Neverwinter Nights 2

 PC
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 674 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 354 out of 674
  2. Mixed: 151 out of 674
  3. Negative: 169 out of 674
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  1. Itemforty
    Nov 6, 2006
    5
    - The multiplayer system for the default game demands that all players listen to every conversation that advances the plot. This forces all players to freeze completely while the story is being told, even if you are simply selling something to a merchant or changing in game settings. Any spell or ability that needs to be charged, including rest, will be cancelled. - Also in multiplayer, - The multiplayer system for the default game demands that all players listen to every conversation that advances the plot. This forces all players to freeze completely while the story is being told, even if you are simply selling something to a merchant or changing in game settings. Any spell or ability that needs to be charged, including rest, will be cancelled. - Also in multiplayer, if a player walks into a building, all characters load and enter that building. - Some voices and music are taken exactly from NWN1… Expand
  2. MassimoCusi
    Nov 12, 2006
    5
    A sheer number of bugs and flaws sums up to poorly rendered graphics. While the system requirements are high, the quality of the graphics is appalling compared to what is on the market today. The GUI is cumbersome and feels rather out of date for 2006. The original campaign suffers from strict linearity and lacks the aspects of exploration and freedom that generally define role playing.A sheer number of bugs and flaws sums up to poorly rendered graphics. While the system requirements are high, the quality of the graphics is appalling compared to what is on the market today. The GUI is cumbersome and feels rather out of date for 2006. The original campaign suffers from strict linearity and lacks the aspects of exploration and freedom that generally define role playing.
    A big disappointment, considering the prequel.    … Expand
  3. MartinC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    5
    This is a rushed grab for the Xmas buck. You'll need a very good system to get anywhere near the screen shot graphics. Sound is basically NWN1. Bugs - more like a termite nest. Give it a few months (maybe 6) for the monster issues to get patched and to see how the the player base reacts. Wait and see!
  4. SeanF.
    Nov 15, 2006
    5
    Pros: The OC story is not bad. Better than many lately, and some of the NPC party members are interesting. They did do away with a few nerfed feats like discipline. Cons: OC is very linear. Your basically forced to do what the story script tells you. Performance is substandard unless you have a very high end machine and/ or were very lucky. The HUD and in-game controls are Pros: The OC story is not bad. Better than many lately, and some of the NPC party members are interesting. They did do away with a few nerfed feats like discipline. Cons: OC is very linear. Your basically forced to do what the story script tells you. Performance is substandard unless you have a very high end machine and/ or were very lucky. The HUD and in-game controls are counterintuitive and hopeless unless you like hitting pause every few seconds. The camera particularly so.The graphics are muddy and following action is difficult especially with the clunky controls. Frankly the graphics look like they were lifted wholesale from KOTOR-2 along with the game engine. Multiplayer is almost totally unsupported except for some insinceere lip service from the developers that "Were looking into it." Im no big fan of consparicy theories, but the fact that they refused to release a demo, AND shipped NWN2 with a CD of DnD online tells me that they knew they had a stinker on their hands.… Expand
  5. AnonymousMC
    Nov 28, 2006
    5
    Whilst probably not as bad as some would make you feel, it does have that unfinished aftertaste. If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to wait a couple of months and see if the patches sort out the problems.

    There is some potential there, but I thought that Baldur's Gate I did it better (and how old is that?). The 3D view causes more problems than it solves, and    Whilst probably not as bad as some would make you feel, it does have that unfinished aftertaste. If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to wait a couple of months and see if the patches sort out the problems.

    There is some potential there, but I thought that Baldur's Gate I did it better (and how old is that?). The 3D view causes more problems than it solves, and there's very little that you can do to get your companions to behave sensibly. You can either have them do nothing at all, or waste all their spells/potions against the first things that goes "Boo!". Again BG did this better, with a whole choice of scripts you could select from for each character.

