180 degrees. Same is true for up and down movment, not just side to side. So, I tried a different camera mode. That was exploration, so what about strategic mode? Well, that's a top down view where you can steer your char (which is impossible to do well as it is often hard to determine which way you are facing) or click them to move, which you can do in any mode. But it makes sense to use it in this mode. However, the camera still flies off when you touch the edge of the screen. I tried the last mode, character mode and have stuck with it. It is locked behind the character, so you look where the character does. Up and down tilt have the usual problems though. Side to side has a new problem. In addition to how it was, it snaps back the second you pull away from the edge. Ok perhaps... if I wasn't trying desperatly to target something on the edge of my character's vision. To do this, I must turn my character, who sometimes can be as bad or worse than the mouse rotation is. It's hard to enjoy the game when I can't see what's going on. Sometimes, the camera will randomly jump and turn my character 90 degrees or so. Not idea why, but it usually does it while I am trying to run into position away from the enemies, not toward. NWN had a perfect camera without any of these problems.
It is a good thing that I am playing a Warlock, who can just stand back and spam Eldritch Blast. I've tried a fighter, but the close combat is difficult. You do not automatically attack something attacking you (making you flatfooted (more vulnerable)) unless you have Cleave and just killed something. Many things also tend to get clustered and it can be very hard to pick a specific target for melee, though this could ocassionally happen in NWN as well. I can't say how well magic works, as I havn't made a true caster yet. Seemed to be ok for the tutorial on it.
One thing that I think is an effect of Obsidian trying to make its mark, drop down menus. NWN had redial based menus that worked very well. Now, they're drop down. Why change something that worked well? Why reinvent the wheel instead of the car? Worst of all, why break something that is good. The drop down menus are poorly organized and take much longer to navigate. Also using them frequently screws with your target (making you target the stack of potions in your pocket rather than the zombie munching on you) which means you will then attempt to attack your pocket rather than the zombie next round, unless you quickly switch back to the zombie. I avoid the menus at all costs.
Last thing, which may be the basis for my next post, is misleading the player. This was really bad in my mind. Having just left my home town, I met a dwarf. He likes to punch people, and wants to go to Neverwinter to train as a Monk which is an unarmed warrior. He is currently a Fighter. Ok fine, he's amusing and tough. I am squishy. So I recruit him to my party trying to surround myself with as many friends as possible. However, I seem to be having a real hard time. Most encounters I barely survive and I died several times attempting others. I even picked up a rogue (she and the dwarf don't get along) but still, having a hell of a time. What's going on? Difficulty is set to normal. Then, I got in a fight. Me and the rogue died. The party system allows you to control anyone you want. So, I switched to the dwarf to watch myself lose the fight. I tried to pull through by having him use some of the healing potions. As the fight went on I noticed something, a large number of "Attack of Opportunity"s floating about the fight. That's when it hit me, this guy didn't have the "Improved Unarmed Strike" feat! For those of you not versed in D&D that means that each enemy around him gets a free attack (Attack of Opportunity) against him each time he attacks, Monks get this for free. No wonder he died so fast. I won that fight by 1 hit point (no joke) and proptly gave him a tower shield and longsword. I have had no problems since.
With all that bad out of the way, let's discuss the good. First, the party system. The members interact with each other and you. I have grabbed everyone I can, which has led to me being called a circus. You want to try and keep them all as happy as possible, but that is very hard, as it would be in real life. You can also switch and control whichever member you want directly. You have a great level of customization for how they act when you are not controlling them. You can even turn off the AI and issue every order yourself, which I would find redicilious myself. Full inventory control (which itself has a nice organize button). It is the most expanisve and detailed party system I have used in a long time. One downside is that my rogue has a habit of walking slowly across the room to disarm a trap or pick a lock, but that could happen in NWN too. An interesting part is that if they pick up a nearby enemy, try and get to it, but find it blocked by a door, they will run back to you and tell you that there is something on the other side of the door. Better than NWN, when they would open the door and pull the whole building at once.
Another thing is the combat modes. In NWN you had to use the menu or hotbar the different modes like parry and defensive casting. But if you manually moved the mode would cancel. Here, it toggles and doesn't go off until you toggle it back off. Makes playing a caster type much easier, I discovered this right after my dwarf's punching problem.
Last good thing of note, this uses the same engine as NWN. This means that the core gameplay remains largely unchanged. The addition of several new base and presitge classes make for a whole new set of character builds. New feats also allow new takes on old favorites. I have a fighter spec-ed out for dual wielding Scythes... Scythes for God's sake!
In conslusion, I do recommend NWN2 actually, but on one condition: You played and liked NWN and are looking for more. That's where I'm coming from and I am enjoying it. I'm taking it slowly, doing all side quests I find and after about ten hours I finally find myself in Neverwinter itself. The goodness of NWN is there, it just hidden behind some muck.
Thanks, Dad. You're an asshole, and my uncle is a delinquint. Our family sucks.
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