Currently, the game does not function fully, even with the 1.03 BETA patch that has been released. The original NWN is easier to use (GUI), has better framerates, and more variety, with the exception being character portraits. I have both on my current system (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Proc, Dual Nvidia SLI enabled GeForce 7800 GT, and 3Gig of 3200 DDR2 RAM), and I know which one runs Currently, the game does not function fully, even with the 1.03 BETA patch that has been released. The original NWN is easier to use (GUI), has better framerates, and more variety, with the exception being character portraits. I have both on my current system (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Proc, Dual Nvidia SLI enabled GeForce 7800 GT, and 3Gig of 3200 DDR2 RAM), and I know which one runs better. Sure, NWN2 has some nice graphics to look at, but you can't interact with them, you are limited to following a pre-set path like KOTOR or KOTOR2. NWN was similar, could really only go certain places, but the spaces were much larger, NWN2 feels cramped, except in city areas. Although even there it sucks that you can't go into most houses like you could in NWN. Persistent worlds would help this game, but from what I have heard, that route is SOL, because with the graphics hog this game has, and the need to download huge 100MB plus files each time a world is first visited or designer-altered, dial ups would need the patience of a saint to do it. Seems more likely they want to force feed us DDO. Hence the free trial disc which contains the entire game and seven days. Thanks WoTC. Likely the WoTC made sure that NWN2 would not be as good a multiplayer as DDO, both to prevent customer loss and competition, and to make certain that the game didn't outperform DDO. I have tried DDO, and it does run better than NWN2, but the game is very limited in level scope and character creation when last I was on, which is why I stopped playing it. The limitations and expense outweighed anything good it had. Things that should work don't, such as adding spells to an NPC wizards spellbook. Trying to add actions to the action bar for latter rounds, or just the round you are on, can be frustrating and hard on your mouse, requiring multiple clicks and pause/unpause to achieve a desired result, and that includes targeting while moving. So if you want realtime gaming, don't try this one, because in some parts, pause is the only way you can play it, that and nursemaiding the NPC AI. The skills for the most part have little gameplay effect except in a few narrowly controlled (storyline) parts. Only the necessary thief skills offer any real use. Crafting is a joke, altering magic items is easier, and cheaper. I believe it costs more to create some potions than it does to purchase them from a friendly merchant. When was the last time in NWN you set a trap and an enemy walked into it? In NWN2, monsters can see the thief even when hidden and silent, everytime, regardless of the level of the thiefs skill. So scouting is useless, the game sees you and starts the cutscene, even if all you wanted to do was waste them all with a few rounds of fireball before they knew what hit them. You lose all your buffs too when that happens, even the ones that should last HOURS of game time. Picking pockets can be useful, until the game tells you the mark is empty, and profitable when you lift 45000 gp worth of rings in one shot, or 25 bars of adamantine ore. Realism? Not even possible using the 3.5 edition D&D rules the game is purported to be following. Merchants run out of gold to purchase your goods, ruining your ability to make money to create some of the more expensive magical artifacts, as long as you have the recipes, which so far seem to be very repetitive in drops, and I have yet to see anything world shattering like a rod of lordly might, a rod of the python, or a staff of power(although there is one you can loot that I have found. But it's a watered down version of the 3.5 D&D version). Just standard stat adjusting fair like elven cloaks and boots, and spell-to-staff stuff like lightning or fireball. Even a Gem of Brightness (boring, I want a ring of elemental command, sword of dancing, helm of brilliance). Spells don't look as they should when casting. Ice Storm looks more like an Ice Ball, Magic Missile doesn't fire off all at once, even though there is a Missile Storm spell that does shoot multiple missiles, for some reason Magic Missile does not. Spell Buffs for AoE don't show on companions even when you know they should. Circle of Protection from alignment comes to mind. It pops on when you wonder near the center target NPC, but if you cast it on yourself, you don't see it on the NPC when they stand close. Trying to use NPC abilities like talk to animals fails except where the storyline is advanced, so unlike NWN where you could talk to just about all the animals, in NWN2, forget it. Also, the moment you try to get the NPC to do anything of importance, the game warps you to their location and you are now the one doing it. Try winning a bard contest if you aren't a bard. And the bard NPC you have in the party is of no help unless you have influence with him, so you have to get him to do his job by kissing his butt in a big way. So I leave him at the inn, he's so useful. But sometimes the game MAKES you take them, which bites. Maybe I want to be a loaner, hmmm.? You really can't ROLE PLAY the way you want to if the game makes you play a certain way. The AI is more factually referred to as FR, as in functionally retarded. NPCs charge through discovered traps to hit an enemy, cast area spells near party members indiscriminantly, don't always take the crows path to reach a target, activate personal abilities to the detriment of the group as a whole (most notable the druid shapechanger). And if you play in Hardcore D&D, the bard will stun you as well as enemies, even though his abilities might state enemies only; the firebug sorceress will kill you with fireballs and walls of fire before the enemy does; the cleric and druid only cast heal spells when commanded to, and even if you fill up the action bar on NPC's, they will delete those actions in favor of their own unless you turn them into puppets, making the game that much more work. In NWN, all I did was tell the NPC when to use melee or ranged, and how far to follow, and whether to use skills or spells. And it worked! This new way of doing things is too much, and broken. Familiars get lost when zoning, even if they aren't killed or conjured away. Game does not take into account how many doors away from monsters you might be. Some areas of the game you cannot rest in, so you have to leave and return, if it will let you. Why? If I want to risk a random monster encounter, than I should be able to. Oh wait, no random monsters, so I guess they just want to make sure you can't rest. Why are the levels limited to 20, a sequel to NWN should take into account the fact that you could hit epic levels in HoTU. Not here though, got to leave something for an expansion to trick you to buy, right? Why not keep all the original prestige classes and add the new ones as well? Oh yeah, wrote a new game, not upgraded the old one. Upgrading is hard work, half-a$$ing a new one is easy. In essence, it seems they attempted to re-invent the wheel, and doing that ruined the flavor of the game. As it plays out, it's no sequel, it's a stand alone like ToEE. The name was used to make bucks, pure and simple. It gets a 4 because you can play it if you have patience and a robust system like I do, but nothing more because the game is not a sequel, it's factually a step back from the original, a really big Man on the Moon step back. This is not a sequel, sequels are usually at LEAST as good as the original, and for the most part BETTER.… Expand
Neverwinter Nights 2Your Score0 out of 10User Score