    One can only hope that the developers will listen to their critics, rather than basking in the glory of misguided reviews (we can only assume they reviewed pre-release version, and believed the spin that the game was still going to be fixed; but that's why I think it's unprofessional to review pre-release versions).    … Expand
  6. JessicaY.
    Dec 18, 2006
    5
    The game was well written, the story is pretty good, and the interactions between NPC's had me laughing on many occations. However, the game play makes me regret the week of my life I wasted playing this game. The maps and quests are non-intuitive, the camera angles are awful, the characters are hard to control, the big fights are WAY TOO LONG, and you will bang your head against a The game was well written, the story is pretty good, and the interactions between NPC's had me laughing on many occations. However, the game play makes me regret the week of my life I wasted playing this game. The maps and quests are non-intuitive, the camera angles are awful, the characters are hard to control, the big fights are WAY TOO LONG, and you will bang your head against a wall when you hit the endgame. I literally spent hours trying to beat the last boss... i even resorted to cheating and couldn't do it. Hell, walkthroughs didn't help. I can't even finish the game and many a bug had me reloading to saves the happened hours before. I would only recommend this game if you have nothing better to do and no other games you want to play.… Expand
  7. BiggerNerd
    Jul 21, 2007
    5
    As a hardcore DND and DND video game fan, I was very excited to buy this game. I LOVED the first NWN, and played the hell out of it. Yet it was a big disappointment. Sure, the graphis are nice, and there are lots of options, but the game runs like crap (and my comp is quite up to specs), buggy buggy buggy, and the story was so trite. After about a week I got bored with it and went back to As a hardcore DND and DND video game fan, I was very excited to buy this game. I LOVED the first NWN, and played the hell out of it. Yet it was a big disappointment. Sure, the graphis are nice, and there are lots of options, but the game runs like crap (and my comp is quite up to specs), buggy buggy buggy, and the story was so trite. After about a week I got bored with it and went back to playing BG2 again.… Expand
  8. AnthonyB
    Jul 29, 2008
    5
    GRAPHINCS: I was expecting a lot more from this game. After playing it about a year after release it still suffers greatly from bugs and poor performance. What I mean by poor performance is that the hardware requirements are too high for the graphics you get. Sure it better than NWN1 in terms of graphics but other games out there look a heck of a lot better with less horsepower. This must GRAPHINCS: I was expecting a lot more from this game. After playing it about a year after release it still suffers greatly from bugs and poor performance. What I mean by poor performance is that the hardware requirements are too high for the graphics you get. Sure it better than NWN1 in terms of graphics but other games out there look a heck of a lot better with less horsepower. This must be on the of worst 3D engines for a game today..buggy as hell and not optimized. AI: The AI in NWN2 is inferrior to NWN1. Too many times does the henchman get stuck or refuse to join the battle. Story: Here is where it shines. I liked it better than NWN1 and found the backgrounds of the henchman more interesting. Interface & Camera: Feels very clunky. The camera view is not as good as in NWN1. To many things can get in your way blocking important views during battles ie. trees. Dialogue: OK..this one is mixed. I like that fact that more voice acting was involved but I did find that the cut scenes-dialogue scenes intefered with tactics. You can be in stealth mode but as soon as you hit a an area that calls for dialogue scene your stealth tactics are thrown out the window, and if battle pursues after the cut scene you are at a disadvantage tactically. The only way to play is with straight on battles...using no stealth or magic tactics allowed. I found the same problems in a NWN1 mod of Darkness over Dagerford. Rules: I find that 3.5 is better than 3.0 so I have to give it a nod over NWN1. Overall: a major disappointment. It feels like KOTOR2 all over again. Taking a great game and messing it up.… Expand
  9. MartinH.
    Nov 13, 2006
    5
    This game should never have been released in the unplayable, buggy state it is in. Atari and Obsidian are just using the gaming community as unpaid QA testers. They have essentially ignored 5 years of community work improving the original NWN, ditched its elegant interface and AI for some horrible thing from KOTR, filled a linear, unengaging single-player campaign with endless cutscenes This game should never have been released in the unplayable, buggy state it is in. Atari and Obsidian are just using the gaming community as unpaid QA testers. They have essentially ignored 5 years of community work improving the original NWN, ditched its elegant interface and AI for some horrible thing from KOTR, filled a linear, unengaging single-player campaign with endless cutscenes to hide the fact there isn't really much to do in it, and what there is to do you don't have a whole lot of choice or control over. Why did Bioware ever give this license up to let it be ruined by these people?… Expand
  10. Nate
    Dec 13, 2006
    5
    Good game horrible execution. NWN 1 controls were a little boggy...but NWN2 is far far worse. Over detailed ui with intrusive unneeded borders. K.I.S.S was avoided. And yes it will tear your machine apart. Runs worse than Oblivion at unlimited view distance with modded 4x res textures. And looks worse than Oblivion on the worst settings. Uses a model 'style' similar to Good game horrible execution. NWN 1 controls were a little boggy...but NWN2 is far far worse. Over detailed ui with intrusive unneeded borders. K.I.S.S was avoided. And yes it will tear your machine apart. Runs worse than Oblivion at unlimited view distance with modded 4x res textures. And looks worse than Oblivion on the worst settings. Uses a model 'style' similar to EQ2's clunky ' realistic' models.… Expand
  11. Eddyward
    Mar 11, 2011
    5
    Rubbish in comparison to NWN. I'm very disappointed that Bioware gave up the rights to this game, and Obsidian did a poor job of the sequel.
    Multiplayer is also pretty bad. Both single- and multiplayer are buggy as hell and got quite boring quite quickly.
  12. TsukasaHiiragi
    Aug 20, 2021
    5
    NWN2 has not aged well at all, even back in 2006 it was fairly over-rated but passable for the time even though it was extremely buggy and had some of the worst AI to date that caused no end of frustration for players.

    This game suffers from everything you can expect from a 2006 game ranging from bugs to poor camera angles, and fast forward to 2021 and this game has aged very poorly.
  13. Vamrem
    Dec 9, 2014
    5
    I don't know how to rate this game, I really I liked its campaign but at the same time it is what killed it. Obsidian clearly ignored the purpose of this system, leaving the online mode careless by doing whatever they wanted... the same happened to Dungeon Siege 3 and Fallout New Vegas, I only want to say them: do your own game but stop destroying sagas! It seems they thought the same whenI don't know how to rate this game, I really I liked its campaign but at the same time it is what killed it. Obsidian clearly ignored the purpose of this system, leaving the online mode careless by doing whatever they wanted... the same happened to Dungeon Siege 3 and Fallout New Vegas, I only want to say them: do your own game but stop destroying sagas! It seems they thought the same when they've planned Pillars of Eternity, an interesting project 100% Obsidian and I hope the best to this game to keep them far from other sagas!
    The other cause of the fall of this saga would be the MMO system but never will be the same: in NWN you are a hero known by the rest of the server by your feats and your story, while in a MMO you are a number, with lucky you would be known by your guild but never among other players or enemies. NWN is a more close experience, with real DM supervision and a history to share with your community.
    I thank all the gods that the recent MMO was called simply "Neverwinter" without a "3" (Did you see Obsidian?), leaving a different game outside the NWN series, so we can still hoping that someday we will see a NWN3...    … Expand
  14. Topfpflanze
    Apr 21, 2021
    5
    The base game is one of the worst ever written. The story is long, but completely linear and of crippling dreariness. The implementation is so weird that you can rarely tell if it's a quirk or you just didn't understand the controls. The characters are executed with personalities to some extent, but this changes little in the game. For casual players it probably makes more sense: the flowThe base game is one of the worst ever written. The story is long, but completely linear and of crippling dreariness. The implementation is so weird that you can rarely tell if it's a quirk or you just didn't understand the controls. The characters are executed with personalities to some extent, but this changes little in the game. For casual players it probably makes more sense: the flow of the game doesn't bother much with AD&D rules, and once you've forgotten the old back-and-forth, new back-and-forth isn't so boring anymore. The downsides of AD&D spells are fully implemented: One and the same spell combined with half a dozen mods results in a confusing collection.… Expand
  15. EmileZ.
    Dec 2, 2006
    4
    This game is a HUGE disappointment. There is no AI to speak of, the camera angles are a real pain in the butt and the game engine seems unfinished and powerless compared to the previous Neverwinter Nights game. The plot is weak and one-dimensional, compared to Oblivion and Gothic 3.
  16. WaltO.
    Feb 10, 2007
    4
    Really, 50% is still an "F". That said: This game fails on so many levels. -The story: trite and predictable. -Gameplay(quests): transparent. -Rules implementation: Abysmal, can't even get Attack of Opp to work correctly, eh? Not to mention Bogus feats and NO Climbing/Swimming/Flying... -Graphics: Kotor with more polygons at best, not optimised at all. -Fun factor/balance: Terrible. Really, 50% is still an "F". That said: This game fails on so many levels. -The story: trite and predictable. -Gameplay(quests): transparent. -Rules implementation: Abysmal, can't even get Attack of Opp to work correctly, eh? Not to mention Bogus feats and NO Climbing/Swimming/Flying... -Graphics: Kotor with more polygons at best, not optimised at all. -Fun factor/balance: Terrible. Even a fighter with great buffs and equipment will be taxed to understand the CR mixture thrown at him. -Cinematics: Terrible, too much, too little PC control, pulled along by the nose and horrible text choices!! You have 4 ways to say yes to a gnome bard joining your group and that is it. 'Nuff said. -Conclusion: Play Baldur's Gate TOSC or TOEE. Vastly superior games in terms of everything that counts to a true DnD fan and not an intellectually nascent Diablo-clone.… Expand
  17. MrS
    Nov 15, 2006
    4
    Must admit that I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed BG and BG2 immensely, but the first NWN.. well.. it was boring. I'm sad to see that this one is similar to the first. The story just doesn't interest me at all and I find myself making excuses to keep playing (e.g I paid a lot of money for the game). The gameplay is somewhat awkward (camera, inventory etc.). So far the game Must admit that I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed BG and BG2 immensely, but the first NWN.. well.. it was boring. I'm sad to see that this one is similar to the first. The story just doesn't interest me at all and I find myself making excuses to keep playing (e.g I paid a lot of money for the game). The gameplay is somewhat awkward (camera, inventory etc.). So far the game works ok on my comp so no complaints there. I can set everything to high on my 7800GTX 256mb video card. Apparently the better rig you have, the worse the game runs... strange. Another thing that really annoys me is the constant loading and small areas to explore. I mean after Oblivion and Gothic3 this game seems too restricted. The player can't walk across a swamp even if there's a clear path. You MUST stay on the road. The fighting also seems a bit silly. The participants may miss each other for almost a minute (yes I've witnessed it). Looks stupid when you fight against a giant beetle and can't land a single hit on the HUGE insect. I mean even a moron can hit a regular beetle and kill it with a stick, but D&D hero can't hit a GIANT beetle with a bloody longsword. I know this may be irrelevant to many of you, but at least I am rather annoyed by these things.… Expand
  18. ArtyN.
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    This game is poor at best. Counterintuitive, with inexplicably high system requirements but low performance no matter what. D&D deserved a better game. Oh well, so did Neverwinter Nights,actually. The game is rated for pre-teens. I recommend to leave it to them.
  19. Alex
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Bug-ridden beta of a poor product. Clearly not even a release candidate that people are made to pay for.
  20. GradyE.
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    There is not one thing in this game that I can say is better than the original aside from the fact that there are more prestige classes. Graphics: Fair. The graphics would be nice if the game performed on anything other than a $5000 machine (I am not kidding). Interfacce: Horrid. Everything that you could do in NWN1 by a single mouse click or two takes at least 2-5 more mouse clicks to do There is not one thing in this game that I can say is better than the original aside from the fact that there are more prestige classes. Graphics: Fair. The graphics would be nice if the game performed on anything other than a $5000 machine (I am not kidding). Interfacce: Horrid. Everything that you could do in NWN1 by a single mouse click or two takes at least 2-5 more mouse clicks to do with minimal options for hot-baring things. Party AI and Pathing: Very bad. NPCs will get stuck on a pebble if it is in their path to get to a target. Spell casters will cast an AoE spell on a single target when all other party members are around to get hit too. Gameplay: Fair. The story is very linear and exploration is not a mainstay as it was with NWN1. I can get over this b/c I really will only play the OC once or twice. However, if the world is not flexible because of an inefficient engine (which I suspect it might be) than that will limit any community expansion of the game. Completeness: Very poor. Very, very buggy from top to bottom. It is a very common occurence to have a script no fire and get "stuck" in the game because you didn't complete something that really was completed. There are also many bugs with classes, feats, and spells. I am very disappointed and my optimisim that it will get better is starting to diminish for every unanswered post in the support forum. The worst part, it ruined the first game for me too.… Expand
  21. JohnEvans
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    Seriously this is NOT a good game. Do not be deceived by the Fanboi reviews. Check www.1up.com for an honest "professional" game review. At least gamespot gave it 6 for graphics, so kudos to them for that at least. I will try to be honest here, but where to start? Pretty much everyone knows by now that the graphics are not the best in this game, its not just on account of the obvious lag, Seriously this is NOT a good game. Do not be deceived by the Fanboi reviews. Check www.1up.com for an honest "professional" game review. At least gamespot gave it 6 for graphics, so kudos to them for that at least. I will try to be honest here, but where to start? Pretty much everyone knows by now that the graphics are not the best in this game, its not just on account of the obvious lag, poor performance and high specs needed. Graphics are about more than the nuber of Polygons, Shadows, and how many Pixel shaders you support. GRAPHICS Graphics lead to very poor "imersion". Levels are SMALL, tiny, and also animations are very very poor. Your characters will not look very cool while running fighting or doing anything. Customization of look of you char is OK, but not earth shattering. INTERFACE Interface. Very poor, I was getting RSI in the end, right clicking wait for pop-up, drag etc. Camera has numerous faults that others have noted, but I can cope with that at least, you just need to fiddle with it. MULTIPLAYER This game uses Huge walk meshes, that ALL clients MUST download before they can join your world. Upwards of 200-300MB. You will need to find a decent "Paid For" ISP so that each client can download the 100of MB. You are therefore looking at Paying for Terrabytes! of download if you want to host an online world. You have been warned. To host the game you will need to open numerous ports, and know a fair bit about firewalls (ok this does not bug me), but you will likely need XP, or more likely pay for hosting a Windows 2003 server since the server does not support Linux. If you make any small changes to game world, all users will need to re-download those Terabytes. Other online support such as chat is very poorly Supported. Also take note. Online, "If ONE person entersa shop, ALL party members will do so". If ONE person starts a conversation with NPC, the whole party HAS to. This is due to the very small levels (due to insane memory needs), and therefore system can't cope with people in different areas. Toolset is not getting much good feedback from the developer community at the moment. CAMPAIGN This is very linear and is based on very very small levels. MOst levels have very few places you can explore (if any...seriously), and doors, buildings etc are there for scenery. You must "open up" areas on your map before you can go there. Also many doors are super locked on account of the linear scripting not wanting you to go there. There are numerous game breaking bugs that if you take certain choices, will prevnt you from completing the game. Make SURE to patch patch patch before you start this game. SLOWNESS Loading screens are insane, even on the same level. If you go to the shop to buy mats for crafting...load...leave shop...load...walk 20 yard to the "Inn" where your workbench is...load...oops forgot an item...load main area....walk to yards to shop...load. I mean its realy realy bad. Make sure you have a Raptor or other fast disk. pref have 2Gb of RAM. You will also find commands lag, and its very hard to target. Obdsidian have admitted this and suggest you use "Tab" targetting as a work round. If there are 15 monsters you will need to tab though them all. AI Lots of people complain about this, I don't find it as bad as peopel say...simply because there is an option to totaly disable it. You WILL need to do this, or else NPC will do the most stupid things, pull mobs, cast bad spells on you. Also they can de-target and stand there. I micro manage all the fights and control all NPC. Pers I like this since DnD is a pary based game. But if you like to focus on the main charater you have been warned. SOUND This is OK, but be warned a lot of the old sounds have been re-used. I don't mind this so much but some people do PROS The intro scene is very nice. Also the Star Music is good. Some of the cut scenes look OK, and some of the characters are funny (if linear, you can't not have them join your party or it breaks story for example). Shadows can look nice, but this must be disabled on most system unless you want your PC to run real slow, 5fps, some people report overheat and crashed. Dont think that it wont be you...it well could be overheating is chronic in this game, though I have been mostly OK, with only a few 10 minute reboots (including long loading times etc) CONCLUSION Overall this is oviously a flawed release. Unfortnetly I don't think patching will help, since there are flaws right from the early conception of this game (walkmeshes being an example). In my oppinion there is no way that Atari Obsidian can "patch there way out" of this. Also as a bad sign, Atari have removed the development team onto another project, and now the "Live" Team are working on it. With the core developers working on something else it bodes ill, but I don't think even the developers could fix it in a meaningful amount of time. Don't expect to see any good users modules any time soon, and pretty much forget about multiplayer. I'm sorry but this is the truth. I was pretty exited about this release, but I would not say over hyped, I'm 35 and don't realy buy into the hype of games. If if the graphics were dreadful but it was good in other areas I could forgive it seriously. I've played D2, and some Stardock games with terrible graphics, but they all made up for it, sadly NWN2 fails on to broad a front. I would advise you to save you money and not buy this game, but of couse the choice is yours.… Expand
  22. GordonM.
    Nov 29, 2006
    4
    I had high hopes for this game, honestly I did. There are glimmers of where NWN2 could have done well, but sadly the vast majority of it does not live up to its predecessor. The right-click menu is unintuitive and slow, attempting to do anything while your character and/or the target is in motion is impossible. The AI is pathetic. The campaign itself is rather cliched and while some of I had high hopes for this game, honestly I did. There are glimmers of where NWN2 could have done well, but sadly the vast majority of it does not live up to its predecessor. The right-click menu is unintuitive and slow, attempting to do anything while your character and/or the target is in motion is impossible. The AI is pathetic. The campaign itself is rather cliched and while some of the characters are interesting, they are never really given a chance to shine beyond a single cutscene each that never really goes anywhere. A host of romance options were promised, yet there are only a single romance path for each gender. And the male path is completely unexpected, especially due to the personality and actions of a couple of the female characters, inclusing the romantic option herself. Alignment has no meaning and alignment shifts are seemingly randomly placed in dialogs. The toolset. Ah, the toolset... what the hell happened? NWN1's toolset was complex, but streamlined. NWN2's is... well, broken, horrific and more complex than anything I've seen before. Plus there are only the bare minimum of creatures/textures/etc to make the campaign itself functional, unlike the original game's toolset that had a considerable segment of the D&D Forgotten Realms pantheon of creatures in it. Combined with the fact that the toolset itself is incredibly unintuitive and that it is difficult or nigh impossible to do anything without fighting it and you have not only a step backwards, but a fall off a cliff backwards. I'd end with the hope that some of this might be patched or at least changed, but considering how significant the problems are and how deep it runs, many of the 'problems' are most likely design decisions rather than simple errors of judgement from Obsidian/Atari. I hope that things improve, but can't see it happening. The only reason I give it as "high" as a 4 is because there is some enjoyment to be had. Otherwise it would be a 0.… Expand
  23. JeffS.
    Oct 24, 2007
    4
    Nice looking, good voice acting, but very buggy, even with patch 1.10. They threw out the good UI of the original NWN and jammed some clunky UI in sideways. The camera angle needs constant adjustment so you can see where your character is going, and that gets in the way of the immersive experience. Still, I'd rate this game highly if it weren't for the frequent crashes and Nice looking, good voice acting, but very buggy, even with patch 1.10. They threw out the good UI of the original NWN and jammed some clunky UI in sideways. The camera angle needs constant adjustment so you can see where your character is going, and that gets in the way of the immersive experience. Still, I'd rate this game highly if it weren't for the frequent crashes and corrupt save files. It's just not worth the frustration. Save your money and replay the original NWN, or drag out that dusty old copy of Baldur's Gate. I know you've got one.… Expand
  24. KarlL.
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    I love DD and NWN, but this version is too buggy and the graphics are not very good either. 1. Defensive casting gets deselected all the time. 2. Arcane Trickster but no sneak attacks on ranged or meele touch attacks. WTF? 3. The AI for your companions sucks.
  25. AByrd
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    Absolutely terrible. Clearly this game was released before completion. It is buggy, has terrible performance and support at Obsidion has been horrendous. Save you money to see if anyone has the balls to correct the issues. If not, it ain't worth owning.
  26. KennethC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    One of the worst yet for me. Absolutely awful camera implementation.
  27. BryanC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Incredible letdown. While generally well-written, the story is ridiculously linear and it forces you to do so many things just to advance the plot. Very heavy-handed. Maybe play it when it makes it to the 20-dollar bargain bin. Such a waste. Bleh.
  28. JoeJ.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. NWN2 seems to have it share of bugs, and then some. From problems with the ruleset, to misfiring or unfiring cutscenes, to the atrocious camera, NWN2 has a little bit of everything it shouldn't have. The new OC's story is better than the original NWN's oc, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I was greatly irritated at how many times during Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. NWN2 seems to have it share of bugs, and then some. From problems with the ruleset, to misfiring or unfiring cutscenes, to the atrocious camera, NWN2 has a little bit of everything it shouldn't have. The new OC's story is better than the original NWN's oc, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I was greatly irritated at how many times during playing through the OC that I was forced to revert to a previous save, due to bugs. The multiplayer aspect of the game is all but dead, as with the way modules are handled now has all but killed the persistent world. I'm saddened by what I can only see as the death of a franchise. Good job Obsidian! You're now 2 for 2.… Expand
  29. KirbyS.
    Nov 23, 2006
    4
    The game looks really nice and has a reasonably good storyline, but the controls/camera have killed it for me. It's almost a chore to play the game because of the crappy controls. I bought NWN2 a week ago and I've only played one session...I can't bring myself to fight with the camera again.
  30. PeterA.
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    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
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best PC Game of 2006
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
7
#7 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. Quandary
    80
    So it isn't perfect, particularly not for players who prefer using the mouse, but Neverwinter Nights 2 is nevertheless a hugely enjoyable trip.
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  2. Game Chronicles
    89
    Rich narrative, engaging gameplay, and total attention to role-playing detail.
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  3. Digital Entertainment News
    83
    Neverwinter Nights 2 is a strong single-player adventure thoroughly enjoyable in and of itself. That it will serve as a platform for endless mod gaming only makes it that mich more appealing.
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